The Snake and Mongoose Chronicles: Episode 1 Page #7

the defending Nationals champion,

Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.

Oh, my God!

Nicoll's car burst into flame...

- Oh, my God.

- ...and splits in two!

Nicoll goes into the crash wall,

his engine careening

across the track!

But Nicoll's car cut in half.

There is the driver's cage.

It caromed at least

350 feet down the track

and bounced over into the grass.

And I'll say that Don Prudhomme

appears to be all right.

Oh, my God.

See him go right by me,

didn't have a back section?

- Hey, you okay?

- Was he dragging

- behind the back section?

- Okay, all right. Listen.

We won, huh? You did it, buddy.

What do you mean won?

We didn't win.

- Hey, listen. We won.

- Hey, hey. Don.

Jim Nicoll's car,

that came all the way

to the end of the run-out area.

How bad is he?

We understand that Jim Nicoll

was conscious when taken

out of the roll cage

and put in the ambulance

now on the way to the hospital.

I'm done racing.

- Don, come on.

- It's not worth it.

- Listen to me.

- First Garlits, now this.

- I'm not racing anymore.

- You're okay, man.

That's not fair to you.

- Don't make your head up.

- Don, please.

And here's the finish.

How terribly close it was.

Prudhomme winning by a yard,

3/100 of a second at

231 miles an hour.

Don, what was going

through your mind

when you saw the explosion

coming from Jim Nicoll's car?

- I'm done racing, Mike.

- You're quitting?

Do you know how many people

have died racing? Do you?

It's too damn dangerous.

You heard it here.

"Snake" Prudhomme says

he is done drag racing.

After winning his

second consecutive

U.S. Nationals in Top Fuel

- and the fiery explosion...

- Hold this. I'll handle it.

...of Jim Nicoll's car,

Don Prudhomme...

You need to get out of here.

You need to get the hell out of here.

Don Prudhomme says

he is done drag racing.

All right, all right.

Hey, shut the camera off.

Mike, you run that story,

I guarantee you

not one top driver

will speak to you again, ever.

Is that a threat?

That's up to you.

Vipe.

Hey, Roland. Don?

Hey, I thought

you'd want this. Huh?

You won it, brah.

After that, I don't really feel

like a winner, all right?

Hey, you dodged one bullet today,

but that's why you love

the sport, right?

You get to feel indestructible.

I feel pretty damn destructible

right now, Roland.

You'll feel better

in the morning, huh? Here.

Good night, Vipe.

All our times have come

Here

But now they're gone...

Hey, Tommy, with this low humidity,

I'd like to speed things up

with this pulley combo.

- Yeah, that's a good idea.

- Yeah.

Hey, I've been thinking

about the Nicoll crash.

- Yeah.

- Now, why couldn't we go

from six studs to 12

here on the clutch cam?

- That's a good idea.

- Yeah.

Let me think about that.

You know, we could make

the whole damn thing

out of billet steel

instead of aluminum.

- There you go.

- Here you go.

Hey, great to have you back

working with me on the car.

Yeah, well, you're not

going to be around forever.

Hey, don't worry about me.

No matter how busy I get,

I'll always be here to help you

with the big ones, pal.

Thanks, Ed.

Hey, you all right?

Yeah, just...

you know, wishing my dad

could be around to see all this.

He was a Navy fighter pilot,

wasn't he?

- He was a test pilot.

- Ah.

He crashed when I was just a baby.

Yeah.

You know, I know you

don't like talking about it,

but it sure does explain a lot.

Now, what do you mean by that?

Well, you know,

your craving for speed,

the ability to handle

all the adrenaline of it, you know.

You got a big gift here

knowing how to make these things

go faster and safer, I might add.

I mean, that slider clutch of

yours, the ventilator mask.

I mean, you know,

and how about the deal you put

together with Hot Wheels?

I mean, that thing is going to just put

this sport right on the map, Tommy.

Your dad would really

be proud of you, believe me.

But I haven't won the big one, Ed.

Hey, you're going to have

to get over Indy, okay?

All the great drivers show up,

and they enter into one class.

What do you do? You show up.

You enter into two.

- All right.

- I don't know what you're thinking.

You trying to upstage

Prudhomme or something?

- All right, that was stupid.

- Yes, it was.

Hey, look, Tom...

you're a terrific driver.

One of the best.

But I've never seen a driver

that needed to win

as much as Don Prudhomme.

Determination, focus,

time he spends on his car,

all of it makes him the

greatest driver I've ever seen.

Want to know why?

The need to win.

Really, right here.

The need to win, remember that.

I'm not kidding you.

Come on, let's see if we can get

this rocket ship going.

All right.

Hey, why don't you trade me that

here real quick, son?

- There we go.

- Hi, Snake.

Hey, buddy.

- I ain't seen you in a while.

- Yeah.

What are you working on?

Just borrowing some technology

from our stock-car buddies.

Oh, fire extinguishers in the car?

Yeah, yeah.

See, you hit this top here.

- You slam on it...

- Huh.

...and it fills the cage

with this fire-retardant powder.

I mean, voil.

"Voil."

Yeah, it's French, Don.

Hey, why don't you hang on

a second here, buddy, okay?

I'll be right back.

Don't go driving off on me.

Hey, Nicoll was just plain unlucky.

That's all there is to it, Don.

You believe in luck, then you

know it's going to run out.

Well, while you were holed up

for the past two months

feeling sorry for yourself,

I took the Mattel boys

to Bakersfield.

- Top Fuel?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

And even though I'm just the mouth,

I won it.

Hey, we all got to die

someday, Snake.

Can't live your life

in fear of that.

Now what else

are you going to do, huh?

You going to go back

to painting cars?

I know I ain't got nothing else

going on outside of this.

You and me,

we are drag racers, man.

That doesn't mean

I got to drive 'em anymore.

You gonna let someone else race me?

Damn it, we need you

out there, Don.

- Here.

- What's this?

'71 sponsorship money.

200 grand?

That's right.

Now we can finally big

those rear-engine dragsters

that the Garlits dreamed of.

Hell, with that, we take luck

out of the equation.

Time to get back

behind the wheel, brother.

Don Prudhomme's Snake.

Torn McEwen's Mongoose.

Dragdom's fastest duo goes

from the drag strip to your home.

It's Mattel's

Mongoose-Snake drag set,

just like the big ones.

Funny cars. Screaming speed.

Get Hot Wheels'

Mongoose-Snake drag set...

only from Mattel,

and go with a winner.

Hey, kids, you guys

have Hot Wheel cars?

Absolutely, yes, sir.

Well, who's faster,

Snake or Mongoose?

- Snake.

- Oh, no. Come on.

You paid those kids to say that.

- They know the truth.

- Hey, guys.

Great crowd.

Look at all the kids. I love it.

What do you think of the new cars?

Hey, great new colors.

You mean the same cars, Art?

They look the same to me.

Those cars were number-one and

number-two best sellers last year.

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