Don Prudhomme - Don The Snake Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320: My Life Beyond the 1320

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2020 by Don Prudhomme and Elana Scherr

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Edit by Wes Eisenschenk

Layout by Monica Seiberlich

ISBN 978-1-61325-518-6

Item No. CT662

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

Written, edited, and designed in the U.S.A.

Printed in China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Frontispiece image: Courtesy Leslie Lovette and Teresa Long

Title page image: Courtesy Firebird Raceway/New Family Archives

Cover Image: Courtesy National Hot Rod Association/NHRA National Dragster

Bottom image on (235A): Courtesy Barrett-Jackson

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Table of Contents

by Rusty Wallace

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Don Prudhomme

Theres been this story that Ive been wanting to tell, but Ive been so busy racing my whole life that it never came up in all the interviews and other books that Ive been a part of. It was always in the background. Its my story, the part behind the racing. Its also the story of anyone who came up in the world with the deck stacked against them. If youre reading this hoping for a book of numbers, of this race and that race and how many wins and what the timing was set at for which record, this is not that book. Go read Don Garlitss book. Hes good with the numbers.

This is a book about what it took to get to the races and through the races. There were a lot of wins, and Im proud of that, but it wasnt an easy thing to do. Even writing this book was hard. There were so many memories, and some of them hurt to think about even today, more than half a century later. I felt like it was worth getting it all down though in case it helps someone down the road. I felt like I was making mistakes along the way, but when I look back at it, I see a lot more friends than enemies. So thats where I need to start with my acknowledgments.

I want to start with everyone who ever stepped into my pits and lent us a hand in the early days. There are so many people who helped me, guys who really didnt get any credit for it: the spectators who helped me pack my parachute and the folks who pushed the car around or handed me a wrench at the right time or just stopped by with a beer or a hot dog. I didnt often have time to recognize them in the moment, but I want to thank them now.

I also need to thank every parent who bought their kid a Hot Wheels set and every kid who played with one. We couldnt have done this without you.

Not only do the kids who collected the toy cars deserve thanks, but also the full-scale collectors who keep the original race cars safe and display them so that the public can see how it used to be done. Bruce Canepa, Bruce Meyer, Rick Hendrick, I really appreciate you keeping the history alive.

There are names youll read in this book, but they need to be thanked here too: Roland Leong (still my best buddy), Waterbed Fred, Rusty Wallace, Chip Ganassi, Ed Pink, Tom Prock, Pat Galvin, Bob Brandt, Larry Bowers, Donnie Couch (who will motherf me to the moon if I leave him out), and all the guys and gals in the car clubs and cacklefests who still get together and keep these stories going and occasionally invite me to lunch.

Then there are the guys who arent here anymore but will always be important to me: Ralph Whitworth, Tom McCourry, Dick Landy, Keith Black, Raymond Beadle, Billy Bones, Bill Carter, Dale Armstrong, Bill Doner, Bill Simpson, and of course, Tom McEwen. I miss Tom every day. I almost didnt want to do the book because he wasnt around to fill in the other half of the story. We were that close; its incomplete without him. Since we started the book a year and a half ago, Ive lost people. Ill pick up my phone to call someone, and their names there but theyre not. I tried to include as many of their stories in the book as possible so that you can know them like I did.

Big thanks to all the folks Ive met since retirement, whove kept me busy and entertained: Ron Pratt, Tony Stewart, Walker Evans, Parnelli Jones, Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham, all the NASCAR, IndyCar, off-road, and motorcycling folks who have made me feel so at home in their racing and rallies.

It isnt even possible for me to thank my wife, Lynn, and daughter, Donna, as much as they deserve. They put up with me, they make me laugh, and they have always made me look good. I could not have done it without their support. Same goes for my sisters Joyce, Judy, and Jeanette, and all the Louisiana family who welcomed us into our Creole heritage.

A million thank yous to the photographers who helped with the images for this book, with an extra nod to Phil Burgess, David Kennedy, and Lewis Bloom from the NHRA. Thank you to CarTech for thinking my story was worth a book, and thank you to Elana Scherr for helping me get it down on paper. Im going to leave people out, its just impossible to name everyone, so please, if you were a part of this, know that I know it and am grateful to you.