By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Doug Herbert may be mired at 10th in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points, but he has a smile on his face.
He’s by no means content with the Snap-OnFranchise.com dragster, but the fact he is trudging on after the most tragic event his his 40 years is a testament to his perseverance. Herbert’s sons, John (17) and James (12), were killed in an automobile accident around Lake Norman, N.C., in January while he was preparing for a test at Phoenix.
“The racing year, we’ve had a tough year in racing,” Herbert said before Friday’s qualifying for the eighth-annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. “We were out there testing, when I got the phone call that my boys were in a car accident, so we didn’t get to do any testing. The year started out pretty tough for us as far as that goes.”
Herbert insists there was never any question of continuing his career after the deaths of his children.
“I love racing,” Herbert said. “The thrill of winning races is exciting, and that’s what keeps me coming back. Both John and James have been here when I won races before.
“They’ve been here every year. They loved racing and I love racing. I guess the thought maybe had crossed my mind, but I’m a racer and I like to race.”
Herbert points out his two kids were a part of this NHRA family in the pits.
“Racing’s a big part of my life, and all of my friends are out here,” Herbert said. “All the racers are supportive, and my boys knew everybody. They knew (John) Force, and they knew Kenny Bernstein, and they knew Scott and Connie Kalitta, (Tony) Schumacher and all those guys.
“It’s been tough on them, too, because they knew them. They were friends with them.”
In fact, if not for his first love Herbert would really be struggling to continue. The single father does have a daughter, the youngest of his three children.
“My life would be different if I didn’t have the racing,” Herbert said. “That’s my hobby, but it’s also kind of like a family out here, too. Every race we go to is kind of like the first race, because I see people here that I see at Richmond, and I see people there I see at Pomona every year.
“Every race every weekend, it’s a little bit easier to talk about. Because I don’t have time to think about it. It’s kind of like when it very first happened, yeah it was a great shock for me. It took awhile, but it gets a little bit easier.”
Off the track, Herbert is also devoting time to speaking to young people about the importance of safe moves behind the wheel on the highway.
“The teenage driver is the most important part about the car,” Herbert said. “They have more to do about the car than anything else. They’re the most important thing.
“I’m just doing what I can do, and see if we can make something good come out of it.”
Herbert’s win at Reading a year ago, breaking a three-year drought, propelled him into the Countdown to the Championship. He finished sixth in the standings, tying his best showing.
“We could have had our moments,” Herbert said. “At Houston we really had a pretty good car. We had a car probably that was good enough probably to win the race.
“Hopefully we’ll put that together pretty soon. I think we’ve got a car that’s good enough. This is a place we’ve won at, in the old days, six times. I think we should be good. We are focused.”
Herbert of course passed by the Snap-On Tools plant in Elizabethton en route to Thunder Valley this weekend, and has added motivation to fare well for the many local workers who are behind him.
Back in his rookie season of 1992, Herbert reached the winner’s circle for the first time in IHRA competition.
“Bristol’s always been one of my favorite tracks,” Herbert said. “Coming over here is special, and then having all the Snap-On guys from the manufacturing plant here. Then we’ve got a lot of guys from Doug Herbert Performance (Parts in Cherryville, N.C.) that come over here, and all my friends from down around home.
“This is kind of one my my home tracks.”
