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At the ANDRA Annual General
Meeting held in late 2018,
two greats of our sport were
inducted into the ANDRA Hall of
Fame: Eddie ‘Big Daddy’ Thomas
and Larry ‘Big O’ Ormsby.
The contributions made by these two men to Australian drag
racing are undoubtable, and so it was no surprise to most in our
sport when they were each nominated and then inducted to the
ANDRA Hall of Fame late last year.
In this article, we take a look at the lives and accomplishments of
these two goliaths of our sport while sending our thanks to them and
their families for their contribution to our industry.
EDDIE
‘BIG DADDY’
THOMAS
His racing career might have been only short, yet
the late Eddie Thomas was without a doubt a ‘big
daddy’ of Australian drag racing.
Eddie Thomas started as a drag racing driver relatively late in life in
1964 at 46 years of age in a rail which had originally been built by Greg
Goddard. It is said that he could see a future for what was then an infant
sport which had its beginnings in a Pakenham farmer’s paddock.
As the fastest man in Australia at the time, Eddie felt he was an
ambassador for the sport and as such, he and his crew – including close
friend, Crew Chief and business partner, Pat Ratliff – always wore a collar
and tie under white overalls.
“I still have my father’s overalls, he and Eddie always wore a white shirt
and tie to the races, at both the drag racing and the speedway – they
wanted to make a good presentation and help change the appearance of
our sport,” Pat’s son, Robbie Ratliff, said.
“My dad and Eddie met by accident and Eddie said ‘why don’t you come
and live in the same street’ and they did, with one house in-between. I
grew up knowing Eddie from when I was only 18 months old, and I have
so many great memories. The two worked together after hours in Eddie’s
home workshop, where they produced speed equipment and their first
cam-grinder.
“He had a lot of names too – ‘Big Daddy’, ‘Mr T’, or as I called him – Mr
Thomas. All the kids in the street called him that, and it wasn’t until the