Drag Racing Online- Special (page 3 of 5)

page 3 of 5

When I came along (Apr. 5, 1967), my dad was pretty much done with racing. He was into making cams and I only went to the track with him a few times, usually when he was helping somebody else. Certainly, I knew he was a famous racer, but I was really like any other kid, school, girls, bikes, motorcycles. I really got started racing bicycles in motocross when I was about 11. After that I got a job and at age 14, bought an outboard stock race boat."

— D.H.

At age 14, Doug Herbert was about a year away from his ‘82 Winternationals experience, and the boats probably helped him decide quicker to race on asphalt rather than water. His summer job netted him $800 and he used that to buy the boat, and after racing that awhile dad showed an interest in boats in the enduro race classes. It was here that Doug ran into some problems. He tried his hand at the 120-mph enduro boats and "blew a couple over" and it dawned on him that one could get killed in this if one was unlucky or not careful. The boat went away and Doug’s means of going fast went to vapor for the moment.

At age 18, Doug had graduated from Villa Park High School in Orange County and went looking for a job. At the time, he had an old Camaro and was looking for parts, and his journeys took him past Shel Konblett’s Service Center store in Torrance. There was a "Help Wanted" sign for a counter man, and when Konblett, a former Funny Car racer who earned ink with the "Peanuts" Fairlane in the mid-1960s, saw that he was "Chet’s kid," .. Why not? Give him the job.

Herbert lasted at Service Center for about two years, but a proposed move to an Arizona site for a store caused him to think his situation over. He was driving home when Konblett proposed the move and happened to drive by his dad’s Anaheim shop. He pulled in and they started talking. What are you doing? What’s happening, etc. Chet was still working with cams, but basically the business was not what it used to be. Another company was doing his grinding, and short of design, his output looked on the surface like a man who might be contemplating retirement. He had thought of even renting out the building he was in and this got Doug to thinking.

"I was about 21 at the time, but my time at Service Center got me to thinking about opening my own store one day. I asked my dad about building a speed shop at his site; I’d handle the business if he’d let me use the building. I had been helping him grind cams before that but man, it was boring after awhile. It was like making keys, and this seemed to be as better way to pick things up. Dad knew all kinds of people, Edelbrock, Weiand, and other manufacturers, and we had enough equipment to open a store and that led to some interesting things."

— D.H.

By 1987, the business, now known as Doug Herbert Performance Parts, which got started the year before, was off and running and that coincided with the younger Herbert’s racing career. In 1986, Nick Arias loaned him some money to buy the old Dale Smart-Gary Southern alcohol dragster, and Doug’s career got off the launch pad. Because of his connections, Herbert found out from Arias that Billy Williams would be a good guy to get to know because he had a super blower dyno that would help square away the car.

Recognizing his son’s increasing involvement and wanting to help, Chet offered some advice that he thought would give the kid an edge. His old partner Roy Steen had a radical new centrifugal blower, based on the ones in the P-51 airplanes and he felt it would make his car fly on the ground.

Herbert mounted the blower on the Arias engine and went over to Williams’ shop to test it on the dyno. Steen’s blower proved to be incredible; it made 500 horsepower more than the other blowers of the period. The team charged over to the Winston Finals to lay waste to the city, but NHRA tech killed it. Herbert was ready to quit. He sold the car and the equipment and was ready to lead life as a successful speed shop/parts dealer. However, due to his Herbert’s Performance Parts business really taking off, he got the itch to try it all again.

By 1990, Doug had enough money to step up and buy the Don Gay Jr. Alcohol Dragster. The Gay car was state-of-the-art whereas the Smart car was at least eight years old. Herbert debuted it at the Autolite Nationals at Sears Point in Northern California and went to the semifinals.

Herbert wanted to step up and turned pro in 1991 and finished 16th in the NHRA Winston Top Fuel standings. In 1992, he hooked up with sponsor Hugger Sportswear, which earlier had given something other than a contract. The year was 1988.

"My dad’s shop was near ‘Dyno Don’ Nicholson’s place and I was over there one day, admiring his souvenir t-shirts. I thought that would be something we could carry in our store and I was looking to make a deal. He told me that (former Funny Car great) Tommy Grove made ’em, and to give him a call. I checked in with him and he referred me to his daughter, Sonnie, who ran the t-shirt business. He was located in North Carolina and I went back there, got a t-shirt deal, and fell madly in love, and well ... she’s my wife."

— D.H.

Doug Herbert’s career with Hugger began on an up note. At the end of the 1992 season, he was the IHRA Top Fuel champ and at the beginning of the 1993 season, Herbert’s Brissette-tuned dragster ran a 301.60-mph speed, making him the second driver over 300-mph. That year, he also won his first NHRA title, the Springnationals in Columbus, Ohio, beating none other than the first guy over 300-mph, Kenny Bernstein, in the final.

In the ‘92 season, Herbert got a rise from what now is his major backer, Snap-On Tools. He won an event that year and Snap-On, IHRA’s prime backer, gave him a set of tools. That grew into a product-only deal in ‘93 and full-on sponsorship the next year. At present, Herbert will be with Snap-On for the next three seasons. He is definitely one of "the players" in Top Fuel, and despite the nuclear blast at Pomona, figures on contending with the Gary Scelzis, Schumachers, Joe Amatos, and Kenny Bernsteins for his first NHRA season championship.

page 3 of 5