Oct. 27, 2007

Ed "Ace" McCulloch has been drag racing for more than 30 years. Growing up in Southern California, the hotbed of drag racing, he began his racing career in 1964, driving Top Fuel dragsters. He made the move to the new Funny Car class in 1969 and became one of the sport's early heroes.

He toured the country, racing as many times a week as possible. He learned every facet of the race car and what it took to make it win races.

He returned to Top Fuel for the 1992-93 seasons, retiring from driving at the end of 1993.

At 64, McCulloch is a Funny Car legend who produced 18 victories in that class as a driver, as well as four in Top Fuel. He became a crew chief in 1995 and tuned Ron Capps' Don Prudhomme Racing Funny Car from the Pomona Finals in 1999 through Sonoma 2003.

He also won six U.S. Nationals titles, five in Funny Car (1971-72, 1983, 1988, 1990 and 1992), but has never won a national championship.

He became a crew chief and team manager for the Kalitta Top Fuel team in the 1990s before tuning Funny Cars for Don Prudhomme, including Ron Capps'. He also tuned Doug Herbert's Top Fuel dragster to one win in 2004.

McCulloch was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2000 and was listed 19th among the NHRA's top 50 drivers in its first 50 years.

McCulloch, who lives in Indianapolis with wife Linda, has tuned five different drivers to 16 victories, 12 in Funny Car (Ron Capps 11, Tommy Johnson Jr. 1) and four in Top Fuel (Doug Kalitta 2, Scott Kalitta 1, Doug Herbert 1), as of Oct. 7, 2007. Two more national events remain in the 2007 season as of today.

He earned the nickname "Ace" because Jerry "The King" Ruth was the dominant drag racer in the Northwest when McCulloch began racing, and the only card higher than a king is an ace. The moniker stuck.

He joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2005 and tuned the Brut Dodge Stratus for driver Ron Capps to three victories in seven final rounds that year, claiming runner-up in the Funny Car class. In 2006, driving a Dodge Charger R/T, Capps won five national events in the Funny Car tuned by McCulloch, the most of any driver in that class, went to eight final rounds, and finished third in another tight battle among three drivers.

So far, in 2007, with two national events remaining, Capps has won three races and stands fourth in the new Countdown to One playoffs standings after leading the points through most of the first 17 races. The Funny Car champion will be named among the top four at the last event of the season, in Pomona, Calif.