Watching the NHRA Pomona Winternationals yesterday reminded me of my youth. When I wasn't fishing or hunting, I was hot rodding with my buddies. In February 1962 I headed south to the Winternationals with my buddy Jerry Texley in his salmon and white Pontiac with tri-power. An Oregon boy, I was thrilled to see palm trees growing by the side of the road, but the races were rained out.

Back in the day, there were a lot of top eliminator races all over the country that featured Don "The Snake" Prudhomme. Sometimes he raced Kenny Bernstein, and often he was paired against Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen in the race of the day. Yesterday, during an interview with McEwen, we learned their famous competition will be the subject of a new movie. We also learned that "Fast Jack" Beckman is a surfer and will head for Hermosa on Monday.

Prudhomme is retired now. He's still at the Winternationals, however, as I saw his name plastered on the base of one of the main grandstands at the famous race that proclaimed "Don 'The Snake' Grandstand."

And that reminded me of the last time I saw Don, who used to have a shop in Vista not too far from Carl Burns' place: Burns Saltwater Outfitters. On that sunny morning I was working up at the H&M end of the docks when I saw somebody who looked so familiar it was disturbing, until I remembered whose famous face it was.

I walked over to him and said, "Hi, Don; do you mind if I take your picture?"

He said he didn't mind, so I grabbed a couple of shots. Here he is, remarkably much the same after more than 30 years. What was The Snake doing at the dock during the arrival of a long range boat? His head mechanic had been out on a trip, I was told, and Don was there to pick up some fish.

The race finals are today. I don't know who'll win this year, but there are a lot of times from qualifications that are just a few hundredths of a second apart. Even if he's not in, though, I reckon Don is still a winner. His sport, the one he did so much to make popular, will not forget him. I hope he liked the fish.