Which famous drag racer is known as 'The Snake'?

The famous drag racer known as “The Snake” is Don Prudhomme.

Donald Ray Prudhomme earned the nickname during a career that made him one of drag racing’s most recognizable stars. The California racer competed in Top Fuel before becoming a major Funny Car driver, and he won four NHRA Funny Car championships from 1975 through 1978.

The nickname became especially prominent during Prudhomme’s celebrated rivalry with Tom McEwen, whose car and persona were known as “The Mongoose.” Their match races, colorful cars and Hot Wheels sponsorship helped bring drag racing to a much wider audience in the 1970s. The “Snake and Mongoose” pairing is why Tom McEwen is the most common mistaken answer: he was the rival, not the Snake.

Prudhomme retired from driving in 1994 but continued in drag racing as a team owner and sponsor. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2000, cementing the nickname in the sport’s history.