Mark Oswald walked up to the 130-degree starting line knowing Saturday's qualifying would present its challenges during the second day of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. Without thinking, he looked upward towards the luxury suites high above the Bristol Dragway grandstands.

There his name stood out amongst the others even though it was same dimensions and color. He's to the right of Sen. Carl Moore, one of the founding owners of Bristol Dragway, and above the legendary Sox & Martin Pro Stock duo.

Oswald's name stood out because it was new lettering signifying, the seventeenth member inducted into the exclusive Legends of Thunder Valley group.

"Those were all my heroes," Oswald said of the group. "I always thought this was the coolest place to race. To have my name up there is the ultimate. You have to remember I got my start racing in the IHRA. You had the learning curve, and over in the IHRA, it was tough racing. I learned how tro race against the best of them."

Oswald reached the finals of nine Bristols event scoring six wins combined in professional and sportsman competition. His finest moment was in 1984 when he secured series championships in NHRA, IHRA, and AHRA simultaneously.

"During those times, the AHRA title was decided by the one who won the last race of the season," Oswald explained. "We had the other two locked up, so we went to the AHRA deal and clinched that one too.

"Winning the two major series was like winning an NHRA today."

Bristol Dragway was built originally as an NHRA track, but then defected to AHRA, and became the flagship facility for the IHRA in 1971 up until 1997 when Bruton Smith purchased the facility.

During the 1985 season in the second of two races annually in Bristol, Oswald experienced what could have been arguably one of the worst moments in his career.

Oswald exploded an engine in his Funny Car, and as the flames engulfed the cockpit. Then the Bristol Dragway had its famous right turn shutdown, more commonly known as the "dog leg." As the track turned right, Oswald didn't and hit the Armco guardrail head-on. Miraculously he walked away from the incident uninjured.

"Best thing that happened to me," Oswald admitted. "We had really been struggling that year. We had a different full system after coming off a strong year. The fuel system was running terrible. Finally, it blew up there and wadded the car up.

"We went back, got rid of that stuff, and finished up strong."

Oswald joins the likes of former track GM Jeff Byrd, Speedway Motorsports executive chairman Bruton Smith, NHRA legend Don Garlits, NHRA legend and current Funny Car driver John Force and NHRA team owner Don Schumacher in the Legends of Thunder Valley.