Top Fuel Dragsters of the 1970s Photo Archive

The early '70s were a pivotal time for rear-engine dragsters. "Slingshots" were front engine fire-breathing diggers where the driver sat just three feet behind the motor. This set-up proved to be very dangerous, so in 1970 at Lions Drag Strip "Big Daddy" Don Garlits vowed, after a horrific transmission explosion in his slingshot Wynns Charger, that he would formulate a design that would put the fuel motor behind him. The emergence of the rear-engine dragster rekindled the interest in Top Fuel Eliminator class. Legendary championship drivers like TV Tommy Ivo, Tony Nancy, Gary Beck, Don Prudhomme, Jerry Ruth, Carl Olson, Tom McEwen, Shirley Muldowney, James Warren, Jeb Allen, Herm Peterson, Steve Carbone and many more, are all portrayed in sensational fire-and-smoke belching action at the race track.