The Top 10 American Racing Drivers In History

November 15, 2018

6. Don Garlits

You knew he was going to be on this list somewhere, didn’t you? The one, the only Don Garlits. The father of modern drag racing, this guy dragged the sport out of its niche and into the national mainstream, pioneering dragster design, equipment, and setting record after record. In 1954, Garlits built his very first drag car, under an oak tree at his Tampa home. Using an arc welder and a cutting torch, he modified a Model T Roadster, adding a 1948 Mercury block. With this homemade machine, he was able to smash a quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds

In the years following, he raced consistently well, but all was not rosy. Racing is dangerous, and in 1970, one of his dragsters, Swamp Rat XIII, exploded, resulting in Garlits losing part of his foot. In order to improve safety, he designed Swamp Rat XIV as a rear-engined dragster, which has gone on to become the standard in Drag Racing. As well as innovating, Garlits was good at going fast. Very fast indeed. He was the first driver to go over 170, 180, 200, 240, and 270 miles per hour in a quarter-mile, as well as being the first to top 200 over an eighth of a mile. As recently as 2014, he was setting records, going 184 mph in an electric dragster.

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