TOM McEWEN   

Whether it's on the drag racing strip or racetrack, Tom MeEwen just loves things that go fast. On the drag racing strip, MeEwen is a legend as his career spanned nearly four decades in the NHRA Championship drag racing circuit. One of the first to realize the value of non-automotive sponsorship, McEwen believed that "a big following and good performance is better for the sponsors than big wins and no following."
    In 1964, the late Ed Donovan called him "Mongoose" after a match race win over rival Don "Snake" Prudhomme, and the nickname was to bring him fame and fortune for the rest of his career. In 1969, together with Prudhomme, he formed Wildlife Racing, and, through a connection at the Mattel Toy Company, negotiated the biggest sponsorship deal to that time in drag racing history. McEwen was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on March 5, 1998.
    McEwen has own Quarter Horses for some time and his stable has featured Champion of Champions finalist Mongoose First as well as 1997 PCQHRA Breeders Derby winner Special Mongoose. Away from the track, McEwen spends countless hours visiting kids in hospitals and has raised thousands of dollars for the Leukemia Society in memory of his son, Jamie.
   "Jamie was a great person in my life and whenever I can do something to help the Leukemia Society I'll do it. Working to help that cause brings me as much delight as anything else I've done in my life."