{"id":983050,"date":"2023-03-31T04:11:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T11:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=983050"},"modified":"2023-03-30T18:17:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T01:17:40","slug":"don-garlits-museum-of-drag-racing-photos-grippo-made-a-visit-and-shot-all-the-cool-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift1320\/don-garlits-museum-of-drag-racing-photos-grippo-made-a-visit-and-shot-all-the-cool-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Garlits Museum Of Drag Racing Photos: Grippo Made A Visit And Shot All The Cool Stuff!"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Words and Photos by Joe Grippo) I guess it was early February, on a freezing afternoon and I was just going through my day working and minding my own business and my wife Stacey turns to me says. \u201cWe should go to Florida.\u201d I said, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell me twice. Where should we go?\u201d Her reply was, \u201cHow about the Baby Gators?\u201d I was in immediately. After some quick discussion and planning, we had booked a VRBO, a rental F150, and plane tickets. Fast forward a few weeks and there we were in sunny Jacksonville, Florida and soon heading south towards Ocala.<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t know what the attraction to Ocala is, you may be on the wrong website. Ocala is the home of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. This place is a must for even the most casual fan of the 1320, it\u2019s the Louvre for gearheads, the MOMA for the quarter mile. If you have never been, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Big Daddy\u2019s cars dominate the collection but a true cross-section can be found, from Top Fuelers to Pro Stockers and other oddities of the strip. The cars are front and center but Don Garlits is known as the Swamp Rat, but he could also be called the Pack Rat. Don has amassed an incredible array of drag racing memorabilia and artifacts and it is all on display. The Museum of Drag Racing consists of a few buildings and multiple rooms within, one building houses Don\u2019s extensive early Ford collection, a bit of a departure from the nitro-burning monsters on display in the main building but are off the scale cool, nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Dig into the galleries, and be sure to get down there yourself, it\u2019s worth the trip.
\nStay tuned for more vacation photos from our whirlwind automotive tour of the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n