The 1999 Murf McKinney dragster was the car that Doug Herbert and crew chief Dick LaHaie were racing in 1999 and 2000, and it was one of the last cars to race before NHRA switched to the 90-percent nitro rule. "I had a little limitation because of my size," Chris says. "I'm a big kid. (he's six-foot-five and weighs 240) All my life, when I was playing football and basketball, I was told it's great to be this size. But as soon as you say Top Fuel, people say I'm too big or too heavy." To get into shape, Vandergriff built a dirt bike track behind the header shop, and he trains on it every day.

The entire drivetrain is all brother Bob's. It is on loan to Chris, and he is in the process of trying to buy everything from Vandergriff Motorsports.

They started the engine up for the first time on Thursday, June 6, in the Hedman shop, then took it to Atlanta Dragway, and Bob Jr. shook it down on the maiden voyage Friday. Family friend Rob Flynn, now with Don "the Snake" Prudhomme's racing team, was flown in and acted as crew chief and chief tuner. Another family friend, Keith Jackson, who races Funny Cars out of Colorado, came in to help as well.

On his first pass the next day, things went really well, Vandergriff said. With his alcohol dragster experience, he knew somewhat how to control the car, to do the burnout, to stage, "but they were placing bets in the family because the power of these cars is such that they didn't know how long I would stay in the gas," he said.

"Actually, I made a lot of people lose some money because I stayed in the gas 1.8 seconds on the initial hit. I wasn't trying to be cocky, it just felt that comfortable," Chris said. His 60-foot times were .887, and he ran it out a couple of hundred feet. "The main thing you have to get used to with the launching of these cars is your vision, because when you step on it, everything goes scrambled. It actually takes a second for your eyes to refocus, and then you can say to yourself, 'I'm still in the center of the lane, or I'm going left or right,' so the main thing you have to get used to with the acceleration of these vehicles is right at the hit of the throttle. Your eyes have to be adjusted, and that comes from seat time. After about the third or fourth launch, the blurriness was going away and my eyes were focusing a lot quicker," he said.

"I think I surprised my dad and myself and Robbie (Flynn), because on Friday night, we had an early shutoff 5.14. I drove it to about 900 feet, coasting at 213 mph. I almost ran 300 right out of the gate," he said. Come Saturday, he hit the 4.87 at 295 mph, obviously shutting off in the traps.

"This is me living a dream, because in 48 hours, I went from nothing to running in the 4's. I don't things could have gone any better. I remember (Big Daddy Don) Garlits trying to get in the 4's himself, and he's been doing it for how many years? I feel very lucky and privileged that everything went as well," he said.

He must make one more full run. But Vandergriff says that even if he could have gotten his license that weekend, he wouldn't have felt comfortable racing right away. "I need a lot more seat time before we put anyone next to me," he said. "I've learned to appreciate this more than on the fan side. Once you're in one of these cars and you see what it takes to prepare it and to drive it ... it's something I've asked Bob about for years, and you really can't give an answer. You have to imagine jumping into the most powerful vehicle you're ever driven and multiply it by 50. The sheer acceleration, the power ... when that thing is running behind you when you do the burnout, when you step on the gas, it's unbelievable."

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