yakdung 2,926 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 I grew up watching this man race along with Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme, Tommy Ivo and others. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/05/05/big-daddy-don-garlits-aiming-for-200-mph-run-in-electric-dragster/?intcmp=HPBucket 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunman1 1,753 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 They were my hero's growing up, man I couldn't wait for the Wide World of Sports every weekend. The diesel chase truck made more smoke and noise than the rail did, pretty cool Thanks Yak! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Great to see Garlits still out there tearin' up the track! I'll miss the screaming big blocks, but the electric is very cool too. I also grew up watching these guys...... "Sunday...Sunday...Sunday... US 30 Dragstrip... where the great ones run...run...run...!!!! Edited May 5, 2014 by Spartacus 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dad2142Dad 6,559 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 82 going 200 MPH, you go big daddy. Would be kinda weird though without the scream of the 10,000 HP engine. Just the squeal of the tires and the hum of Prius? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HB of CJ 1,263 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Long ago and far away. Lion's Drag Strip, Long Beach California. Big Daddy was a Florida boy brought out West. A pit pass was yellow and cost a whopping 50 cents, a lot of money for a young kid. Big Daddy tossed my girlfriend a spark plug out of his "Swamp Rat" Dodge 392 inch hemi AA blown fuel dragster. It was still hot. The electrode was half gone. Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end. HB of CJ (old coot) Added; I forgot to mention the smarting eye watering hard smell of the burning nitro exhaust. The pure white flames from each individual header roaring down the track. The absolutely incredible NOISE of it all. Watching the crew mix up the nitro fuel. It came in 5 gallon shiny steel cans. Watch him suit up. The match races between "Dyno" Don Garlits and "The Snake" Prodoune (sp) Our ears would ring for hours. So cool. The stands ran very close to the track all the way down to the finish line. So many things were so dangerous but we did not know it at the time. We were just kids having the time of our life. I remember hot dogs were 25 cents and a coke cost 10 cents. Amazing how you remember stuff like that. The Little Red Wagon. Hemi under glass. Wow!! Thank you for letting me remember and sharing this stuff. Edited May 6, 2014 by HB of CJ 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yakdung 2,926 Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Yep. Different times that's for sure. Can't forget the funny cars. Dad would take my brother and I to the drag stip after church. Edited May 5, 2014 by yakdung 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) when I was a kid, I worked around the neighborhood cutting grass, washing cars , etc... to earn some money so I could buy "big daddy" Roth models, over time I bought all the neighborhood model store had. then went on to the monster models; Godzilla, Frankenstein, Herman Munster, grandpa's dragster etc... Edited May 5, 2014 by Matthew Hopkins 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ronin38 2,117 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Rat Fink in a Punch Buggy! Edited May 5, 2014 by Ronin38 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
6500rpm 670 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 I grew up around the race tracks in St Louis (mid 70's-mid 80's). Don Garlits , Tom Hoover (and his dad), and Gene Snow were some of the most approachable guys a teenage kid could ever meet. A few of you might remember at one time he ran a transverse engine dragster which back in the day was the equivalent to todays electrics. Three years ago the kid next door joined the Navy and ended up on a carrier so in one of his deployment packages I sent him a promotional I had from back in the day the the "Fly Navy" theme and Garlits dragster set up on the deck. Hard to see these guys getting older, makes me glad I grew up in America during that era. A+ for the post, brings back great memories. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TacSat 90 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 If you ever get the chance and in Gainesville. Check out the swamp rats museum. Theres alot of histroy and beautiful cars. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) Here's a great historical video on US 30 Dragstrip. I think I saw a glimpse of an early Garlits car. For whatever reason the share link is not working. The Youtube title is "Remembering U.S.30.wmv". Edited May 6, 2014 by Spartacus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yakdung 2,926 Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) yeah that's OK, but one dragster looked the same as the next. now, a DRAG-U-LA, well, that was in a class all by itself BTW, if you never heard the lyrics to THE MUNSTERS theme song, it's on there yep, and I bought that model. just wish I still had it Edited May 7, 2014 by Matthew Hopkins 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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