T.C. CHRISTENSEN

The Wisconsin fuel bike racer was one of the most successful in his class during the 1970’s. He won the '76 U.S. Nationals. Chris Martin believes that he also won three World Finals/SuperNationals Fuel Bike titles during that period. He was also a prolific winner on the American Motorcycle Drag Racing Association circuit.

BILLY MEYER

Forget for a moment that he changed the look of drag racing, not to mention the record books, forever when he built the Texas Motorplex  --acknowledged by most historians as the track that changed the face of drag racing and ushered in the era of four-second fuel
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cars -- and he did it with his own money. He also forced NHRA to expand its horizons, schedule, and number of national events when he bought the IHRA and assumed the job as president of the sanctioning body. Those accomplishments alone warrant some consideration.

But the fact is that he was also one of the best Funny Car drivers of his era. He won the prestigious Orange County Manufacturer’s Meet at the age of 18 in 1972, beating Ron Colson at the wheel of the "Chi-town Hustler."

He was runner-up for the Funny Car world championships for both NHRA and IHRA in 1984. During his NHRA career he won 12 NHRA national events. No less of an authority than Dave Settles calls him one of the best drivers he has ever seen.

FRANK “THE BEARD” BRADLEY

A larger than life racer who was a sheriff in California's Sonoma Valley when he wasn’t driving and tuning Top Fuel cars. He is known to be a fireworks expert as well as one of the best practical jokers in the sport, and is the first racer that we can verify to have a hot tub in his transporter. Historically, though, he was more than just drag racing's slightly altered version of the Merry Prankster. He could tune and drive, mostly on a budget, with the best. He is the only Top Fuel driver in history to be a member of both the Cragar Five-Second and Four-Second clubs. He also went to nine NHRA final rounds, winning four times, and was an ADRA Top Fuel World Champ.

Addendum: We forgot to note earlier that Jeb Allen was not only the youngest driver to ever win an NHRA Top Fuel title at a national event (age 18) but also the youngest to get a professional Top Fuel license (17).

 

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