HERBERT FLYIN' HIGH

Doug Herbert realized a dream that he's had since he was growing up in the Southern California area when he got a chance to fly with the Air Force's elite flight squad, the Thunderbirds on Nov. 8.

"It was awesome. It was even better than I thought it would be," Herbert said. "I couldn't believe how smoothly everything went and to be honest, I was just as impressed with the way everyone in the Air Force, and especially the Thunderbirds unit, treated us as I was with the actual flight."

After a preliminary briefing, Herbert climbed into the Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon with his pilot, Maj. Rusty Keen, and took off from Nellis Air Force Base.

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"The pilot's nickname is Shredder and that's no joke," Herbert said. "He was cooler than anyone I've ever met. He and I hit it off immediately and he knew I was a drag racer. So as soon as we took off, he went straight for the drag strip (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and when we were in the middle of the drag strip, he turned 90 degrees straight up and we went 20,000 feet in just 15 seconds.

"I was in the plane for 1.3 hours and we did some unbelievable stuff. We were carving up canyons, rolling upside down, right side up, 9-G turns. You name it, we did it. I can't even begin to describe how incredible the flight was." [11-10-2005]

WHEN FUNNY CARS REALLY WERE 'FUNNY'

The Agent received this photo from Paula Murphy’s son, Dan. This shot is from the staging lanes at the old Irwindale quarter-mile track in Southern California. The Agent thinks this photo of a real car with a nitro motor between the rails and just two or three sponsors really illustrates how times have — for better or worse — changed in the sport of drag racing. [11-10-2005]

WEIGHTY CONCERNS FOR AFSHAR

Sport Compact Modified racer Ali Afshar will be racing the quarter mile with this trick all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX. The team had some success in testing with strong 60-foot times, but found the weight distribution of the front end and position of the car's turbocharged powerplant may have contributed to lifting the rear wheels for much of those 60 feet. (Darr Hawthorne photo) [11-10-2005]