Swamp Rat Gallery, Don Garlits Museum, Ocala, FL

Swamp Rat 19: After the adventure with SR 17, the Liner and SR 18, Shorty, I was ready for a normal T/F car, something like the very successful Swamp Rat 16. Swingle, Lemons and I snapped together Swamp Rat 19 and this car was an instant success! I had installed the very light B & J Two Speed tranny and this helped a lot. Right off the bat at the 1973 NHRA Winternationals, I had Top Time and Low ET, plus I won the event. Later that year at Ontario, the NHRA Supernationals, I set both ends of the NHRA record, 247.25 MPH in 5.78 Seconds. The really big 1973 win was at the PRO National Challenge in Tulsa where I picked up $25,000.00, my biggest payday to date. Then in 1974 at the AHRA Winter Nationals in Phoenix AZ, I set both ends of the AHRA record, an incredible 247.25 MPH in 5.78 seconds! The only time any car has ever set both associations records to the exact hundredth! In the fall of 1974 we built Swamp Rat 20 and sold the #19 to Graham Withers of Melbourne Australia. My family traveled to Australia and ran the car for Graham and then returned home. Then in the late 80s, I contacted Graham and made a deal to have #19 returned to the Museum. I restored the car to its 1973 "look" and it is on display in the Drag Racing Museum.

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