Two legends of motorsports. Smokey and Big Daddy

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

Is funny to see and hear that your hero has a hero! Garlits has accumulated a great deal of wealth and goodwill, as he is all about lifelong relationships, with people and his machines.

Two of my all time racing heroes; Smokey & Big Daddy

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

Same her. Too bad the sport is turning into a spec-car deal, in which innovators like these two cannot do as much as they did back in the day when experimenting was a good thing.

Thank you for that terrific interview

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

It was a great pleasure. This specific segment was after the 2-hour tour was over. It was hot, and he was getting tired, but when somebody in the way out questioned him about the Smokey machine, he lit up and went on to explain why Smokey was his hero!

Living legend will never be sufficient to describe Don Garlits

@Viva-la-Maquina

9 ай бұрын

True. Being proficient at your craft is one thing. But doing it consistently for decades, with style and class is something else.

pure racing nut - legendary

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

In one of the videos in this series (History of Swamp Rat I), he says so himself. He is Super focus, do not hear or see anything else than his project. He slashed his wrist while getting the rails for Swamp Rat I out of a 31 Ford in a junkyard. He took the sweaty handkerchief around his neck, tight it around and pull with his teeth. He kept dismantling like a rabid racoon.

Don ,Smokey was your Hero ,And you are , are Hero , for everything you have done for the sport of Drag Racing . YOUR stories and memories will live on forever .God has truly Blessed you .Your life has meaning ,keep going .

Unlike anything on television these days , I love listening to big daddy's storys.

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

I do not watch TV anymore. Share, like, and subscribe if you haven't. Thanks for watching.

This was just yesterday August 18, 2023. Don Garlits is still alive and kicking, and as you can see full of life at 91. Although the day to day operations of the museum have been delegated, he still active and in charge.

@TheCanadianBubba

10 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this 👍

@s.g.4184

10 ай бұрын

As a grad student, I met Smokey Yunick when he donated the Smoketron to UCF. I go the opportunity to give the tours of his Daytona shop after he passed. He was far ahead of his time.

The stories this man has probably forgotten does not even tip the iceberg of what he has experienced.

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

I am going again in March to see him and will try for new old stories.

I own a body shop in daytona ,i use to fix smokes little ford fiestas loved how he drove those cars with those big great dane dogs that were bigger then the car

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

Wow, that was in the 90's? Is a shame that even his shop is gone. Now you have to go to Don Garlits Museum to see his machines. Thanks for sharing!

@pat36a

Ай бұрын

That's what Smokey wanted, no one was going use his name . ​@Viva-la-Maquina

Thanks for posting live in South Florida know all about Don garlits he is the goat

@Viva-la-Maquina

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. We have more on the way. Share the video with a friend.

Smokey and Big Daddy! I have been lucky enough to watch Garlits race a few times! Best Drag Racer and builder ever! He always wrenched his own cars!

@Viva-la-Maquina

9 ай бұрын

I do not know anybody in the professional ranks that fabricates, tunes, drives and maintains his own racecar anymore. Please subscribe so you can stay in tune with all our Garlits videos. Thanks

Wonderful, thanks for sharing.

@Viva-la-Maquina

8 ай бұрын

My pleasure! I just came back from Mopar with Big Daddy. I will pe posting a lot of Mopar content this week. Thanks for watching.

A living treasure 😊

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

You got that right! That is why I believe we need to preserve his memory now that he is still around.

He sure deserved and earned his title, Thanks Big Daddy.

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

Agree 100%. Share, like, and subscribe if you haven't. Thanks for watching.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mr Garlits race at 76 Worlds Finals in Ontario,California.

@Viva-la-Maquina

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience.

The Past is Priceless )

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

Viewing the past will help us build the future. Regardless of the technology, strong work ethic, teamwork and dedication to your craft will always be relevant.

The summer of either 1985 or '86 when I was 12 or 13yrs old. My family took a vacation to Disney World. We drove a '72 chevy with a camper on it. The only thing I wanted to do was go see Don Garlits drag racing museum. When we got there it wasn't scheduled to open for another couple weeks, but my parents went and knocked on the door of the house next to it, and they let us in free of charge gave me a free T-shirt and made my vacation. We was the very first people to tour museum. I still have pictures and that T-shirt

@Viva-la-Maquina

4 ай бұрын

First time I hear about free entry. He sold thousands of tickets before the official opening. Seems that your timing was perfect. Thanks for sharing your story.

Damn that was good

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

Quite a story coming from the mouth of the man himself. Share, like, and subscribe if you haven't. Thanks for watching.

These are great stories,love the guy,bad part of all of this is someday he'll be gone too,then what will happen to all of his museum ,same with all of these great people who made the sport

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

His passion for machines is what keep him ticking after all these years. The man has been burned, mutilated and beat up. He does not follow any strict diet. And at 92 he is a happy man. That is an act for us to follow.

Don sounded so giddy and excited to talk about Smokey. Oppps I was playing @ 125% speed.. All the same I can see why Don Garlits thought so Highly of Smokey. Smokey was a GMC Heavy Truck Dealer for many years.

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

His heroes are people like him, hardworking innovators. He speaks the same way of Richard Petty.

@mikeskidmore6754

5 ай бұрын

@@Viva-la-Maquina OK but Smokey was in a League of his own both his Genius and the hours that he worked. I admire the guys who built and raced their own Cars.. Like the Petty's in the earlier days, Smokey , Grumpy Jenkins , Bill Glidden , Ralph Earnhardt , Dick Trickle and many more.

