Certainly it’s true that no one form of “motorsport” may fit everyone’s taste for what captivates a single expression for ‘speed’ – yet few would discount drag racing for the intensity of the “show.” And inside of what can be done on a strraight-line, 1/4-mile ‘stage,’ there are many outstanding stars — but no individual with more diverse talents as a drag racer, more ‘Hollywood’ as a movie and TV star, or more gifted as a showman and one-man ‘PR’ machine than “TV Tommy Ivo.” Of greater significance, however, is that Mr. Tommy Ivo has demonstrated top-of-the-game achievements of each of his multiple ‘talent’ areas – all with his own distinct style, too.

From his childhood-into-young-adult years as a successful movie and television actor in Hollywood, to his parallel worlds of this “first career” as an actor on those TV sound stages during the week and his “second career” as a drag racing driver of ground-pounding nitro-burning dragstes on weekends, to his “thrid career” as a builder of class-leading single-engine dragsters — some of his most famous cars were his monster two-engine and four-engine dragsters where he was a pioneer of previously unseen drivelines and hardware. Where some others in the 1/4-mile world – both before and after Ivo’s breakthroughs – achieved “multiple-engine” drivelines, the distinction that you find makes ‘TV Tommy’ so rewarding to learn more about is that he wasn’t only creating multiple-engine leadership, but “firsts” on multiple ‘stages’ at the same time — no one was more “innovative” with the “show” than Ivo.

When Tommy Ivo had to make a choice between being a successful and celebrated actor and a internationally acclaimed professional drag racer, ultimlately for our benefit, he chose to boost the luster of drag racing. From his young leadership in the grass-roots car culture of the San Fernando Valley and ‘American Graffiti’-lifestyle with hot rod roots in the famed ‘Valley’ car club called the Road Kings, to driving one of the fastest and most competitive Top-Fuel dragsters to a near-death experience upside down and on fire through the traps at more than 200 miles per hour, his career adventures and journey are the stuff of legend.

It’s easy to offer him just one more nickname after learning more about his journey: “Ivo the Innovator” – join for a tour of his ‘show’ and Ivo’s insights in this series of close-up ‘chapters’ of video into the 21st century.