Donald Glenn \"Don\" Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is considered the father of drag racing. He is known as \"Big Daddy\" to drag racing fans around the world. Always a pioneer in the field of drag-racing, he, with the help of T.C. Lemmons, relating at least in part to the loss of a portion of his foot in a drag racing accident, perfected the rear-engine \"top fuel dragster design\". This design is notably safer as it puts most of the fuel processing and rotating or reciprocating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver is placed in \"clear air\" and a catastrophic failure, explosion or fire cannot immediately engulf the driver. Garlits was an early promoter of a full-body, fire-resistant suit - complete with socks and gloves. He was the first drag racer to officially surpass 170, 180, 200, 240, 250, 260, and 270 miles per hour; and he was also the first to