I was 9yrs old & standing at the fence maybe 100ft from the starting line when Big's trans exploded & cut off a piece of his foot! My Father was a total Gearhead & he started taking me to the drag-races in So-Calif right after I was born, so I literally grew-up at the racetrack's of Southern California ( Thank's Pop! ) all threw the 60's-70's-80's! 😃 Pop absolutely loved Big Daddy, while Snake was my Hero, both are Steely-eyed Baddass racer's to their very core & there absolutely should be life sized statues of both of them at every NHRA National event! Ol' Smokey should be put where he belongs, in the NASCAR HOF, you listening NASCAR?? 🤨

@Viva-la-Maquina

9 ай бұрын

Wow! What else do you remember of that day! Did they had to cut him out? As a 9 year old, did most have caused a permanent impression.

@69AARVIPER

5 ай бұрын

I wish he was my dad as well . Great memories ❤

Always regret not stopping at Don's place

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

So do! But in the meantime you can watch my videos and share with others. This area of Central Florida has just a plethora of car events, especially now between February to March. Gather you crew and come down here!

Mr Garlits is drag racing royalty!

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

Hail to the King!

I love "Big Daddy" and have the pics of a 12 yr. old me standing next to him at Fremont circa 1972 northern nationals to prove it but, I loved the look on his face when talking about fins on a flywheel feeding air to the carb then, confronted with the fact it was done 25+ years earlier on P51 mustangs.... Smokey didn't discover that but, he knew a good idea when he saw it

@Viva-la-Maquina

3 ай бұрын

Well, Smokey was an aviator in WWII, so maybe that is where he got it from.

I wasn't aware a P-51 Mustang had a flywheel, and Garlits apparently wasn't either!

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

That was a new one for me too!

Used to get a pit pass just to see Don and cha cha, my uncles Joe and Able Longoria were fellow racers and acquainted with them, need to get back to those times, Semper Fi and Erin go Braugh

@Viva-la-Maquina

10 ай бұрын

I agree. I am doing my part documenting a living legend like Big Daddy. Unfortunately those times may not come back but we can remember them and illustrate younger generations of things like work ethic, perseverance and what is to overcome tuff times. Thanks for your contribution.

Wow what a story

@Viva-la-Maquina

5 ай бұрын

This story was told after the actual tour was done! Big Daddy enjoy giving those tours so much!

Great video!

@Viva-la-Maquina

2 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Smoky didn't want anyone coming behind him to run his shop after he died. In his will, he stated that the shop should be closed and all inventory sold.

@Viva-la-Maquina

Ай бұрын

Thanks for that piece of information. The shop got demolished and until recently it was still vacant.

what is the machine that was given to Garlits?

@gordonborsboom7460

4 ай бұрын

I think it's a version of a Spintron. An electric motor driving an unpowered engine. Basically the reverse of an electric dynomometer. I think the clue is the 400 volt power requirement he talks about. It's hard to hear, but I think he called it the Smoke Rig

@plnthrd

4 ай бұрын

@@gordonborsboom7460 thank you....the original explanation wasn't very good

@Viva-la-Maquina

3 ай бұрын

That is what I gather also. He was able to reduce the internal friction by changing to the thin oil of today. The museum has about two more Smokey Yunick machines, one of them is to brew his own fuel!

@Viva-la-Maquina

3 ай бұрын

Agreed. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@Vincent_Sullivan

2 ай бұрын

Holy Heck!! Don has the Smoketron in his museum now??? The machine was called the "Smoketron" and it was designed and patented (5,515,712 filed 1994, granted 1996) by Smokey Yunick to test engines. In volume 3 of his autobiography ("Best Damn Garage In Town" in the "inventions" section page 295 to 301) he devotes a whole chapter to his adventures with 5 versions of the Smoketron, each bigger and better than the previous one. The one that Don now has in his museum seems to be version 5 which Smokey started building in 1983. At the end of the chapter Smokey states he donated it to the University of Central Florida when he was winding up his affairs and Don states that he got it from UCF so the provenance checks out. There is a really nice photo taken by Wade Caldwell of Smoketron V5 in residence at UCF on page 299 of Smokey's autobiography. It is quite fascinating to read Smokey's listing (several pages of it!) of all of the factors governing engine operation that he investigated using the Smoketron. Smokey considered it "The best portable engine testing device" but it weighed tons so you would need a bunch of very strong porters! As Don alluded to, it needs 440 volt 3 phase power at about 360 amps to run it when pulling a V8 race engine to 9000 RPM. The electric motor was rated at 300 HP and it took that much power to spin an "all up" engine at that RPM. Think about that for a minute with reference to how much power (using fuel) an engine must produce to overcome its internal friction windage, and parasitic losses! Once you were though spin testing an engine you could fire the engine and the Smoketron then acted as a dynamometer. It also included sophisticated intake, exhaust, and oil system flow measuring capabilities. I am an electrical / electronics / computer engineer but do have an interest in automotive engineering and I've been interested in this machine since I learned of its existence quite a few years ago. I would like to spend hours just looking at it and figuring out how Smokey designed it to do the things it did. I have visited Don's museum back about 1987 or 1988 and found it fascinating. Unfortunately I now live on the West coast of Canada so am over 3,000 miles away. Not a trivial trip but I'd love to visit again and the Smoketron is really good bait!