Drag racing is a sport brimming with former racers who went on to do vital work behind the scenes, from track prep to track ownership and everything in between. But Larry ‘The Big O’ Ormsby’s incredible ride through the sport is one of the wildest on record. Larry passed away in June at the age of 89, and is remembered as a high achiever and innovator at many levels of drag racing.

Larry’s ride began in 1968. At that time, he was running his business, Brake Service Co, and was invited out to the first meeting of the reopened Calder Park Raceway. 

Enthused by what he saw, Larry soon returned to race in the family XR GT Falcon, which was prepared by one of his Brake Service Co branch managers, Colin Russell. The pair had immediate success, winning their class on debut and running a handy 15.88-second pass.

Russell would remain a key part of Larry’s drag racing career, which was supercharged when Larry was approached by Al Turner, the American Ford executive who was at that time the racing manager for Ford Australia.

Turner had seen Larry’s exploits in the XR GT on television and came up with a deal to put him behind the wheel of a factory-backed XW GTHO Phase I – the very first GTHO to see competition use. Larry was immediately successful, winning the Australian Nationals Stock title in 1970.

This was followed by ‘Braker III’ – an XY Phase III that Larry drove to claim the first-ever Pro Stock Nationals title in 1971. 

From Pro Stock, Larry made a big leap into the world of AA/Dragster, claiming the Nationals Competition win in 1976, and ran the first seven-second pass in an alcohol dragster.

This led to Top Fuel, where he won the Nationals in 1979 and 1984, the latter of which also saw him resetting the Top Fuel speed record to 247mph. He was crowned Top Fuel Champion that same year. He also became the second racer to earn a spot in ANDRA’s Goodyear Five-Second Club to the tune of 5.903 seconds.

Besides Top Fuel, Larry was also the first driver of the famed ‘Waltzing Matilda’ jet truck, setting five land speed records, with a best of 284.4mph.

Larry’s achievements behind the scenes were just as impressive. He was instrumental in the split from the Australian Hot Rod Federation (AHRF) and the creation of ANDRA, becoming ANDRA’s first Chairman of Honour from 1974 to 1978. 

Larry also managed three major tracks – Calder Park, Adelaide International Raceway and Heathcote Park – and was the general manager of the Winfield Australian Drag Racing Series.

Larry’s many accolades include the ANDRA Hall of Fame (2018), the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame (2019), and the Order of Australia Medal in 2023. 

Larry was always quick to thank those who helped him over his career, and singled out Colin Russell (who was poached from Larry’s Brake Service Co by Al Turner to work at Ford’s Lot 6 skunkworks) and Mark Watson in an interview with Fastlane magazine in 2023:

“There are also two individuals who were pivotal in my career. First is Colin Russell, who was at my first competition event in 1968 and the 1984 Nationals win at Surfers Paradise International Raceway. Second is Mark Watson, who was one of Colin’s apprentice students at Batman Automotive School. Colin eventually passed the crew chief responsibility for the Top Fuel dragster on to Mark, and he was crew chief when we ran 5.903@244.55mph.”