ABINGDON, Va. – An otherwise normal Tuesday afternoon at the William N. Neff Center for Science and Technology quickly turned into a day of lasting memories when National Hot Rod Association racing legend “Big Daddy” Don Garlits showed up, unannounced.
Garlits, clad from head-to-toe in all black and looking fit and strong at the age of 76, made a pit stop in Abingdon prior to making an appearance next weekend at a NHRA drivers’ reunion in St. Louis, Mo.
“It’s great for me to be around all these kids. I was just like them when I was growing up – I was always around cars and always wanted to be around cars,” Garlits said. “[These kids] are all very technical and very smart and they’re very knowledgeable. I just wanted to stop in and check in with them while I was in town.”
Garlits brought along his 1965 “Swamp Rat” black dragster, which he fired up twice for a group of William N. Neff Center and Abingdon High School students and teachers.
Garlits said he posted a top-speed of 219 miles-per-hour and an elapsed-time of 7.5 seconds in the car, which features a 426 Dodge Hemi engine.
“This was the engine that made everyone change over again,” Garlits said. “It was so much stronger and had so much more horsepower than anything before it. It’s a credit to Chrysler that they made such a strong engine back then. Now, everyone goes a lot faster, obviously. But back then, it was the top. It just flew.”
Garlits was hands-on, friendly and engaging Tuesday, as he alternated racing tips and tech-talk with believe-it-or-not stories and inside jokes.
“I like to just be around the older guys and listen to them talk,” said Jason Mumpower, a 17-year-old student at Abingdon High School, who participates in the Neff Center’s auto technician course. “I mostly just watched and fetched tools. But I like to hear what the people who have raced before have to say about it. You can learn a lot from them.”
Meanwhile, Garlits’ appearance had his daughter, Donna Garlits Perry, smiling wide.
Perry is an algebra tutor at Abingdon High School and Damascus Middle School, and she watched proudly as her father shared engine-tuning and driving tips with students she works with daily.
“This is one of those things where [the kids] will look back when they’re older and think, ‘Wow. That was really awesome. I can’t believe that even happened,’” Perry said. “My Dad just loves racing and he loves talking about it. And I think the kids understand and appreciate that.”
Garlits answered point-blank when asked for advice he would give to high school students who hope to one day work in the increasingly popular – and corporate – world of auto racing.
“[NHRA racing divisions] Top Fuel or Funny Car are out of the question. You can just forget about them, unless you know someone who is just going to give you $10 million,” Garlits said. “But there are a lot of other ways that you can be around racing. You can work on cars. You can learn as much as you can about cars and then find a way [into the business]. That’s how we all were when I was growing up. We didn’t make any money for a long time. But we loved cars and we loved racing, and that was enough for us. That’s why we did it.”
btsmith@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2569
On the Web: www.garlits.com
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