Tom McEwen was an American drag racer and a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA's first 50 years. He received the nickname "the Mongoose" in 1964 from engine builder Ed Donovan. It was originally used as a device to entice Don "the Snake" Prudhomme into a high-exposure match race. In 1972, McEwen won his first major event when he dominated the Top Fuel field at the Bakersfield March Meet. A year later, he scored his first NHRA national event victory by topping the Funny Car field at the Super Nationals at Ontario Motor Speedway. He went on to win four more national events, including his dramatic U.S. Nationals Funny Car victory over Prudhomme in 1978. The win came only a few days after the death of his son Jamie, who had battled leukemia. McEwen won the AHRA World Finals at Spokane Raceway Park in 1982, the prestigious Big Bud Shootout in 1984, and Top Fuel at the 1991 Summer nationals at Englishtown, New Jersey. He retired from racing in 1992, and was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.
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