Fans were also treated to a car show and the appearance of Don “The Snake” Prudhomme who served as grand marshal. Prudhomme was also inducted into the Maple Grove Walk of Fame along with Dale Pulde, Frank Hawley, Raymond Beadle and the Eastern Custom Car Association.

From left, Raymond Beadle, Frank Hawley and Don Prudhomme.  (Mark Brewer photo)

Pulde, Hawley and Beadle took part in the Cavalcade and were on hand to receive their awards with Prudhomme. Pulde and Hawley were there to drive the War Eagle and Chi-Town Hustler, respectively, while Beadle was there with his old Blue Max that was driven by Ronny Young.

The ECCA was also honored during prerace ceremonies. Surviving members Carl Ruth, Ernie Musser, George Weiler and Lee Crupi were on hand. The group was being honored for its contributions in helping Alfred Stauffer build Maple Grove Park Drag-O-Way in 1962.

From left, NHRA announcer Bob Frey, Maple Grove announcer Roger Leister, and Mike Lewis.  (Debbie Gastelu photo)

“None of us would be here today without you guys,” said former MGR general manager Mike Lewis, who served as a master of ceremony for the Walk of Fame induction. Lewis himself was a participant in the racing with the Brand X nitro Funny Car.

Prudhomme was also in the car show, awarding his top 25 picks and signing autographs with Beadle and Weiler. The winning cars were then paraded down the track.

The racing took place in two stages. Earlier in the day, regional bracket racers – the bread and butter of Maple Grove’s racing program for decades – had a special race. The Super and Pro races were not completed because of time constraints, while Eddie McBride (Glenolden, Pa.) won Junior Dragsters.

In the final, McBride and his ’04 Halfscale defeated Brittany Boltz (Lancaster, Pa.) with a pass of 7.937 seconds at 81.33 mph, using a better reaction time to his advantage.

The Cavalcade of Funny Cars were split between nitro and alcohol classes and run in a Chicago-style format; the two cars with the quickest elapsed times after the first run were paired in the second session for the championship.

In the first round, Head quickly established himself as the favorite by taking his car to a pass of 5.889 at 248.61 mph. The speed was a track record, bettering the 248.25 mark set by Gallen in 2010.