Drag Racing legends Don “Big Daddy” Garlits, Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney, and Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick will serve as the masters of ceremonies for the 65th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts ...

Garlits’ Swamp Rat 37 uses a lithium-polymer battery made of four packs, two on each side of the car. Each holds 300 lithium polymer cells for a total of 1,200 cells, producing a maximum of 420 ...

During the early days of Top Fuel drag racing, the engines used were a lot less powerful and complex; in fact, the Swamp Rat 1-R only made 1,500 hp when it came out.

In the final part of Forbes' interview series with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, he gives advice to aspiring young racers, discusses his museum in Ocala, Florida, dissects his own fears, and more.

Garlits is back, and with him is his Swamp Rat 12 nitro burning slingshot dragster, which he will fire and cackle on the track under the lights in both nights of the event.

Instead, in his early days, fans hurled insults at this interloper. “Don Garbage” they called him. He took it as a badge of honor, proudly calling himself and his cars “Swamp Rat.” ...

Starting with Swamp Rat I, which Garlits built in his Tampa garage and raced from 1956-1960, the museum traces not only Big Daddy’s role in drag racing but also the evolution of the sport itself.

While testing an experimental two-speed transmission in his slingshot Swamp Rat 13 in 1970, Garlits rushed the car to the start without properly filling the transmission.

Don Garlits’ 1971 rear-engine dragster, also known as Swamp Rat 14. Swamp Rat 30 scared him with his famous blow-over in 1986 at Englishtown, New Jersey, and ended up in the Smithsonian.

OCALA, Fla. – Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, located in Ocala, is a place rich in history, with thousands of artifacts, memorabilia, trophies and many drag racing cars. “Swamp Rat 1.

Dragster legend Don “Big Daddy” Garlits, at 87, is pursuing the 200 mph mark in the quarter-mile. But he got to 189.04 mph, enough to break his own record.

In 2014, he set the world record for an electric car by clocking a 7.25 at 185.6mph in the Swamp Rat 37 dragster. Five years on, Garlits was back with a new car for a push to run the first 200 mph ...