Image credit: NHRA/National Dragster

Few in the sport have attained legend status for their contributions outside of a race car, but Tom “T.C.” Lemons was one of those rare individuals.

Lemons, 74, was found dead on Wednesday at his home on the grounds of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fla. that he helped create. Lemons had developed heart problems brought on by the chemotherapy treatments he’d endured in his five year battle with cancer, and according to Garlits, it was ultimately a heart attack that claimed the life of his lifelong friend.

Garlits and Lemons met in 1968 when he arrived at the race shop in Seffner with Connie Swingle from their home in Bixby, Okla. to help build chassis. Shortly thereafter, Lemons became Garlits’ crew chief, and the rest was history. Regarded as “Big Daddy’s” most celebrated crewmemmber, the man known as “Top Cat” had largely remained by Garlits’ side for more than four decades.

“For all practical purposes, he’s been here since that day in 1968, with the exception of a few “vacations” now and then over the span of four decades,” explained Garlits.

Lemons was instrumental in developing and perfecting Garlits’ rear-engine Swamp Rat 14 that revolutionized drag racing in 1971.

“This man was there and did it all,” said Garlits. “The work that he performed on the development of the rear engine dragster cannot be overstated. Tom, Connie Swingle and myself did the work and each one of us deserves equal credit.”

Lemons was involved in the construction of 19 of Garlits’ famous Swamp Rats and meticulously restored a number of the original race cars to be placed on display in the museum.

Lemons in Bowling Green Ky. in 2010, where he was named an Honoree at the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion

Over the last five years as he fought the hard fight with cancer, Lemons had called the museum grounds home, living in what Garlits calls the “cabin.” Just a day prior to his death, Lemons and Garlits had toured Ocala, “solving all of the world’s economic and social problems,” explained Garlits. On Wednesday, the pair was to travel to Stuart, Fla. to film a television segment for the Masters Entertainment Group, and it was upon their scheduled departure that Garlits discovered the body of his friend, resting in his favorite easy chair.

“Tom is in a better place now; he had been suffering tremendously during the last couple of months,” said Garlits.

Lemons is survived by his older sister, Wanda Kannady.