I've said it before, and I imagine that I'll say it again: The racing season doesn't start until the legendary Bunny Burkett makes a few passes down the drag strip at Eastside Speedway, on Easter Sunday. I don't care what the NHRA or Nascar or Formula One have been up to. Unless I see the Easter Bunny in her Funny Car, the season hasn't really begun.
Easter was late, this year, but it finally arrived, bringing with it the 47th Annual Funny Car Classic.
Bunny Burkett performs a burnout in her Alcohol Funny Car. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011. (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011. Click on any image to see a much larger version.)
The Funny Car Classic isn't a race. The track books Funny Cars (and this year Fuel Altereds) that they know will entertain the fans with thundering loud, smokey burnouts and, with a little luck, blazingly fast passes down the track. The track was tricky, yesterday, so the passes weren't anything to brag about. But the burnouts were everything fans could have wanted.
Bunny Burkett and fans. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
I wasn't exaggerating when I called Bunny "legendary." She was one of the first women to reach the highest ranks of drag racing -- a true pioneer. She survived a horrible crash and came back to resume her racing career. And she's waged a heroic battle against cancer. (Among other things, she uses her continuing popularity with fans to raise money for cancer research.) I was lucky enough to have a long interview with Bunny, as few years ago. You can read an account of it, here.
Fans cover their ears, in anticipation of the howl emitted by a Fuel Altered's motor. Eastside Speeday, 24 April 2011.
A couple of thousand fans turned out for the show, packing the grandstands and lining the track.
Tony Connoy performs a burnout in his Funny Car. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
Gary "Li'l Bear" Pritchett performs a burnout in his Funny Car. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
Gary "Li'l Bear" Pritchett, Bunny's godson and protege, was among the racers at yesterday's show. He's making a mark for himself in drag racing. Besides driving (and working on) Bunny's second Funny Car, he's a been member of several NHRA Top Fuel racing team, including Morgan Lucas' and Hot Rod Fuller's.
Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
Of course, most cars at the track, yesterday, weren't Funny Cars or Fuel Altereds. Eastside is the home tracks of hundreds of grassroots drag racers.
Bunny Burkett (near lane) and Gary "Li'l Bear" Pritchett. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
The highlight of the day's action was probably the side-by-side passes that Bunny and Li'l Bear made near the end of the day. As you can see, the protege edged out the teacher.
Window of Bunny's Funny Car. Eastside Speedway, 24 April 2011.
