One of America’s most celebrated ‘Snakes,’ Don Prudhomme is still racing at 80 | Opinion
Of America’s most famous snakes, but one remains.
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kenny “The Snake” Stabler, and International Motorsports Hall of Famer Don “The Snake” Prudhomme were born four years apart, but we lost Stabler in 2015 at the age of 69.
The two snakes met one time.
“I don’t think he knew who I was,” Prudhomme said. “I’m not sure he knew who he was.”
Stabler battled the effects of concussions for years.
As we lose some of the names, personalities and icons that constructed the modern American sports machine, there remain a few lucky ones who prove that age really is just a number.
On Wednesday in Arlington, one of the most influential race drivers in the history of motorsports drank a Miller Lite while eating a plate of blackened fish at a local restaurant.
Don “The Snake” Prudhomme looks like he’s 68, sounds 48, but is actually 80.
He was in town to help his one-time rival, now friend, Billy Meyer, promote the NHRA’s “Texas Fall Nationals,” which are being held this weekend at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis.
Nothing about Prudhomme’s life says 80 is anything other than another number to be lived. Everything about Prudhomme says a good work ethic mixed with luck and good decisions can make a good life.
Snake recently won the NORRA Mexican 1000, an off-road rally set in the Baja Peninsula.
He tends to his own yard work at his house near San Diego.
He would like to get back into racing again with a team. He “retired” about 10 years ago, but there is a restlessness to him.
He’s 80, years young.
He started his career winning a race that resulted in $50. Not a check. Not cash. A war bond.
Sometime during the late ‘60s, a few years after the high school version of Stabler was called The Snake, someone in those garages gave Prudhomme the same name.
Stabler was a “snake” because of the way he ran all over the field; Prudhomme was a snake because he was quick off the starting line.
“I really didn’t like it at all at first because I didn’t know anything about nicknames,” Prudhomme said. “It made my career.”
People who may never have seen a drag race, and had no clue what a funny car was, had heard of “The Snake.”
So much of what Prudhomme did in the ‘70s and ‘80s became a part of the American sports culture, from deals with the Mattel toy company to being sponsored by the U.S. armed services.
Prudhomme thought it was crazy to be linked with a toy company, which was the idea of his rival and friend, Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen.
To this day, Prudhomme receives a monthly check from Mattel for the rights deal he struck decades ago for those Matchbox cars. He thought the most recent check was for $4,000.
His was the first car, or sports entity, to be sponsored by the U.S. Army, which wanted to test if advertising in sports resulted in a spike in recruiting. It was a hit, and it’s why so often you see the armed services advertise heavily in sports.
Ultimately, he was part of a select group of athletes/drivers to make real money in the American sports scene. He was one of the first to take what he did as a passion, in this case car racing, and mold it into a lucrative career.
He was the first driver to reach 240 mph. The first to hit 250 mph.
“That felt like 245,” he said.
(FYI: The high speed these days is 339 mph.)
Unlike so many drivers whose start is possible because they basically inherited money to support their careers, Prudhomme had to build what he drove, hope he didn’t crash it, and then not blow it.
It helped he has been married to the same woman for 58 years. “She’s still good lookin’, too,” he said.
The couple has one daughter, who works with her dad.
He’s been in bad crashes, but never sustained a terrible injury. He never made a catastrophically stupid decision.
In between the beginning to today he led a full life full of fast speeds, but avoided the common traps, and tragedies, that so often come with the lifestyle.
For instance, he was a friend of the late Evel Knievel, the daredevil glorified stunt man of the ‘70s.
“I loved him. He was bitchin’,” Prudhomme said. “He was every bit as crazy as what you hear. With the women, the whole deal. He was a big deal.”
While Prudhomme knew his way around a car, a garage, and knew how to push an engine for more speeds, there was a line. He had interest in F1 and IndyCar, but zero interest in rocket cars, or going beyond a certain point.
In anything.
It’s likely why even at 80 , Don Prudhomme is still “The Snake.”
