I wanted to give everyone a heads up that on Sunday, January 3rd at 11:30AM, a new series I'm hosting and producing will be making its debut on Fox Sports Net called "The NHRA's Greatest Races". A press release from the NHRA will be forthcoming but for those who don't receive press releases, I thought I'd use this board to help spread the word.
I've been working on making this project happen for quite a while and this past summer, I finally was able to put all the necessary pieces together between my production company, the NHRA, and Roger Burgess of ProCare RX, whose great support and primary sponsorship helped make this possible. I have exclusive access to the immense Diamond P tape library which now resides at NHRA headquarters and includes literally hundreds of tapes archiving all of the national events and bonus races produced for television by Diamond P for over 30 years. The first 13 episodes of the show include some truly historic events in NHRA history such as the 1978 US Nationals featuring Prudhomme and McEwen's Funny Car final just days after Tom's son, Jamie, passed away from leukemia. The 1982 Springnationals where Shirley and Lucille Lee raced in the first all-female Top Fuel final, and the 1984 Gatornationals where Joe Amato debuted Top Fuel's first mega-wing designed by Tim Richards.
What makes these shows so special is that you'll see and hear the great Dave McClelland and Steve Evans as they called the races, provided commentary and storylines, plus see many of the greatest legends in the sport's history: Bernstein, Prudhomme, Beadle, Force, Garlits, Muldowney, Hawley, Glidden, Shepherd, Amato, Ormsby, Oswald, Bradley, Meyer, Dunn, etc., etc., etc, all in action just the way we saw them when the Diamond P shows were first aired in the 1970's and 80's. Plus, you'll see many of those drivers comment on those races in interviews conducted recently, reflecting on those performances. And my buddy, Bob Frey, gives some great historical perspectives on all the races with his usual knack for telling a great story.
I hope everyone will get the word out on the series since if it's a hit, there are many, many more races I'd like to bring back for another 13 week run.
One footnote: Due to the blizzard we were socked with last weekend up here in the northeast, we are running a little behind in getting the first several episodes of the series to the network. If it doesn't debut on the 3rd, look for it a week later on the 10th at the same time.
I've been working on making this project happen for quite a while and this past summer, I finally was able to put all the necessary pieces together between my production company, the NHRA, and Roger Burgess of ProCare RX, whose great support and primary sponsorship helped make this possible. I have exclusive access to the immense Diamond P tape library which now resides at NHRA headquarters and includes literally hundreds of tapes archiving all of the national events and bonus races produced for television by Diamond P for over 30 years. The first 13 episodes of the show include some truly historic events in NHRA history such as the 1978 US Nationals featuring Prudhomme and McEwen's Funny Car final just days after Tom's son, Jamie, passed away from leukemia. The 1982 Springnationals where Shirley and Lucille Lee raced in the first all-female Top Fuel final, and the 1984 Gatornationals where Joe Amato debuted Top Fuel's first mega-wing designed by Tim Richards.
What makes these shows so special is that you'll see and hear the great Dave McClelland and Steve Evans as they called the races, provided commentary and storylines, plus see many of the greatest legends in the sport's history: Bernstein, Prudhomme, Beadle, Force, Garlits, Muldowney, Hawley, Glidden, Shepherd, Amato, Ormsby, Oswald, Bradley, Meyer, Dunn, etc., etc., etc, all in action just the way we saw them when the Diamond P shows were first aired in the 1970's and 80's. Plus, you'll see many of those drivers comment on those races in interviews conducted recently, reflecting on those performances. And my buddy, Bob Frey, gives some great historical perspectives on all the races with his usual knack for telling a great story.
I hope everyone will get the word out on the series since if it's a hit, there are many, many more races I'd like to bring back for another 13 week run.
One footnote: Due to the blizzard we were socked with last weekend up here in the northeast, we are running a little behind in getting the first several episodes of the series to the network. If it doesn't debut on the 3rd, look for it a week later on the 10th at the same time.
