Bryan Robinson

It was only natural that Bryan Robinson, following in the footsteps of father Johnny, who enjoyed a successful career in bracket competition for more than 25 years, would excel in drag racing at an early age. Said Robinson, "My mom told me that they started taking me to the races with them not long after I was born. When I was very small, I just played around in the pits, but when I was about 10 or 11, I started thinking about driving someday."

Robinson began racing in Super Gas in 2001 at age 20 as driver of Scotty Richardson's '63 Corvette. The stint was highlighted by a win in Robinson's first stint behind the wheel of Richardson's car, in Chicago in June. Said Robinson, "That was an encouraging beginning, but I had to cut back on my racing in 2002 while taking business courses at the University of North Alabama and ran only on a part-time basis."

This season, Robinson ran the full schedule of eight divisional and six national events, competing with both his Super Gas Corvette and Super Comp dragster. He began with his second national event triumph, at the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals, and returned to the scene of his first win to produce a semifinal-round finish.

Robinson then won back-to-back divisional event titles, at the July events at Silver Dollar Raceway and Bristol Dragway, the second of which gave him his first hint that a championship run was in the making. "I had also won Super Comp at [the Bristol] event," said Robinson, "and several racers came up to me and said that I was in contending position. The guy who gave me the most encouragement was [1990 Super Gas national champion] Sherman Adcock Jr. He's been a friend of the family for years and has helped us out a lot."

Robinson's success in Bristol, where he scored a pivotal quarterfinal-round win over Steve Cohen, reflected the change in Robinson's fortunes during the 2003 campaign. "In the past," said Robinson, "I had been on the wrong side of the close races, losing several of them by one- or two-thousandths of a second. My win over Cohen was just by .0001-second, which indicated that the breaks were finally going our way."

Robinson found himself in first place by the time of the last divisional race of the year, the traditional Division 7 season closer in Las Vegas, and only Greg Carrillo had a mathematical chance of catching him. Said Robinson, "I had used up my quota of divisional races, so we didn't plan to go to Vegas. I still had one national event left, the NHRA Finals, so through my friend, Charlie Baucom, we made arrangements for my Super Gas Corvette to be taken to the West Coast to be raced at Pomona in case Greg did well in Vegas."

Carrillo was eliminated in the third round in Las Vegas, clinching the title for Robinson, who said, "I got the news from my good friend, Shane Carr, who was monitoring things for us throughout the weekend. When I got his call, it was a big sense of relief. But after I learned I had won the Super Gas title, I began to second-guess myself for not taking the Super Comp dragster out to the West Coast instead, since I could have had a chance at finishing in the top 10 by running it in Pomona. But winning a national championship is great any way you look at it, and I sure can't complain about how things turned out this year."

Robinson acknowledged that his many years of bracket racing were instrumental in his quick rise to the top of Super Gas. "No doubt about it, running on a fixed index, like we do in the Super classes, isn't any easier or harder than bracket racing. What I really like about the Super classes is the heads-up aspect. It's fun leaving together on the Pro Tree. Of course, with the big variation you have in engine sizes, there can be a lot of difference in the speeds of the two cars at the finish line. It reminds me a lot of eighth-mile bracket racing: You have to think quick at the finish line because everything is happening so fast."

Robinson plans to compete in Super Gas and Super Comp in 2004, but he is looking farther down the road. "I'd have to say that in a dream situation, I'd love to be driving a Pro Stock car 10 years from now. But that, of course, depends on getting a sponsor. The bottom line is that I definitely want to continue racing. Super Gas and Super Comp are great, and I also wouldn't mind trying Super Stock.

"I'll be finishing my schooling in December, and my goal is to get the right kind of job that won't interfere with my racing schedule. If I can do that, we should be able to race on a consistent basis, which hopefully will open the door for more opportunities later on."

Robinson expressed thanks to parents Johnny and Pat, best friend and wife Cassie, Bill Taylor Enterprises, Bob Tiffin and his sons from Tiffin Motorhomes, Hoosier and Valvoline, Charlie Baucom, Scott Tidwell, Don and Jeff Strickland, Bebop and Aileen Davis, "who had provided me with four or five rides over the years," and "the man upstairs."