This is an important topic.
Not to switch away from Shirley, but it’s related to all this.
Garlits was doing an exhibition race with “Swamp Rat…something…Some tire smoking front engine thing” at Huntsville dragway in Alabama back in the mid 90s. I went up and asked him about his new swamp rat TF car (32, 33?), and he was just a seriously crabby jerk. “WHAT ABOUT IT???”, and he stalked away, tossing things around the car. I stood there agape. Pat Garlits came over to me and tried to smooth it over and asked did I want an autograph from Don, or a picture with Don, and I said “Not after that”. Garlits came charging out of his pits a few minutes later, flapping his arms and yelling at some kids. It blew my mind.
He is still my all-time favorite, somehow. For the Shat-on-Fans-of-Shirley people…I get it, you don’t want your hero to act like an ass. Based on my experience, and feedback from others that also interacted with Garlits on a fan-racer basis, and not to mention the countless others that I don’t know about, Garlits completely eclipses Shirley in assholiness. The only time I met Shirley, at the US nationals I think, she was a darling. Their attitudes aside, compare this with some of our contemporaries… like Clay Millican or Shawn Reed, who are just happy to be driving a top fuel dragster. Can you imagine having that amazing blessing? Yes, Don and Shirley were pivotal for the sport, are legends, and have gone on to promote the sport in their own, often myopic way.
Edit… I finally got my picture with Don Garlits in Pomona at the world finals in 2011. He had obviously had a very recent facelift. Anyway, I posted it on my Facebook back then, and I’m proud of it, despite everything. For a drag racing fan, who wouldn’t be?
Finally, a picture with Don Garlits! He was much redder and shorter than I imagined. He doesn’t look like he wants to be here, but at least he wasn’t an ass that day. I treasure my photo. People like Garlits and Muldowney were the seeds of Nitro, but I am upset when I hear they get crabby at fans, who come specifically to see them, and they don’t state, in every sentence they utter, the incredible opportunity that they’ve been given to make a living in this sport.
My goal is to get this photo with Clay Millican, someone who actually gets it.
Cheers to ole timez.
