Page Title
Dedicated to the drivers, crew members, officials and fans
who made Green Valley Raceway the place where legends were made.
IN HONOR
Billy Blankenship
Phil Brosius
Rick Cardenas
Ronnie Carlson
Stephen Chapin
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field of drag racing, he perfected the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, an innovation motivated by the loss of part of his foot in a dragster accident. This design was notably safer since it put most of the fuel processing and rotating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver was placed in front of nearly all the mechanical components, thus protecting him and allowing him to activate a variety of safety equipment in the event of catastrophic mechanical failure or a fire. Garlits was an early promoter of the full-body, fire-resistant Nomexdriving suit, complete with socks, gloves, and balaclava.
Garlits was the first drag racer to officially surpass the 170, 180, 200,[citation needed] 240, 250, and 270 mile-per-hour marks in the quarter mile; he was also the first to top 200 mph (320 km/h) in the 1⁄8 mi (0.20 km). He has been inducted into several Halls of Fame and has won many awards during his career.
Tresea Hataway Shaver
Bill Hielscher
Excerpted from an essay by Jim Hill
For you younger folks unfamiliar with "Mr. Bardahl," Bill Hielscher had a remarkable and notable career in drag racing. He was one of, if not "the first" successful national "touring" pro racers with a stable of race cars. Bill focused primarily on AHRA, and his own cars as well as his team cars were always competitive, winning many eliminator titles. His cars ran many of the AHRA classes and eliminators including Pro Stock and the GT-1, GT-2 and GT-3 classes, all with notable success.
Bill's PR capabilities earned him plenty of major sponsorships as well. He nailed "deals" with Bardahl Chemicals, Holley Carburetor, Dixco Electronics, Pennzoil, Isky, Lee Filters, Fenton, Edelbrock, and many others. Any promo-savvy company was quick to realize how hard Bill worked to get "ink" for his sponsors. He also pioneered a "Sponsor Trailer" that was hauled along with his race teams to the events he entered. This trailer carried product and literature for display and service to interested consumers.
Mike Hipp
Evel Knievel
Britt Lewis
Ed McCullough
Tom McEwen
Billy Meyer
Ken Miles
Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles (1 November 1918 – 17 August 1966) was a British sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the U.S. and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. As an automotive engineer, he is known for developing the Ford GT40 along with driver and designer Carroll Shelby, which won at Le Mans in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. He and Shelby's efforts at Le Mans were dramatized in the 2019 Oscar-winning film Ford v Ferrari.
Gordon Mino
Bob O’Connell
Eric Parker
Don Prudhomme
George Raatz
Carroll Shelby
Robert Stevens
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