Think of it this way, if on March 8, 1970, when "Big Daddy" Don Garlits blew his foot in half, if there was an Internet connection and a Go Fund Me site available at that time, someone would have filled out a form right on the spot, just as Jason Dunigan did and for the very same reasons. The situations are very similar really. The goal is to help get a legend in the sport back on track.

In 1970, when Don Garlits’ “Swamp Rat 13” blew in half and in the process blew half of Don’s foot off, many racers and fans were stunned and they thought they had lost Big Daddy that day. Most of the fans and racers present at the moment of the explosion only knew that Don’s car was blown into two pieces and he was taken away in an ambulance. Many feared the biggest name in the sport was gone.

Don Garlits was and is not just another drag racer. To many he embodies the very essence of what makes drag racing great. He’s a rebel, an innovator, a fearless competitor on the track and off it. He’s stood up to the NHRA many times and no matter how many times he’s been on fire, blown up and flipped over in a dragster, Don Garlits has come back for more every time. Don Garlits did not earn the name “Big Daddy” easily, but he sure earned it. He’s a legend in drag racing and he’s earned that as well. So has Larry “Spiderman” McBride.

Larry McBride’s situation is very much the same with a few different details, that while not as drastic as Don’s loss of part of his foot, still set the fans and racers back on their heels. At the time of Larry’s mishap, it happened well down the track after the finish line. Fans and racers could not see what was going on except Larry’s bike was engulfed in flames. Then came the Life Flight helicopter, and Larry was taken away. Fans and racers alike had their hearts in their mouth as the chopper flew off with not just anyone inside it, but Larry McBride. Larry suffered second degree burns on his legs and will heal in due time. His return to racing is important to fans and racers for exactly the reasons Jason Dunigan highlighted.

It was Larry McBride who learned much of his Top Fuel racing skills from his mentor, Mr. Elmer Trett. It was Larry who watched Elmer make his last trip down the Indy quarter mile while seated on his own T/F bike right behind Elmer when Elmer made his last pass. Larry stood up off his bike that day took off his helmet and said, “This is it, I’m all done, I’m not doing this anymore.” But days later, when Larry was a pallbearer for Elmer and he laid his hero low, it was Larry who heeded the words of Elmer’s widow, Jackie Trett: “You have to go on, you know, we need you to keep this class alive. You have to keep going.”

Larry, sad but faithful, somehow reached down inside and found the courage to carry on. Larry went on to run the first five-second elapsed time for a Top Fuel motorcycle. Larry has been racing fuel bikes now for over three decades, has won 13 national championships in the process, is the first member of the Official MTC 5 Second Club, and his shop, together with his brother Steve, have helped countless Top Fuel bike teams from all over the world advance in the class of T/F bike. Larry McBride has suffered not one but two strokes. He’s come off his fuel bike at over 200 miles per hour, been on fire more than once, blown up many a motor and has made more five-second elapsed time passes than any other motorcycle drag racer. And he’s not even close to being done with drag racing.

When Larry’s beloved Ol’ Blue Top Fuel bike exploded on him and caught fire, he crossed the finish line at a recorded speed of 144 mph while decelerating from a concussion type blast that destroyed his upper frame rail, and his motorcycle was a raging inferno. Not only did he not panic, he looked for where the track ambulance crew was and made sure he stopped his bike close to them so they could help put out the fire. The moment he stepped off the bike, he patted himself off and began directing the crew with the fire extinguishers where to lay down the most effective fire suppression as witnessed by Dave Vantine who was standing right there with Larry helping as best he could.

When Larry was being assessed by the medical staff for his injuries after the blast and fire, the EMT’s were preparing to cut his T-shirt off, his Elmer Trett-T shirt and Larry said “No, you can’t do that, wait a minute.” You see Larry wears a Trett T-shirt every time he goes down the race track. This way every time he crosses the finish line, Elmer still crosses the finish line first … ahead of Larry. Why? Because to Larry, Elmer was the greatest there ever was and Larry owes so much of his success and his life as a Top Fuel bike pilot to Elmer. To this very day he will tell you, “I owe it all to Elmer. I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for Elmer.”

Of these things, legends are made.

As for Larry McBride, he in no way looks at himself as a legend and is very uncomfortable with the concept. “I’m just me. I’m just a drag racer with a fast motorcycle,” he stated in a recent interview. “I’m just totally humbled by this whole Go Fund Me thing, I don’t know what to say. I’m no better than anyone else who was at that race.”

While it’s pretty much business as usual for a Top Fuel bike to blow a motor while being pedaled during a drag race, it’s unusual for fans and racers to want to help pay for it. Then again, not everyone gets a chance to help Larry “Spiderman” McBride go racing. Fans, of course, every time they drop what they are doing and run to the fence line to see Larry run, do help Larry. But it’s not the same as being able to step up, give their hard earned grocery money to a legend and say “Thank you Larry for helping to make our sport great.”

Larry does not want nor does he seek all this attention. It’s very humbling to him, he just does not know what to say. But as a close friend told him recently, “Larry, all you have to do to say thank you to those people is to just go out there and keep doing what you do.” That’s what people want most, business as usual.

As for the Go Fund Me account - that account was started on the afternoon of Sunday, September 13, by Jason Dunigan for the amount of $20,000 US Dollars. On Thursday, September 17, that goal was reached. Seventy-four people contributed their hard earned cash to help get Larry McBride back on track. The legend of Larry McBride continues.