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BIGGEST WIN This one is personal (as are most of the picks) and I tied with two races. The first was the 1965 Bakersfield March Meet where he won the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships for the first time. On Saturday of the three-day race, Garlits beat a 64-car field Saturday to earn the sit-out position for Sunday. His number two car, the Garlits Chassis Spl. was driven by team driver Marvin Schwartz to the final round against Mike Snively in Ed Pink's "Old Master" dragster. To be sure that he could put on an all-one team final, Garlits put Schwartz out of the ride and got in the Special to race Snively. He beat Snively personally, setting up a final where he then put out Schwartz. By the way, 32 cars raced on Sunday. The race that I couldn't lower or elevate compared to the above was the 1984 U.S. Nationals. He took a tired four-year old dragster and with the middle of the car sagging a little, outran a championship NHRA Winston field for his first U.S. Nationals title since the 1978 event. Garlits, who had run almost exclusively with AHRA in the preceding two or three years, had always maintained that if he had the budget he could run with "those NHRA guys." He, as per usual, was right. FINEST MOMENT The 1972 Don Garlits/AHRA/Professional Racers Association race. I know,
I know, he didn't even make the final at that race, but what he did
took a lot of guts and determination. For years, it had been the contention
of the racers and quite a few other drag racing fans, that NHRA could
afford to pay a lot more to its pro winners than a measly $1,500 or
whatever it was. Garlits staged his PRA race opposite the NHRA U.S.
Nationals and buried them when 80-percent of the top cars showed at
Tulsa International Raceway for this historic event. It's been debated
whether or not the race made money, but if it didn't make a nickel it
forever chained purse structures in drag racing. The days of racing
for tool chests, trophies, and lunch money were over.
WORST MOMENT On track, his transmission explosion at Lions Dragstrip where he lost the top half of his right foot was the total nadir. Although that, of course, led the way to the sport's first successful rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, so from an historic perspective, this one divides into two. BEST RUN There's been so many, but his 5.63/250.69 at the 1975 NHRA Winston
Supernationals/World Finals -- an e.t. that would not be bettered for
six years -- was not only the best of Garlits' career, but the best
for the sport.
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