NHRA marks Don Garlits's 80th birthday with fundraising Rat Roast

Drag racing's “Big Daddy” Don Garlits celebrated his 80th birthday on Jan. 14. To mark the milestone, the NHRA is holding a charity event during the season-opening O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals next month.

The Rat Roast will take place on Feb. 11 at the Sheraton Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Quarter Mile Foundation.

The Quarter Mile Foundation collects and stores the history of drag racing and the related aspects of the performance aftermarket. The charity focuses on first-person accounts of races, much of it from the pioneers and legends of the sport.

“There is a need to preserve and archive the history of drag racing through video, and the Quarter Mile Foundation has been working diligently the last 18 months to put these pioneers on video,” foundation chairwoman Traci Hrudka said. “Proceeds raised will further the production of the Project 1320 documentary centering around the history of the sport as told in the words of the pioneers.”

The event will feature special guests to roast the man of honor, including Art Chrisman, Sid Waterman, “TV” Tommy Ivo, Ed Pink, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, Carl Schiefer and Dave McClelland.

Garlits got his first win in an NHRA national event in 1963. He was named Car Craft's Man of the Year in 1969, '71, '72 and 1973.

Garlits was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1989 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame eight years later. In 2002, he took his Swamp Rat out of the Museum of Drag Racing and turned a career best 318.54 mph in 4.76 seconds.

Today, Garlits makes his home in Ocala, Fla., on the grounds of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing.

Individual tickets for the Rat Roast are available for $80 apiece, with a limited number of 10-person VIP tables for $2,500. For tables, e-mail Rachelle Litwin at NHRA at rlitwin@nhra.com or call (626) 250-2269. For individual tickets, go to www.nhratix.com and click on the Winternationals page.

By Jake Lingeman