Tag Archives: British Drag Racing Hall of Fame

Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing nominated for international award

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The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has announced it has nominated The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing to be honored with the “Museum Collection of the Year Award.”  The Museum Collection of the Year Award is connected to the International Historic Motoring Awards, a prestigious automotive event which honors a number of individuals and groups each year for contributions and achievements in several categories.  The winners will be honored at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, England on November 20, 2014.

Brian Taylor, spokesman for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame observed, “The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing has long been a destination for drag racing fans, worldwide.  Don’s contribution to the preservation of historic drag racing vehicles, and not merely his own, as well as uniforms, helmets and other memorabilia is a major reason why the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame chose to nominate the museum for this honor.”

 He adds, “Because of the way the International Historic Motoring Awards process is structured, each ‘nomination’ is considered a ‘vote’ for that particular museum.  The nominations are eventually reviewed, and the museums with the largest number of nominations are selected to go into the ‘Short List’ of six to determine the museum which receives the Museum Collection of the Year Award.  The final selection is made by a panel of judges.

“We would hope the drag racers and fans in North America would go to the International Historic Motoring Awards website (http://www.historicmotoringawards.com/categories.php?view=1) and fill out the form to ‘nominate’ Don’s museum.  The nomination process is the key to making the ‘short list’ for consideration.  It is important to note, that being ‘short listed’ is considered to be a major honor by itself.”

Make this HAPPEN!  Click the link (http://www.historicmotoringawards.com/categories.php?view=1), fill out the form and NOMINATE THE DON GARLITS MUSEUM OF DRAG RACING AS THE

2014 MUSEUM COLLECTION OF THE YEAR

Don Garlits to be inducted into British Drag Racing Hall of Fame

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Don Garlits 100dpiBritish Drag Racing Hall of Fame logo 100 dpi

Don Garlits will be winging his way to England in mid-November to be honored by the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame as a member of the 2014 class of inductees.  Don will be joined by his daughters Donna and GayLyn, and the grandchildren (Sarah, Rodney, and Anna) at the Gala Awards Dinner at the famed Savill Court Hotel at Windsor Great Park, near Windsor, Surrey, and west of London on November 22.  Also a part of the group will be Lisa Crigar, the Museum’s photographer and FACEBOOK content manager.

The occasion marks the 50th Anniversary of the first “British International Drag Racing Festival,” (often referred to as the “DragFests”) organized by the late Sydney Allard, the British industrialist/automaker who built the first dragster in Britain.  Don and the “Swamp Rat 6B” participated in that first series of races held at several Royal Air Force airfields across Britain in September and October, 1964.  He raced his friend and rival Tommy (“TV Tommy”) Ivo in the series of match races and won the “People’s Challenge Trophy” for the best aggregate performance – with a string of low eight second passes at 190+ mph. 

Don’s participation in that first series of events encouraged other established U.S. drag racers to follow behind him, and helped launch the sport in Great Britain, as well as the European continent.  He returned to Britain to race in 1976 and 1977, driving the “Swamp Rat 21” at the now famed Santa Pod Raceway, Britain’s first, special built drag strip.  He set the British track record at 232+ mph in 1977.

In addition to Don’s contributions to the growth of drag racing in Great Britain, he is also being honored for his overall performance record, and his significant contributions to the sport’s technological and safety advances. 

In introducing Garlits in the Class of 2014, the Hall of Fame said, “By most measures, Don ‘Big Daddy’ Garlits is the greatest and most successful drag racer ever.  But as well as being the result of his worldwide leading role as the sport’s most innovative drag racing technician, his influence on British drag racing has been more specific – as part of the wildly successful American team to visit Britain for the 1964 DragFests and subsequently racing at Santa Pod in 1976 and 1977.”

The selection committee also noted Garlits’ passion for protecting the history of the sport through The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fla., his own International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, and his continued passion for pushing on the performance envelope with the electric-powered Swamp Rat 37, which he is seeking to break the 200 mph barrier in 2014, the 50th anniversary of his record breaking 201 mph pass in August 1964 with Swamp Rat 6-B.