From Don Garlits to Tony Schumacher: 50 years of racing legends

They had colorful nicknames like “The Mongoose” and “The Snake,” initially raced mostly for glory in light of skimpy prize money and became legends as professional drag racing’s popularity expanded nationwide. As the National Hot Rod Assn. holds the 50th anniversary of the Winternationals this week, here’s a look at some of drag racing’s most notable drivers over the decades in the premier top-fuel and funny car classes, some of whom will appear to help celebrate this year’s Winternationals in Pomona:

1960s

“Big Daddy” Don Garlits

In the Winternationals’ first 10 years, and for decades after that, Garlits was the driver even casual fans knew as being synonymous with drag racing.

A Floridian who savored coming to Southern California to knock off rival drivers, Garlits stood out not only for his driving prowess but for technical innovations on his “Swamp Rat” top-fuel dragsters that revolutionized the sport.

In 1963, for instance, Garlits won the first of five Winternationals titles with a dragster named Swamp Rat V that had a wing atop the engine for improved aerodynamics.

And in 1971, after losing part of a foot when his transmission exploded at the old Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach, Garlits invented the first top-fuel dragster that had the powerful engine behind the driver -- a design still used today -- and won the Winternationals again. One

of his dragsters sits in

the Smithsonian Institution.

1970s

Don “The Snake” Prudhomme

The other “Don” who rose to fame in the sport’s funny car class was Prudhomme, who earned the moniker because he was exceptionally fast off the starting line.

Prudhomme initially raced the elongated top-eliminator -- now called top-fuel -- dragsters raced by Garlits and others. But he switched to funny cars and won the Winternationals in that division in four consecutive years from 1975 to 1978, with each victory launching him toward the series championships in those years as well.

Drag racing fans enjoyed Prudhomme’s friendly rivalry with Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. But Prudhomme stood apart with an “intangible mix of charisma, innovation, skill and daring,” according to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, into which he was inducted in 1991.

1980s

Shirley Muldowney

Kenny Bernstein

Dubbed the “first lady of drag racing,” Muldowney was beating the men and winning events in top-fuel dragsters -- including the Winternationals in 1980 -- before Danica Patrick was born.

Determined, skilled, outspoken and fiery in the face of discrimination and hostility for being a woman in a dangerous, male-dominated sport -- she was called “Cha-Cha Muldowney” early in her career, a name she despised -- Muldowney also won the Winternationals in 1983 and captured three championships in her career.

Muldowney’s life and career were chronicled in the 1983 movie “Heart Like a Wheel” and, the next year, she was seriously injured in a crash. But after nearly two years of rehabilitation she returned to racing and, in late 1989, won another top-fuel race in Phoenix.

Bernstein, meanwhile, was a versatile six-time champion, winning four consecutive funny car season-long titles from 1985 to 1988 and top-fuel championships in 1996 and 2001.

The Lake Forest driver also was the first drag racer to break the 300-mph barrier, at Gainesville, Fla., in 1992, and Bernstein is known for a business savvy that included maintaining Budweiser’s 30-year sponsorship of dragsters driven by Bernstein and his son Brandon.

1990s

John Force

There has been nothing like Force before or since in drag racing, and his improbable 14 funny car championships -- an astonishing nine of which were earned in the 1990s -- likely will never be duplicated, either.

So emotional, effervescent and talkative that Times columnist Bill Dwyre once described him as “a walking ad for caffeine.” Force, a four-time Winternationals winner, became perhaps drag racing’s biggest draw both by virtue of his remarkable record and his engaging personality.

It’s still that way, as Force continues racing at age 60 even though the Bell Gardens native was seriously injured in a 2007 racing crash. He owns a Yorba Linda-based team of three funny car drivers who include daughter Ashley Force Hood -- who arguably has supplanted her father as drag racing’s most popular figure today -- and son-in-law Robert Hight, the reigning funny car champ.

2000s

Tony Schumacher

Known as “The Sarge” because of his imposing skill and U.S. Army-sponsored dragster, Schumacher has won seven top-fuel championships -- including an unprecedented six consecutive titles from 2004 to 2009.

Last year’s championship was especially sweet for Schumacher, who turned 40 in December. He narrowly beat out two-time champ Larry Dixon, who was driving for a new team whose crew chief was Alan Johnson, who had guided Schumacher to his previous five consecutive titles.

A Canoga Park native with two Winternationals victories, Schumacher last year also passed Joe Amato for most career wins -- Schumacher now has 61 -- and he holds several other top-fuel records as well.

And finally . . .

Bob Glidden

Warren Johnson

The NHRA class just below top-fuel and funny cars is pro stock, and any mention of Winternationals drivers must include the two legends of pro stock racing, Glidden and Johnson.

Glidden won an unprecedented 10 championships in 16 years, including five consecutive titles from 1985 to 1989. He also amassed 85 national event wins -- including a record seven Winternationals victories -- before retiring after the 1997 season.

Johnson, in turn, holds the record for most pro stock event wins in history with 96, including five Winternationals victories. Known as “The Professor” for his knowledge of racing engineering, Johnson also won six pro stock championships, five of them in the 1990s.

james.peltz@latimes.com