While Speedweeks captivates the shores of Daytona Beach each winter, inland off Interstate 75 is where folks take a “pit stop” of another kind.
"Originally, these were the no rules cars,” said a man dressed in black with a black cap on.
In Ocala, you can find a shrine built to top fuel dragsters.
"I never really liked the turns and stuff. I just liked the straight,” admits drag racing legend Don Garlits.
Now greater than 80, Garlits is still excited to share his life's work and the 46 vehicles that helped "Big Daddy," as he is known, accelerate into the history books.
"I just have a need for speed!” he jokes.
The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing celebrates his milestones in racing, like going more than 200 miles per hour and then 300 miles per hour in his famed Swamp Rat cars.
"This car went 340 mph that day with no problem what so ever,” Garlits said while standing next to his favorite vehicle in the museum that holds his name. “It didn't hurt the engine at all. And I was having a good time. I hated to shut it down, but I couldn't go much further.”
Although his wreck looked bad, Don's always been able to recover.
"I had a catastrophic failure. And it came apart and a piece cut my foot off," Garlits recalls of one accident.
His collection under three roofs includes fast cars of every kind. Some shaped like ammunition rockets, others like airplanes, old roadsters, antique Fords and even drag bikes, complete with training wheels.
Although Big Daddy will tell you he is retired from competition, one thing he hasn't stopped doing is innovating. In fact, his next project will allow him to race back into the history books. This time, leaving something behind, like gasoline.
Driving under the legal limit in his golf, Don is proud to roll out the next generation of drag racer: his new all-electric vehicle.
"They all deserved to be seen. And they are here,” Garlits said of his collection. Most of his cars are proudly on display. Only a few are elsewhere, like Swamp Rat XXX requested by The Smithsonian.
His museum and mission is to keep driving further, no matter your age.
"I was wanting to go as fast as I could go,” Garlits concludes with a laugh.
The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There is more Florida on a Tankful waiting for you On Demand and on television.
Tankful on Television
You can catch Florida on a Tankful stories each Thursday through Sunday on News 13 and Bay News 9. Florida on a Tankful dubuts during Your Morning News starting at 6 a.m. and plays traditionally through 5pm.