Welland, ON – May 14,2013 – With over 40 years in the race game and coming into his 32nd in funny cars, Canadian drag racing legend, Larry Dobbs of Welland, ON is readying for a dynamic 2013 season.
It looks like it will be a pretty busy year for the Kardiac Kids Racing and the 2002 Pontiac Firebird TA/FC. Their planned schedule includes up to eight NHRA contests and all four of the National Drag Racing Association (NDRA) series events.
Dobbs took the NDRA Alcohol Funny Car championship in 2012 and has his sights set on a repeat for 2013.
With Highland, North Carolina’s Mark Rogers at the controls, Larry is expecting plenty of success when the car is campaigning down south. “Mark is a great driver and brings a fantastic crew with him when we hit the NHRA events. They’re all a bunch of super guys!”
Kardiac Kids Racing has already put some rubber down at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Gainesville’s Auto Plus Raceway back in February. A couple of broken parts denied them a Division 2 win.
When they returned to Gainesville for the Gatornationals in March, qualifying presented a few challenges and a red light took them out of the game in round one.
Hey! It takes a couple of times out to get rid of the kinks and as the saying goes: “That’s drag racing, folks!”
The car is back on Canadian soil and is prepped for the first of the NDRA racing series at the Spring Blowout at Grand Bend Motorplex which is the first stop for RPM Magazine/Lucas Oil Products 2013 EXTREME EVENTS presented by Mickey Thompson.
Dobbs, himself, will be in the harness and ready to take one of the fastest roots Top Alcohol Funny Cars down Route 1320 and across the stripe to defend his champion title. He is well aware that his NDRA adversaries are gunning for him, but that’s exactly what drives him and earns him the “legend” status.
That said; I came away from our interview with the very clear sense that Dobbs has extreme high regard for every one of the NDRA racers and all who he lines up with in any competition. Although winning is a priority, above all this guy exudes a love for drag racing in general and certainly, the continued growth of the sport in Canada. He’s a real good guy and a true sportsman in every sense of the word.
As far as their season, this side of the border goes, Larry has this to say. “We’re really looking forward to 2013 and hope to help with building Funny Car racing in Eastern Ontario and ultimately, Canada. We fully support the National Drag Racing Association’s energy and goal to bring a high profile to the class and plan to do all four of their 2013 events.” He adds, “Personally, I want to thank the folks at Ohsweken Speedway (Ohsweken, ON) for their great sponsorship of the NDRA series too.”
Taking the entire season into count, he continues, “Besides the NDRA races, our plan is for seven or eight NHRA outings with Mark Rogers in the seat. We have already taken in two at Gainesville at the LODRS divisional in February and the Gatornationals in March.”
“During the winter, we’ve done a few changes to the car. We installed a new roll cage which is two inches taller; allowing the driver to see the grove. This also required re-mounting the body two inches higher. The supercharger was also re-certed and freshened over the winter.”
“This season we will try to pay more attention to varying starting line conditions–then making tuning changes to get down the track on race day. With this focus we are looking forward to another winning season.”
Dobbs recognizes that Kardiac Kids Racing’s success is contingent on more than a driver alone. He expressed huge pride and thanks to his crew chief, Kevin Dobbs and the rest of the pit team including Tyler Scott, George Monahan, Bruce Ellson, Andy Kittle, K.C. Kovacs, Les Kovacs and Avril Tomimatsu.
Dobbs crowned Alcohol Funny Car Champion for the NDRA 2012 drag racing season
He appreciates the tremendous support that his sponsors provide, year-round. “Praxair (St. Catherines, ON), Home Hardware (Welland, ON), Atlantic South Power Systems (Highland, North Carolina), Weber Supply Co. (Kitchener, ON) and Sportz Truck Tents by Napier Enterprises (St. Catherines, ON) contribute immensely to our operations on both sides of the border and are an integral part of Kardiac Kids Racing”
Larry adds, “We are excited to be able to work with Sportz by Napier; holding 10 draws for their Sportz Truck Tents during our appearances at events this season. This just adds to the excitement and sure brings solid exposure for our race team. I can’t thank Napier enough!”
All wrapped up, Larry Dobbs and the Kardiac Kids Racing team are headed for a banner year, both in Canada and the U.S. Decades of dedication, team commitment, a very capable car and an unmatched spirit of competition and sportsmanship will take them all the way.
Good luck this weekend and all season, Larry!
