The FoMoCo flathead crew almost got the first 8-second time when Jim "Jazzy" Nelson clocked a 9.10 in the Edelbrock/Iskenderian '48 Fiat Topolino in December 1955. That elapsed time was not bettered until April of 1957 when Emery Cook slammed the Cook & Bedwell Chrysler-powered car into the eights.

In fact, when you say, "flathead, you're talking the engine of choice for the pioneer years (1950-"roughly" 1955). Almost all the records were secured by Ford (and Mercury, a division of Ford, in case you're in your early teens). Hey, there's the connection, America's pioneer car producer and drag racing's, too.

The last time a Ford flathead won anything was at the 1964 or '65 Drag News Invitational in Gary, Indiana when Stan Lomelino beat a 16-car field of admittedly not top rank blown Chryslers and injected Chevys.

The last Ford-powered nitro burner to win anything (i.e., a hot rod association eliminator) was Top Fuel jockey "Sneaky Pete" Robinson at the 1970 IHRA All-American in Bristol, Tenn.

The first dominant Funny Cars were Fords. Sure. Mr. Norm, Arnie Beswick, Don Gay, Ronnie Sox, and thundered impressively in 1964, '65, and '66, but as impressively as Don

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Nicholson or Eddie Schartman's Comets? Not exactly. In 1966, Nicholson lost an April match race to Beswick at the late lamented Yellow River, Georgia track. He did not lose again, until June or July, against Maynard Rupp's "Chevoom" rear-engine Chevelle. In 1966, match races abounded and it would not be totally off-the-wall to say that Nicholson was probably underefeated in 100 dates. It's hard-to-say for sure because a lot of tracks didn't send their results to Drag News or National DRAGSTER back then. And for the stats keepers, Nicholson also put the first Funny Car in the seven-second zone (1966) as well as the first Pro Stocker (1978 in match race trim).

And on the subject of Ford Pro Stocks, how about Bob Glidden? Eighty-five career wins against a tsunami of Chevys.

Back to Funny Car for a sec, for the first half of the 1969 season, Danny Ongais went 53-2 (by my count) in heads up competition with Mickey Thompson's "Mach-1" Ford Mustang, winning the AHRA and NHRA Springnationals and later on the U.S. Nationals.

Yes, ancient history by most standards. Ford's biggest contributions in the engine department (the Ford SOHC single overhead cam motor) died after the reign of Connie Kalitta (1966-1967 Top Fuel season) and Robinson, who was the NHRA Top Fuel World Champ in 1966 with the fabled "cammer."

Still, Ford thumps; there are very competitive Pro Stockers such as the IHRA drivers or Scott Geoffrion in NHRA competition. And one certainly can't overlook the fact that John Force, Tony Pedregon, and Gary Densham have garnered a lot of ink for Ford with their current Funny Cars.

And don't forget SOHC engine hoarder Larry Gould of Belleville, Ill. He and partner Fred Bach two years ago ran the lowest elapsed time and best speed ever for a "cammer" powered car when they hit a 6.29/226 and this with no outside information, factory backing, or input from fellow racers.

Words don't tell the story as well as pictures, especially in a history-rich category such as this. Soooo ... without further ado, here are some choice pieces from "the Burkster's" considerable collection.