Tonite (Friday), I'll be dining w/ Big Daddy. It's a limited engagement party. The man is 87 and still involved in drag racing! I'm wondering what question I'll be asking. lol
doubt it , met him twice ,both times .. not impressed with his personal skills
I agree. Very intelligent and very accomplished, but I've never had great experiences with him either. I've actually had more positive Shirley experiences than Garlits experiences. A close friend has a total horror story about helping him at an event (voluntarily helped at Don's request).
One of those your mileage may vary deals I guess...
Had several conversations with him years ago at a couple tracks during nostalgia races. We were almost always surrounded by a crowd of other older racer friends. He seemed pleasant enough with a good sense of humor and could get immediately technical. I do know another guy who had an impolite experience with him, but he was always nice to me. For a while there - maybe still - he was into UFOs & extraterrestrials.
I was at Mecum Kissimmee a few years ago and walked out of a building and he had his truck there, selling posters and maybe shirts. No one was around, so I visited with him a bit and talked cars. I did end up buying a poster but he and his wife/lady friend were both very pleasant. I will say his hearing is terrible!
I was driving my Charger one day and as I was coming out of a store, an old guy walked up and wanted to talk about cars and hot rods. I obliged, since part of owning a classic is that it attracts attention. The guy started off normal enough but then started getting more and more deep into technical theories and unusual ideas to make more power. He told me that he wrote to Don Garlits about his ideas and then pulled out a response he got from him. The response read...."Thanks for the letter. I have no idea what any of this means, Don Garlits". First, why would a guy carry around this letter on his person and also, WHY show it to people?
Well contrary to some BS stories, Big Daddy turned out to be a gentleman with a smile (no hearing though) and a remarkable memory. It was a pleasure to meet and talk w/ him. BTW, he'll be 90 in December! Big is to drag racing what the Babe was to baseball!
Met him several times, always a pleasure to talk with him and hear some bench racing stories. We had a mutual friend in Larry B. so I have been able to meet him in a few settings, always nice and friendly. Still my favorite drag racer with the Snake a close second.
I have had extensive interaction with Big and have enjoyed every minute I spent with him. Most of us probably know that he has competed in a Drag Pak Challenger. l was in the GatorNationals NHRA Sportsman Credential trailer and in the long line of competitors stood Don, just like every other sportsman racer. Says a lot about Big that he did not use his status to bypass the line.
I pushed Swamp Rat III and his last Swamp Rat with the 6.1 Hemi in it a couple of times with my 69 D200. One time he was a complete [censored], the next time he was the nicest person you would want to meet and signed my glove box! He couldn't even hear me at all this time around at his show on Saturday, and didn't look up from his phone, so I couldn't tell how he would be this time...LOL