I had the privilege of growing up directly across the railroad tracks from him.. in the beautiful metropolitan city called Seffner, Florida .. I’ve actually been lucky enough to have 2 guided tours in his ( what we called ) “New” museum in Ocala, by Big Daddy himself,, Pioneer,legend, hero, daredevil, Those words just don’t do him any justice ...
Don - Mr. Garlits, I was 10 years old and at LIONS Dragstrip back in 1970 and less than 30' from the starting line when your dragster blew-up. People to the right & left of me went to the hospital but I was unscathed. I'm in my 50's now and have never forgotten that moment. YOU ARE THE MAN! Live long and be happy ;) Thank you for being such an awesome inspiration to this humble old street racer! - Randy
Randall Miller - NOAA Federal Glad to hear you wasn’t seriously injured cool story if you haven’t made it down to Big Daddies museum if have to it was awesome!
Met him with my son while walking through the pits at Commerce in Atlanta. That was about 1991. He shook our hands and took pictures with us. Great guy.
I started to be an enthusiastic follower of Don Garlits back in 1968 when I was 11 years old. Thanks Don for all the great memories and the safety you brought to this great motor racing sport.
Went to the museum last week. What a great place. We had the honor of meeting Big Daddy at the museum that day. Could not find a nicer man if you tried. Talking to him and his fiancé was a real pleasure.
I've only ever read 1 book in my life. It was "King Of The Dragsters" by Don Garlits. I read it when I was 9 years old back in 1972. It's a good read, because it focused on the pioneering days of drag racing, well before today's hi-tech came along.
I went to that museum with barely any knowledge about Drag Racing. Who would've known I actually went to the museum of the most important Drag Racer of all time.
He didnt invent the rear engine dragster. It had already been tried, but the guy, I cant think of his name, couldnt get it to go straight. Garlits fixed that.
Saw Big Daddy and The Snake try to race in 1971 at Suffolk Raceway in Virginia. Track was too wet but DAMN those engines were loud! Got my first migraine from the nitro that day too. :)
I have a friend who did some drag racing in the 60s and then heavy in the seventys,he recently past away but he was lucky enuf to have owned little john buteras on and only pro stock car,and he was lucky enuf to share half his big shop with Clark from Wilson manifolds Randy was a hard headed Hungarian guy with a good heart,Clark kept telling him let me do a motor for u,he was having a time he couldn't get the car out of the 8s ,after he let Clark just do the heads only,being stubborn,with a lenco four speed he told me when he pulled it into fourth it hit as hard as first coming off the line,and he could go into the sixes,easy and he said I should have let him do a motor,talking about safety,Randy gave me some vintage Hot Rod mags,in there was some photos of the early days of drag racing at Pomona,there was people sitting Indian style all along the edge of the grass 4 feet from the tracks of the cars taking off the line,boy I said to my self thing have changed just a little.THANKS real good stuff,yeah one thing about the drag racers,fire burn outs used to be the big excitement randy was telling me but they started getting dangerous so they had to stop them,I'm bummed because that must have really been one hell of a spectacle,that I never got to see,the best they got now is stuff they stamp into shoes,bikes sparklers...see ya.
Yeah Broc and Steve were the best,And Din did pretty good himself I liked his little bit,because I collect Cudas and Challengers only,but Diamond P sports in watching some national,and walked into the kitchen to get some drink,and last think I hear is Steve say Broc is at the end of the strip,with Geoffreon,Scott I think and I walk back in to the tv room,and sure enuf there s Scott doing his pro qualifying runs in WARRENS JOHNSONS back up car,I think he qualified 4 ,good start,funny thing I moved over in jersey and had just met don campanella to and I told him the story and he said the kids was hear years ago...but Diamond was the best u could not beat the combination of Broc and Steve,they were like having Benny Parsons and Ken Schrader handle your commentating and then throw Don in there to stacked house it was greatest show on earth....at least for us adrenaline V8 loving Americans....THANKS
I've always had a problem with the term 'rear engine dragster'. Garlits didn't move the engine from where it'd always been, he moved the driver from behind it to in front of it. Great idea but make no mistake, the engine is where it was before.
@@johnd3233 I hate to say this, but you must be blind. Park a 'normal' dragster next to one of those modern abortions with their rear wheels in line with each other and you'll see that the engines will also be in line but the drivers are nowhere near each other. The driver was moved, not the engine.
@@johnd3233 Oh fuck me? Yes it's at the rear of the driver but only because the driver was moved from where he sat with his legs over the rear axle to in front of the engine. I doubt using the terms front/mid/rear engine accepted for umpteen decades will ever be accepted in drag racing but that is a completely different matter to which was moved, the driver or the engine. Get your eye sight checked.
I think it refers to the man who popularized drag racing and made it more of a household term. You can't set that many records without Joe Average taking notice and maybe taking his '63 Impala, Galaxy 500, or Valiant to the track to see what it would do. That and his career spanned over 30 years, all of which certainly point in the direction of "father". After all, isn't "Daddy" another term for father?
The event that ruined top fuel drag racing as we knew it by moving the engine to the back, now he wants to race e.v.'s, all you can say is " he's getting old "
HAD respect for this guy until I saw an interview where a young family wanted to see his dragster and he charged them 5 bucks a piece---to see it ! Im sure old Don isn`t in line at the food bank--
Every business has to have a first customer, and it wasn't just to see his dragster. They asked to see the museum that wasn't open yet. Spend some time with him like I have, and you'll get a different perspective on him !!
1990 on my way to NAV FAC Centerville Beach closed due to doomsday sub dismantled Round Table Fortuna trailer town Grapes of Rathe 101 grade pull out John Force pulled over to peek 2 row radiator exploded timing turned back walk 3 core in
