When the Arizona high school prep football season gets underway in September, Ian Garlits will take the field as the quarterback for the Tucson Santa Rita Eagles.
Forty years ago, I went through the turnstiles at a Phoenix raceway to watch "Big Daddy" Garlits perform in the National Hot Rod Racing Association's (NHRA) "funny car" event at the Winternationals.
The raceway was located on Hwy 87, just north of Phoenix, and the drag race took place during the era when such notable names as Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and the great female racer, Shirley Muldowney, were on the circuit.
Ian is the grandson of "Big Daddy" Garlits. Of course, this forum deals with old timers, so we'll let the local press cover the achievements of Ian, Coach Jeff Curran and the Santa Rita Eagles this season, but it looks like Ian will be one of the top quarterbacks in the city for 2009.
Getting back to that old Phoenix raceway, there is nothing left of it, except maybe the tower's foundation. If you're heading north out of Mesa toward Fountain Hills and you look off to your right, you may see some of the remnants. Nothing much there now, except an occasional tumbleweed swirling in the wind. As for "Big Daddy" well he was something else -- the winner of 144 events over his lifetime. Garlits is now 77 years old.
Of course, the big talk back then was also the exploits of Muldowny, so much so a movie was made about her life and the film was released in 1983. The movie starred Bonnie Bedelia in the title role.
Racing in the Phoenix area has changed over the years. Now, as you journey from Tucson to Phoenix all you have to do is roll down your car window on a Sunday afternoon and take a gander at the Phoenix Firebird Raceway and listen to the sounds of a new era of engines.
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