Don Prudhomme (born April 6, 1941 in

San Fernando, California San Fernando ( Spanish for " St. Ferdinand") is a general-law city in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is bordered on all sides by the City of Los Angeles. As of the 20 ...

), nicknamed "The Snake", is an American drag racer. He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

in 1991.

Racing career

Prudhomme crewed for "TV Tommy" Ivo on Ivo's twin-engined

slingshot A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...

in 1960. In 1962, Prudhomme was a partner in the Greer-

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

-Prudhomme

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy b ...

digger, which earned the best win record in

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

(NHRA) history,''Hot Rod'', 12/86, p. 29 sidebar. before switching to

Funny Car Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appea ...

. He would win the NHRA FC championship four times in his 35-year career. He earned the nickname "The Snake" in high school. He was the first Funny Car driver to exceed . After trouble getting the "vaunted" Gilmore Engineering-chassied '' Donovan Engineering Special'' dragster sorted out, Tom McEwen quit, and was replaced by Prudhomme, then owner-driver in the B&M Tork Master-sponsored car. In 1965, Prudhomme faced

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers h ...

teammate McEwen at the

Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races The Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races were a series of drag racing events sponsored by ''Hot Rod Magazine'' between 1964 and 1969. It was considered "one of the most significant drag racing events" of that era. These racing events were domina ...

, held at Riverside, "one of the most significant drag racing events" of that era; ultimately, Top Fuel Eliminator (TFE) went to Jim Warren. He raced a Shelby Super Snake in the 1968 and 1969 seasons, powered by a Ford engine instead of the ubiquitous Chrysler Hemi. When Ford discontinued the program, Prudhomme went into the "Snake and Mongoo$e" phase of his career. Prudhomme was known for his yellow 1970

Plymouth Barracuda The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Plymouth from 1964 to 1974. The first-generation Barracuda was based on the Chrysler A-body and was offered from 1964 to 1966. A two-door hardtop (no B-pillar) fastback de ...

in which he match raced Tom McEwen in his red 1970

Plymouth Duster The original Plymouth Duster is a semi-fastback two-door coupe version of the compact-sized Plymouth Valiant automobile that was marketed by Plymouth in the U.S. from 1970 to 1976 model years. History The Duster coupe provided the compact-siz ...

, named ''Mongoose''. Both drivers gained wider public attention from

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...

's "Hot Wheels" toy versions of the cars, released in 1970. Hot Wheels celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2005 with a two-day event. In the 1980's Prudhomme gained widespread recognition among late night television viewers when David Letterman told a recurring joke about a new "Prudhomme restaurant" opening, ostensibly referencing world famous chef Paul Prudhomme, but then saying "no, Don Prudhomme!" claiming the menu included "Funny Car Veal" and "Nitro-burning Prawns". He retired in 1994 to manage his own racing team. With driver Larry Dixon, Prudhomme's team won the Top Fuel championship in 2002 and 2003. In 2009, Dixon signed to drive the Al-Anabi Top Fuel Dragster, and Spencer Massey took over Prudhomme's car. At the end of the 2009 racing season, sponsorship went away and Prudhomme retired from active racing. In 2019 Don Prudomme currently sponsors and built the Montana Brand / John Force Racing Top fuel dragster driven by Austin Prock in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series

Film

Prudhomme's accomplishments in racing are featured in the 2013 movie ''

Snake and Mongoose ''Snake & Mongoose'' is a 2013 American sports drama film directed by Wayne Holloway, starring Jesse Williams and Richard Blake as drag racers Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, respectively. The film received a limited ...

'' which features the rivalry between "The Snake" and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. The film also discusses how both drivers brought drag racing into mainstream with the Mattel Hot Wheels sponsorship. The movie was inspired by the book ''Snake vs. Mongoose: How a Rivalry Changed Drag Racing Forever'', written by Tom Madigan.

Book

Don Prudhomme's early career is documented in the book, ''Six Seconds to Glory'' by Hal Higdon. The book covers the 1973 Nationals held in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, a race in which Prudhomme was battling for his first Funny Car season title. "Don “The Snake” Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320" by Don Prudhomme and Elana Scherr was released Oct. 19, 2020 and covers his life in and out of racing.

Awards

*In 2000, he was inducted into the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, east central Alabama. It enshrines those who have co ...

. *He was inducted in the

in 1991.Don Prudhomme
at the

*On the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers 1951-2000, Don Prudhomme was ranked #3.

Images

Image:DonPrudhommeFire1991KennyBernstein.jpg, Prudhomme's car on fire in 1991 against

Kenny Bernstein Kenneth Dale Bernstein (born September 6, 1944) is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed the ...

Image:DonPrudhomme1990FunnyCar.jpg, Prudhomme's

in 1989

References

External links

'Snake' Racing

Snake and Mongoose Movie IMDB profile

// Six Seconds to Glory (book)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prudhomme, Don 1941 births American racing drivers Dragster drivers International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Living people People from San Fernando, California Racing drivers from California