RIP Tom "Mongoose" McEwen...

[Steve DeRosa]

A household name among us gearheads of the '60s-70s and a true legend who, for better or worse, helped turn drag racing from a weekend hobby into a professional-level motorsport; excerpted from the NHRA official website:

Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen, one of the iconic figures in drag racing history, died June 10. He was 81.

McEwen, voted No. 16 on NHRA's Top 50 Drivers lists in 2001, competed in both Funny Car and Top Fuel, and although he wasn't one of drag racing's most prolific winners, he certainly was one of its most colorful.

Nicknamed "the Mongoose" in 1964, largely as a device to entice Don "the Snake" Prudhomme into a high-exposure match race, McEwen won only five NHRA national events during his 35-plus-year career, but his gift for gab and promotional ability made him one of the sport's most influential and controversial figures.

Through his long association with Prudhomme, a friendship that survived their racing careers and sometimes bitter rivalries, McEwen helped blaze the trail toward the sponsored drag racing team. Their Mattel sponsorship, which gave way to "Snake" and "Mongoose" Hot Wheels toys, and backing from big names like Coca-Cola and Carefree sugarless gum were of major significance, but McEwen was a drag racer first...

But it was with Prudhomme that he became nationally famous, as kids raced small-scale Hot Wheels replicas of their cars on orange plastic dragstrips strewn across living rooms worldwide. McEwen's extraordinary promotional ability and Prudhomme's success on the racetrack eventually led to the formation of a national touring team sponsored by Mattel, and, in mid-1969, McEwen and Prudhomme corporately became Wildlife Racing.

The Mattel deal ran from 1970 through 1972, and in 1973, Wildlife Racing secured Carefree sugarless gum as a sponsor. McEwen and Prudhomme dissolved their corporation at the end of the 1973 season, but it was a very lucrative partnership. They didn't perform badly on the racetrack, either...

"We were a good team; we complemented each other. Don was the serious guy, spent a lot of time with his car, and I was more like the wrestlers today, saying how bad I was going to beat him to build interest in the deal."

McEwen, a member of the International Drag racing Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and many more, remained popular even in retirement, attending car shows and doing promotional work for a long line of admirers, and was a semi-regular presence at recent races. This year, he had a big hand in helping put together the NHRA Legends Tour and had already made appearances in Las Vegas and Houston as part of the program...

[Sagebrush Tom]

RIP Tom. You will be missed. I first saw Tom McEwen race at Pomona Very early in 1964 when he was driving a Woody Car (Race Car Engr.) and was as colorful in the pits as he ever was. This car was taken over by Paul Sutherland as Tom moved on to drive the Donovan Engr. car and became the Mongoose as to reference to Don Prudhomme calling himself the Snake. Tom was able to entice the Snake in their first match race which the Mongoose took both rounds and gained him the popularity he kept throughout his career.
Tom

[architype]

Sorry to hear this news.

It does bring back great memories of me and my buddy Mike hanging out in the pits at Delmar Dragway in Delmar, DE, back in the early 70's. We watched Don,"The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen match race. Along with Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Ronnie Sox, Bill Jenkins, Jim Lieberman, (and Pam) and many others including some great local talent. I can probably attribute 50% of my hearing loss to that time, but I would do it all again if I could.
Thanks for the memories, Tom...R.I.P.