Top fuel at the 1967 NHRA US Nationals represented a lot of things to people that loved the sport back then. Perhaps one of the biggest overtones of the weekend was the end of an era in the class. Don Garlits was seen as having played out his hand in top fuel. The fast cars were pulling away from him and while he was by no means an old man, he had a gaggle of youngsters trying to knock him off his perch as the king of the top fuel category. Indy was supposed to be their coronation that year, proof that things were changing and that the old guard was done.
Admittedly, Garlits did not come into the race in the shape he had hoped and that is understating it by a long shot. He had not qualified for the Winter or Springnationals and people were actively shoveling dirt onto the grave of his career which they assumed was over. They assumed wrong. Refusing to shave until he had cracked off a run below 7.00, you’ll see that he had a full beard on his face when this video was shot at the race. He didn’t qualify all that well but he did manage to make the field and when he did, the competitive spirit took over and the gutso with which he was tuning the car also got stronger. Running deep into the sevens, the car was looking like it could be a factor.
As you will see in this video, foul starts by Tom McEwen and Mike Sorokin lead Garlits into a final round match up with James Warren one of the fiercest west coast top fuel racers of the era. Half of the famed “Ridge Route Terrors” tandem of Warren and Coburn it was looking like Garlits would be meeting a foe he had no hope of trying to overcome. As you will see, Garlits pulled out all the stops and in one fell swoop, won the event and ran in the six second range with a 6.77 blast to get him the win light. The place went ape and the talk of the old man being done vaporized as quickly as it had started.
The scene with him shaving on the hood of the truck is all time and it was highly celebrated at the US Nationals last year. This video is cool because you see the lead up and everything. Produced by Fram Filters, the script for the film was written by none other than Brock Yates (yes that Brock Yates). It is a great watch and one of the coolest moments in US Nationals history.
