KB: It is. He needs to be home. I will not do that. No, I will not.

DRO: That lure can be powerful.

KB: The only reason I didn't knock it out was the stubbornness . . . I knew I could still do the job. I knew that we were trying hard. I knew we were spending our money. I knew we were busting our butts. I just didn't have the right package. When I brought the package in, all of a sudden we were back in the game.

DRO: But you like the strategy, like a general planning a campaign, yes?

KB: I like it when you have the chance to compete. I don't like it a lot when you go out there and know you're probably not going to win. I've only been that way a couple of times in my life. The first time was in 1973, when I quit, absolutely quit, because we could not compete. We did not have the money, the personnel, to do it. And I didn't want to go out there and beat my brains out and not even have a chance.

DRO: That sticks in your craw, though, saying those words: I quit.

KB: I came back. I got a second chance, thanks to (Budweiser). They gave me that second chance in 1980, and I can't complain about anything. Even if we didn't win last year, I still couldn't complain, because I got to do for 20-some years something I wanted to do. And had a lot of success doing it, a lot of fun.

DRO: You've seen a lot of things in drag racing. What will stick with you?

KB: As you said before, I'm not much into the past. Life goes on. I'm not good at the future and predicting what I'll do.

DRO: Did you seek any advice from say, your pal, Joe Amato?

KB: No . . . don't need to. He can tell me. I'm going to do it my way, anyway.

(more stories)

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