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18. AL ECKSTRAND
Al Eckstrand was a formidable Super Stock and FX driver in the mid-1960s. The Michigan lawyer called his Dodge cars “the Lawman,” winning Stock at the 1963 NHRA Winternationals and the Unlimited FX class at the famed inaugural Super Stock Magazine Nationals. Eckstrand match raced his fuel-injected, nitro-burning Dodge until roughly 1966-1967.
19. DALE EMERY
One of the genuinely underrated nitro driver/tuners in the sport. Emery made his bones with Rich Guasco’s “Pure Hell” blown Chevy and later in blown Chrysler Fuel Altereds. He was a consistent winner on the West Coast, with his Fuel Altered win at the 1968 Hot Rod Magazine championships being the probable topper. He drove Top Fuel and Funny Car, winning the 1973 NHRA Winternationals Funny Car title. He retired a few years later, heading up three-time NHRA Funny Car champ’s “Blue Max” team, a group where he was the crew chief.
20. ENGLISH-FRAKES-FUNK
Dale Funk was the driver for the famed "Kentucky Moonshiners," winning the A/Comp title at the 1968 NHRA Nationals. The team switched to Top Gas in 1971, winning a number of Division 3 points races with speeds approaching 205 mph. In 1971, Funk switched to Top Fuel where he lasted until his 1976 retirement. In 1974, he was IHRA Top Fuel World Champion and the NHRA Summernationals Top Fuel champ. He had another great year in 1975, winning the NHRA Gatornationals and the Popular Hot Rodding magazine title.
21. FARKONAS-COIL-MINICK
The Chicago-based trio of John Farkonas, Austin-Coil (driver), and Pat Minick, of course, owned the “Chi-Town Hustler” Dodge Funny Cars. Arguably, the “Hustler” in terms of show, may have been the most important car ever campaigned. Minick’s huge 300- to 400-foot super smoker burnouts revolutionized the sport, forcing anyone who campaigned a blown nitro car to follow suit. Minick was the team driver from 1967 through the 1971 winning countless match race titles. The team didn’t get its first hot rod association accolades until 1974 when Ron Colson won the IHRA bauble.
22. PAT FOSTER
Pat Foster never drove a car without a blower, beginning in 1964 through 1980. His first race car assignment was the Beaver Bros. blown Chevy Top Fueler, followed by cars as disparate as Roy Fjastad’s “Anteater” AA/MFC, the Atlas Tool Spl. Of John Bateman (AA/FD), and Funny Cars like Don Cook’s “Damn Yankee,” Mickey Thompson’s Mach-1 Mustang, Barry Setzer’s Vega, “the Chicago Patrol” Mustang II, Amos Satterlee’s “Super Chief,” and the Super Shops Arrow, a car in which he became the third driver ever to run a Funny Car “five.” His only NHRA win came in Funny Car (Setzer’s Vega) at the 1973 Gatornationals.
23. GAPP & ROUSH
While Jack Roush went on to bigger and better things in roundy-round racing, Livonia, Michigan product Wayne Gapp was the driving son-of-a-gun of this duo. The team lasted from roughly 1972 through 1978. In that frame, Gapp was the 1973 NHRA and 1974 IHRA World Pro Stock champions and had scored NHRA wins as vaunted as the 1973 Summernationals and 1975 U.S. Nationals titles.
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