It's almost hard to believe that it has been more than a decade since FWD drag cars started traveling into single-digit ¼-mile elapsed times. In some ways, it doesn't feel like it was all that long ago that import motorsports legends like Kenny Tran, Stephan Papadakis, and Ed and Ron Bergenholtz were one upping each other at drag strips month in and out, but during the turn of the century the scene was ripe for innovation and progression because of these players and others.

Last week, the Bergenholtz brothers were honored for their enormous contribution to the advancement of FWD drag racing with a permanent display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, Calif. The life-sized diorama features a plethora of Bergenholtz Racing memorabilia, but the central memento is the brothers' iconic 1989 Honda CR-X drag car, a groundbreaking FWD racer that Ed piloted to a best ET of 8.76 seconds and top speed of 172mph.

The story of the car is one of triumph over despair. In 1996, Ed and Ron picked up the car from a friend who had died, Robert "SAP" Sapinoso, and proceeded to follow in their departed buddy's footsteps, hoping to create the fastest front driver around. Over time, development on the car included swapping in a bulletproof turbo Honda B18 inline-four mill capable of almost 1,000 horsepower, but the CR-X's most significant advancement would spring from the imaginative mind of Ron.

In 1999, after wrestling with traction issues, Ron envisioned employing wheelie bars at the rear of the car to extend the wheelbase as well as limit the amount of weight transfer, thereby keeping the front of the Rex firmly planted. Others, like Papadakis and Shaun Carlson, saw the limitations of working with production-based uni-body platforms and instead chose to go the route of building a full tube chassis to race with, but not the Bergenholtzs. They had a hunch there was life left in their once-streetable Honda.

That May, with bars attached and dialed in, and before a sea of disbelieving eyes and minds, Ed ran a 9.76 at 147.1 at LA County Raceway in Palmdale, marking the first successful implementation of the traction device on a FWD. It forever changed the way tuners approach setup for FWD drag racing.

It also secured the Bergenholtzs place in motorsports history. At the NHRA Museum last Friday, Executive Director Tony Thacker inducted the brothers' CR-X into the installation before a crowd of media and adoring fans and loved ones. It was a fitting tribute to two brothers who continue to work tirelessly at whatever they do, and remain some of the nicest, most approachable guys in all of racing.

The museum is open year-round, Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day), and features an array of vintage and historical racing vehicles along with photographs, trophies, helmets and driving uniforms, artifacts, paintings, and other memorabilia chronicling more than 50 years of American motorsports. Current NHRA members are admitted free. Admission for non-members is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $5 for juniors 6 through 15, and free for children under the age of 5.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley Avenue in Pomona. The phone number is (909) 622-2133.

www.museum.nhra.com/