First 270 m.p.h. Run Is Garlits’ Pomona Goal

Big Daddy Don Garlits clinched the world top-fuel dragster championship two weeks ago in Phoenix, but he still has one major goal remaining for the Winston World Finals, which will start Thursday at the L.A. County Fairgrounds at Pomona.

He wants to be the first drag racer to reach 270 m.p.h. in a quarter-mile from a standing start.

“I want to set that 270 mark this year, and Pomona is our last chance,” Garlits said. “I think I’m capable of running 270.”

Garlits will make his first run Thursday about 3 p.m.

“We’ll see what kind of speed potential is there,” he said. “If it’s 263, 264, 265, right in that range, we’ll know we’ve got the potential to get the record and we’d go for it Friday. We want to get it before some of those cars start putting oil down on the track. We want to get it while the traction is still there.”

Top-fuel qualifying runs are set for Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m., and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Also scheduled Saturday is the Cragar/Weld Wheel Challenge, an eight-car elimination for low top-fuel qualifiers at each of the NHRA’s 12 national events. The $30,000 winner’s check will be the richest in top-fuel history.