A chance to meet Funny Car legends

Drag racing fans can join NHRA Funny Car legends Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Ed “The Ace” McCulloch at a special pre-race Starting Line Party at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Sonoma Raceway joins NHRA in celebrating 50 years of Funny Car racing during the series’ annual visit to wine country, July 29-31, and has put together the special event to get fans close to the racing veterans.

The legendary racers will be featured as part of the Starting Line Party ticket package, which includes a reserved seat in the main grandstand and access to a special Q&A with Prudhomme and McCulloch prior to eliminations on July 31. The Q&A will be followed by the Sealmaster Track Walk down the drag strip. The package also includes a Thunder Alley pass, the closest access to the strip for race fans.

Prudhomme, a four-time NHRA Funny Car national champion, was the first Funny Car driver to exceed 250 mph. Prudhomme is the only driver to win in two Pro categories in Sonoma: Funny Car (1989) and Top Fuel (1992). He retired in 1994 to manage his own racing team and went on to win two Top Fuel championships (2002, 2003) with driver Larry Dixon.

McCulloch, who scored 22 wins in his driving career (18 in Funny Car and four in Top Fuel), traded his firesuit for wrenches in 1995 and began a second career as a winning crew chief, racking up 27 more wins, including 16 with Ron Capps.

Sonoma Raceway has a rich history of Funny Car racing. From Mark Oswald’s victory at the first NHRA national event in Sonoma in 1988 to Jack Beckman’s record-setting victory in 2015, Sonoma has hosted the best Funny Car drivers in NHRA history.

And, it is impossible to discuss Funny Cars without mentioning John Force, who boasts seven Funny Cars wins in Wine Country – the most of any professional NHRA racer.