I think that it would be fair to say that Don Prudhomme had a moderately successful career behind the wheel of Roland Leongs Hawaiian dragster. In fact, Don was so good at driving the car that he decided to strike out on his own in 1966 with the famous B & M Torkmaster Special entry which meant that Mr. Leong would have to find a new driver for his machine. Enter Mike Snively, whose previous driving experience included stints behind the wheel of the Beacon Auto A/GD, the Blair & Hanna A/FD, Ed Pinks car and a tour of duty with the feared Scottys Muffler Shop car. Snively hopped in and picked up right where Don left off; winning!!

The 1966 season was very good to the team with Mike beating Jim Dunn to win the Winternationals and he followed that up by stopping the legendary Danny Ongais to win the 1966 Indy Nationals. 1967 started out just as well with a huge win at the Bakersfield Fuel and Gas Championships. With Keith Black building the motors, with Roland tuning and with Mike driving the team was almost unbeatable. There was a saying in drag racing at the time that, You cant beat the Reverend Mr. Black. If you got a chance to beat one of Keiths cars something would always seem to happen that would take you out of contention and the 67 Bakersfield meet may have proved that point. In the first round, Snively appeared to lose to Dan Rightsell only to have the decision overturned and Mike was reinstated. In round two Nick Marshall fouled out, in round three the feared Gerry Glenn couldnt answer the call and was replaced by Gary Gabelich who was much easier to beat. Then, in the next round, Pete Robinson fouled out and Mike advanced to the final round to face Dave Beebe who got sideways as soon as he hit the throttle and had to shut off. Ironically, it was Mike Sorokin, driving one of Rolands other cars, who also advanced to the semi-finals and who almost made it an all Hawaiian final round.

While not normally one to qualify number one or set low elapsed time or top speed, the Hawaiian with Mike Snively driving was one of the most consistent cars out there and it won more than its share of races. Drag News magazine said that the Hawaiian runs well, rarely breaks and the driver, Mike Snively, is always right there off the line. That is a tough combination to beat especially when you throw in the combined talents of Roland Leong and Keith Black.

With a beautiful full bodied car that was built by Kent Fuller and featured upholstery by Tony Nancy, Mike Snively had one of the best rides on the sport and his years behind the wheel of the Hawaiian were among the most successful in the sport and it almost made everyone forget about Don Prudhomme. Almost!! - Bob Frey