Before, during and after, or "Gilby, can I borrow the car?"

NHRA 101: Your Guide to NHRA Drag Racing

In basic terms, a drag race is an acceleration contest between two vehicles over a measured distance, but what is a holeshot? Or a breakout? Welcome to NHRA 101, your complete guide to the world of NHRA Drag Racing, from the terminology of the sport to what you need to enjoy a day at the races to info on the many different vehicles that take to the track during a race weekend.
NHRA.com Features and Columns

There's more to drag racing than just two cars streaking down the strip. NHRA.com has a wide assortment of regular columns, including the DRAGSTER Insider -- in which ND Editor Phil Burgess treats you to "the stories behind the stories" from yesterday and today -- exclusive Driver Blogs that take you into the homes and trailers of the sport's top stars, the NHRA.com Notebook, and the unique Quarter-Mile Cuisine, in which award-winning Jegs.com chef Nicky Morse offers up his favorite recipes. From this area, you also can access previous Special Sections, including special-edition Web sites and blogs as well as memorial pages.
Meet the Stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series

Want more information on your favorite NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers? NHRA.com has full bios on all the series regulars, including major accomplishments, best runs, hobbies, and more, plus team and driver Web site addresses and contact information in the fan-club sections.
- Pomona Quarter Mile Club
Watch NHRA Drag Racing on TV

All 24 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events feature same-day television coverage on ESPN2 of the Professional-class action with play-by-play from motor racing veteran Paul Page and expert color commentary by former Top Fuel and Funny Car racer Mike Dunn. Sundays kick off with NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil, a half-hour pre-race show that gets you up to speed for the day's activities. ESPN2 also offers coverage of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. NHRA Drag Racing also is aired in Canada on TSN.
The Sights and Sounds of NHRA Drag Racing

NHRA.com offers a wide array of multimedia features for you to enjoy the sights and sounds of NHRA Drag Racing. With video clips and photos from the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, the popular Auto Imagery Photo of the Week, and a gallery of .wav files for your computer, there's lots to see and hear in NHRA Multimedia.
Get Your Official NHRA Apparel and Merchandise

A wide range of NHRA-themed items is available for purchase online. The NitroMall is your one-stop spot for official NHRA merchandise, products from some of the teams of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, and more. The NHRA Store is the place to join NHRA and purchase specialty items and DVDs, and the NHRA Museum Store has items to satisfy history buffs, from vintage T-shirts to historical books.
- 2010 NHRA Rule Amendments

Features

Home

Bob Gilbertson, Rinnai Chevy

Before, during and after, or "Gilby, can I borrow the car?"

Before, during and after, or "Gilby, can I borrow the car?"Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Posted by: Team Publicist "Berserko Bob" Doerrer

Hey ya'll, your old pal BB here today with a pretty wild blog for all you "GilbyManiacs" out there.

As you probably know, if you're a regular here, Gilby bought a ’87 Cadillac limousine a few years ago and had the guys from Indy Speed & Custom in Indy trick it out. It was painted up to match the orange "Jungle Jim" tribute car we raced at Indy and won the Best Appearing Car award with a few years ago. The limo was cool — it had a killer sound system, air ride, neon lights, a gull wing rear door, flat screen TV, flame thrower exhaust, and a bunch of other crazy stuff.

Anyway, since it was built, it's fallen into a state of disarray. Over the winter, our bottom end guy Nick Morrow spent a lot of time working on it to get it into shape so that it could be used as reliable transportation. He got everything working and wanted to take it for a test drive.

So Nick and our car chief Kevin Fenstermaker decided last Friday to take it down the road about 15 miles to the metropolis of Gaffney, S.C., to a local pub for dinner.

1 of 5

Well, they roll down I-85 south about two miles and smoke started pouring out from the engine compartment. They make a quick u-turn and start heading back to the race shop. They got literally less than a mile from our shop when all hell broke loose. Just like a Funny Car engine failure, flames erupted, they pulled over, bailed out, and tried to put the inferno out using anything they had at hand, which was a jug of Prestone anti-freeze and a blanket. How'd that work? Not too good.

The fire turned into a major deal, and 13 minutes later when the first fire truck arrived the front end of the car was burned off. Sorry for the quality of the car on fire photo, but it's from Kevin's cell phone.

Thing that got both me and Gilby thinking is that every tractor-trailer on the road has a fire extinguisher and not one trucker, or anyone else for that matter, stopped to lend a hand? I-85 is one of the busiest Interstates in the country — over 40,000 vehicles pass by our shop everyday — and nobody would stop to help?

So they had it towed back to Blacksburg, and as you can see, from the partition forward, it's junk.

Now let me tell you this, Gilby doesn't throw anything away. He's already found a '87 Caddy that's been parked for over 20 years as a donor car and now wants Sonny Leonard to step up to the plate and supply the engine he promised a few years ago… LOL

So that's it around here for now, type at you soon…

Send Print