TOP FUEL'S GREATEST

By Chris Martin

At no time in Top Fuel history did one racer stand out from the rest of the pack more than Don Garlits' first rear-engine dragster. Let's face it, in January of 1971 he was the only racer of any consequence who had the engine behind him. However, since he was Don Garlits, the drag racing world waited expectantly for his opening salvo. The Florida racer seldom failed at anything mechanical and, given the fact that at the time he had won every major Top Fuel title extant, Garlits' rear-engine car had the same impact on the racers and fans as approaching storm clouds do on celebrants at a Fourth of July picnic.

In his debut, Garlits' ungainly-looking, partially bodied, skinny black dragster showed at the AHRA Grand American at Lions Dragstrip amidst a sea of the best-running front-engine dragsters in the country. He qualified near the bottom of the 16-car field with a decent 6.70/222.77, a run that, if nothing else, showed the car would hook up well and run straight.

In eliminations, he began round one with a 6.60/223.88 win over Schultz & Glenn, an e.t. that trailed only Jim Paoli's 6.59 for the best of eliminations (short of the final). A 6.65/225.56 took out Vic Brown in Bob Creitz's dragster in the second round and advanced to the final after an 8.47 against a broken Chris Karamesines. Garlits lost that race to Gary Cochran, who used a 6.58/217.91 to clip his 6.66/225.00

The message had been delivered, though. Garlits' new ride was going to be hell to deal with. A week later he took runner-up honors to Cochran again, this time at the Orange County All-Pro Series event, and then two weeks later confirmed everyone's worst fears by winning the NHRA Winternationals. It was apparent at that point that the front-motored dragsters were on their way to becoming extinct.

Garlits rolled on and on. A month later, he won the Bakersfield March Meet, then the NHRA Springnationals at Dallas, and five of ten AHRA national events. In winning the Popular Hot Rodding Meet, he became the first Top Fuel driver in the 6.3s with a 6.35 best. At the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indy, his 6.211 low qualifier blanketed Steve Carbone's second best 6.394 and was the first run in the 6.2s. He ran times of 6.21, 6.25, 6.28, 6.31, and 6.32 at Indy, all below his sport's best of 6.35, before losing to Carbone in what racing writers dubbed the "Great Burndown."

Smarting from a loss in the final to Garlits in the '68 Indy final, Carbone refused to stage first and the cars sat on the line for what seemed like an eternity. Garlits went up in smoke and Carbone took what everyone hailed as a huge upset win.

At the end of the season, Garlits was the AHRA Top Fuel World Champion and just missed the NHRA World Championship when he red-lighted against Gerry Glenn in Bill Schultz's dragster during the NHRA World Finals at Amarillo Dragway. Garlits had lane choice in the final because his 6.60 was better than Glenn's 6.72, but that edge and the one he had in the final where he set low e.t. with a 6.55 were rendered null and void. Glenn ran a 6.59 in claiming the championship.

As most know, in 1972 virtually every Top Fuel contender save for Wiebe and Hank Johnson switched to the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster.

DON GARLITS - 1975
Garlits' 1975 edition didn't look any different than any other Top Fuel dragster, as had his 1971 entry. Rather, the 1975 dragster stood out because of the many times it was in front of its opponent. The standard Garlits black paint and white lettering were all in place and so were the off-the-map performances.

Garlits began the year by winning both the NHRA and IHRA Winternationals. As aforementioned, Garlits won six of eight IHRA races that year, running that association's first five-second run with a 5.89 on July 5 at the Summer Nationals in Union Grove, Wisconsin.