Don Prudhomme

Don Prudhomme
Prudhomme in his dragster before a run in 1992
Nationality	American/French Creole
Born	(1941-04-06) April 6, 1941 (age 76) San Fernando, California
Retired	1994 (as racer), 2010 (as owner)
Funny Car
Years active	1970s to 1994 (driver) 1970s-2010 as Owner
Best finish	1st (4 times) in 1975-1978
Awards
2000	International Motorsports Hall of Fame

Don Prudhomme(born April 6, 1941, San Fernando, California), nicknamed "The Snake", is an American drag racer.

In 1962, Prudhomme was a partner in the Greer-Black-Prudhomme digger, which earned the best win record in NHRA history, before switching to a Funny Car. He would win the NHRA FC championship four times in his thirty five year career. He earned the nickname "The Snake" in high school. He was the first Funny Car driver to exceed 250 mph (400 km/h).

In 1965, he faced Hot Wheels teammate Tom McEwen at the Hot Rod Magazine Championship Drag Races, held at Riverside Raceway, "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 in which he raced rival driver Tom McEwen in his red 1970 Plymouth Duster, named Mongoose. Both drivers gained wider public attention from Mattel's "Hot Wheels" toy versions of the cars that were released in 1970. Hot Wheels celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2005 with a two-day event.

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.