Hey, blog readers! LP with a quick update from the shop on this off weekend before Richmond.

First and foremost, we are all saddened by the passing of Wally Parks. The first driver Wally witnessed pass the 300-mph mark was Doug in Pomona back in 1993. From then on, Wally would always remind Doug how he would never forget seeing him make that 300-mph pass.

Without Wally’s influence, the world of drag racing would be a much different place. He took his ideas and dreams and turned them into reality, and every single one of us reaps the benefits, whether it’s by sitting in the stands watching your favorite driver traverse the quarter-mile, strapping yourself into your super stocker to make your first pass of the day, or sitting behind a computer, blogging about how lucky we are to be a part of something that started out as a vision by one man. From everyone at Doug Herbert Racing, our thoughts and prayers are with the Parks family and everyone associated with his family at NHRA. Godspeed, Mr. Parks.

Doug had lunch with Bobby Allison this week. Just in case you aren’t a NASCAR fan at all and have maybe been under a rock for a couple of decades, Bobby Allison ranks third on the all time win list, and is one of the legends of the sport. Doug had this to say about his lunch with Bobby:

Well, Bobby and I are good buddies, and we talk on the phone pretty often and get together when we can. He is working with Dr. Scott Murwin on a special project car, and we have been helping them with the cylinder heads and cam. We thought it would be a good idea to get together and go over the details, so we headed over to Court Street Grill.

I talked to my Dad a few weeks ago about making a special cam for this project car. When I was on the phone with him, he didn’t want to mess with it. This week, Bobby came to the shop and we got on a conference call with Dad. Bobby told him what we needed, and all of a sudden it was no problem. “Sure, Bobby, anything we can do to help. We’ll get right on it!” Nice, huh? Dad didn’t want to mess with it for me, but he was more than happy to help out Bobby! But who can blame him?

I thought you all would get a kick out of that little story! Now let me fill you in on what’s going on in the rest of Herbert World. Dallas? Well, there isn’t really much to say. Like it or not, if you don’t make a kick butt pass on Friday night, you aren’t going to get into the show. That’s just the way it is. We made it down the track on Friday night, but we had some issues that kept us from making it down as fast as we needed. This obviously brought an early end to the weekend, and the guys headed for home as soon as they could pull out on Sunday night. They have spent the week at the shop, getting things ready to head for Richmond on Wednesday.

They all had the day off on Friday, but a couple of them were in the shop working on personal stuff or finishing up stuff for the team. Big Ed just bought a really sweet Galaxie, and he and Dan were putting in some hours trying to turn it into a Cobra killer (which I drive….we will just have to wait and see about that one), and Stacker was there doing some work on the dyno. Doug had the pictures from winner’s circle framed for the guys, so we took them to those that were here. I think they liked them!

Today we had a car show at the shop, and we had the best turnout of the year. The weather is perfect, and it seems like a nice, sunshiny day brings out the best in us car lovers. Nothing quite like getting your car all cleaned up and standing around talking to other people that love cars. There were all kinds of cars, from a Nova with Lamborghini style doors and a blower that’s taller than I am sticking out of the hood to a Greenwood Corvette to a Corvair Van, and lest I leave you all thinking I am a Chevy fan, there were also several good looking Fords and Mopars on the lot. The Best in Show Award went to Mark Chichester and his 1958 Impala. Talk about beautiful. This car is just amazing! I took lots of pictures of all the cars, and should have them posted on our website (www.dougherbertracing.com) early next week. Make sure you check them out!

That’s it for now. I’m off to get to work on these pictures and start getting ready for next week’s race in Richmond.

Until next time, be good,

LP