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Photo Diary: Big Daddy Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum, Ocala FL [1]

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Date: 2023-03-16

Okay, I confess—I know nothing at all whatsoever about drag racing, at all. :)

But it looked like an interesting place, and I’ve certainly never been in a drag racing museum before (and likely never will be again).

Some history:

Ever since there have been automobiles, there have been automobile races. These were most often held on closed oval tracks and were intended to test the auto’s endurance as well as speed. (The first Indianapolis 500 was held in 1911.)

But there were also enthusiasts who focused purely on speed. The “drag race”, in which two automobiles competed side-by-side and sped down a short straight track (a quarter-mile long—the length of a typical city block), became a favorite event for the speed demons. It’s not clear where the term “drag racing” came from. One hypothesis is that drivers would challenge each other to “drag” their cars out of the garage for a race. Another theory is that the most-trafficked roads in town were “the main drag”, and these were usually paved, making them suitable for racing.

Drag races were usually amateur events that were not sponsored by any official organizations. In many cases, drag races were held at night, illegally, on empty city streets. In California, the illegal races often happened out in the countryside on dry lake beds like the Bonneville Salt Flats or on abandoned military runways like the old Army air base at Goleta Airfield, which offered ideal smooth flat straight racing surfaces.

After the Second World War ended, the US Army found itself in possession of a huge number of aircraft engines which had been produced for the war and were now no longer needed. These were sold to civilians at fire-sale prices. It was a huge boon to the drag racers, who now had access to some of the most powerful engines in the world which had once driven fighter planes like the P-40 and P-38.

With this, drag racing clubs were formed and legally-sanctioned racing events were organized. The first of these was the National Hot Rod Association, formed in 1951. These new clubs attracted the attention of the big American auto makers, and soon Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet were producing drag racers, both as a publicity stunt and as a way to develop and test new equipment. Purpose-built drag strips began to appear, where professional drivers competed for prize money. Some of these drivers became celebrities, including Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney, and Don “Big Daddy Garlits”.

At first, drag racers were simply stock street cars that had been modified for speed. Soon, specially-built drag racing cars began to appear. Events began to be specified by different types. Today the most popular are the Funny Cars, based on modified automobile bodies, and Top Fuel, which are specialized aerodynamic vehicles with long thin bodies. There are also categories for Stock Cars and Modified Stock Cars.

In the 1950s and 60s, Top Fuel dragsters were usually built with the engines in front of the cockpits. But when Don Garlits lost part of his foot in an accident in March 1970, after his transmission exploded, he produced a new design with the engine at the rear, and this safer arrangement quickly became the standard.

Today, the typical Top Fuel drag racer has a long thin aerodynamic body with narrow bicycle-like front wheels. The engine, fueled by nitromethane, sits at the back and powers a pair of giant rear wheels. There is usually an aerodynamic airfoil above the engine which produces reverse lift, pressing the rear of the dragster to the ground to keep it stable. There is a parachute pack at the rear which deploys to stop the vehicle at the end of the drag strip. A typical Top Fuel dragster can cover the quarter-mile track in about three and a half seconds, topping 330mph. Some classes use a 1,000-foot track instead.

Don Garlits was into drag racing from the 1950s, when it first became an official sport. While most dragsters then were from California, Garlits was from Tampa, Florida, and the Californians derided him as a “swamp rat”. Garlits defiantly painted the name on his dragsters and began winning races. By the 1960s he was one of the most famous racers in the country, and was invited by President Nixon to go to Vietnam as a morale-booster for the troops. As a publicity stunt, he drag-raced an A-7 jet fighter on the deck of a Navy aircraft carrier.

In 1984, Garlits founded the Big Daddy Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum in Ocala, Florida. Today it covers two buildings and holds exhibits ranging from Garlits’s childhood marbles to displays of almost 100 drag racing cars from several classes, and another 50 antique automobiles from Garlits’s private collection. At age 90, Garlits lives next door and can occasionally be seen visiting the museum, where he signs autographs for tourists.

So, some photos from a visit.

For those who don't know, I live in a converted campervan and travel around the country, posting photo diaries of places that I visit. I am currently wintering in Florida.

A-7 Corsair II. Garlits on occasion drag-raced against Navy jets on runways and aboard a carrier as a publicity stunt.

The Museum

Inside the museum

Swamp Rat I. Built in 1956 in Garlits’s home garage in Tampa, he used it to set his first world record.

Swamp Rat 27, built in 1981. The engine was mounted sideways so the torque would help hold the rear wheels down.

Bustle Bomb, built in 1955 by Lloyd Scott, was the first dragster to break 150mph

1962 Max-Wedge Dodge, specially built by Dodge for drag racing. Only 25 were made.

AMT Piranha. Built as a dragster by AMT to promote its two-seat sports car.

Jocko’s Porting Service Streamliner. Built in 1959.

Spirit of America. Built in 1964 by Craig Breedlove.

US Army Funny Car. Built from a 1973 Barracuda body by Don “The Snake” Prudhomme

Sidewinder. Built in 1962, the body and frame is made completely from magnesium

Swamp Rat 33 Saltliner. Built by Garlits in 1988 specifically to break 200mph. It reached 220.

Pandemonium III, built in 1957 for Bob Sullivan

1980 Attebury, built for Shirley Muldowney

The antique car collection is housed in a separate building

1940 Ford “Chop Top”

1986 Pontiac Fiero

1935 Plymouth Six Sedan

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/16/2157144/-Photo-Diary-Big-Daddy-Don-Garlits-Drag-Racing-Museum-Ocala-FL

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