cars just played right into that. Mattel made Barbie dolls, then they
came out with the Hot Wheels line for the boys. Guess what? The boys
are the ones that like cars and like to go to the drag races. It was just
an instant hit. It’s carried on ever since. We still have contracts with
Mattel and we’re still doing business with them.”
The Hot Wheels line’s success helped McEwen and Prudhomme
transform from drag racers with varying levels of success to household
names, carrying the sport of drag racing along with them. Cleaning up
drag racing’s image as a hobby for rough, rowdy individuals wasn’t a
part of McEwen’s plan, but it was a clear result of his promotional effort.
“When we started this drag racing stuff, there used to be a sign up
in Bakersfield outside of one of the motels. It said, ‘Drag racers and
dogs - stay off the lawn.’ That’s how drag racers were looked upon – a
bunch of greasy guys and hot rodders that people didn’t want around.
Tom changed all that. I think he changed the image of drag racing.”
In the bigger-picture view of the sport, McEwen also cracked open
the world of major sponsorships in drag racing. His early marketing
ideas – printing T-shirts, running ads in Drag News, and wearing team
uniforms – inspired countless other sponsorship programs since the
ground-breaking Mattel partnership. In a sense, every drag racer who’s
ever had a major sponsor – especially one outside of the automotive
industry – owes a debt of gratitude to McEwen for his contributions
to the motorsports marketing game.
Dr ag Illustr ated
“All we wanted to do was race cars,” Prudhomme remembers. “We
didn’t even think that far ahead. We didn’t think even think drag rac-
ing would last that long. We didn’t plan 50 years down the line. There
were really no big aftermarket companies at the time. You were lucky if
you’d get a free can of oil or a set of spark plugs for your car, but there
were really no sponsors in the game. To start out like that and see how
it’s grown, I know Tom had a lot of pride in the fact of what he’s done.”
When the Hot Wheels partnership ended – as all sponsorships in-
evitably do, no matter how successful they might be – the duo put
together a short-lived deal with Carefree sugar-free gum, then went
their separate ways as official racing partners after the 1973 season.
Their rivalry carried on for many years, most notably in the 1978 U.S.
Nationals Funny Car final round when McEwen defeated Prudhomme.
Their friendship was frequently tested, but lasted McEwen’s lifetime,
even when he and Prudhomme eased out of frequent participation.
“Although he wasn’t racing, he never left,” Prudhomme points out.
“He worked for Drag Racer magazine and he was involved with NHRA.
He was always there. He was never a guy that was hard to get a hold
of. He’d pick up his phone every time.”
Prudhomme fondly recalls the softer side of McEwen, the side that
would stock dozens of pairs of shoes in his car to give out to friends
and family.
“He must’ve had a hundred pairs of tennis shoes. But he would buy
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TRIBUTE