Kirks Make History, Double up at Dragstock

PITTSBORO, NC – Racing, especially within the PDRA, is a family affair. Many of the professional drivers have sons and daughters that also race in the PDRA ranks. And while any of these drivers are capable of winning, having a parent and child do so on the same day is a difficult task. Almost three full seasons into the PDRA’s existence, the Kirk family is the first to make it happen.

Longtime Extreme Pro Stock powerhouse, Doug Kirk, is no stranger to winning. His son, Justin, entered the Lucas Oil Top Dragster scene last season and quickly began earning a name for himself. This season he put himself in championship contention early, but was still searching for his first national event win.

After battling some issues in the previous dragster, Kirk’s car owners Randy and Kathy Kelley purchased a new-to-them 2014 Spitzer which the team debuted at the Memphis Drags. There, they experienced engine trouble and electrical problems.

“Saturday before Dragstock, we didn’t have a motor in the car,” told Justin. “We didn’t even have a motor to go in the car. We had to put a block in it. We had been having camshaft trouble. We were doing so good in points, Randy would rather not take any chances, so he just wanted to put a new block in it. Matt Hornbuckle dropped everything and finished it up. I can’t thank him and Randy and Kathy enough.”

Kirk and team took the dragster and brand new engine to Dragstock where things quickly began looking up. “We made a test run Thursday morning, came back and changed the timing program just a little bit and went back out,” Kirk storied. “From test run two on Thursday all the way to the finals, the only thing we did was check the tires. The weather swung quite a bit when the sun went down, but from the coolest temperature to the hottest temperature we moved 3.5 to 4 numbers, that’s it. It was all on me. I couldn’t blame it on the car no more. The first round I got the red light win. I got the gimme that round, but the rest of them weren’t that easy.”

Kirk started the day running two classes, competing in the PDRA Bracket Bash, along with his usual dragster. That, along with his father’s Pro Stock ride, meant that the team had to keep three cars going at Dragstock. Justin pulled triple duty, also partially calling the tuning calls on the Pro Stocker. With the furious pace, Kirk says he wasn’t even able to give it a thought before he and his dad were in the finals together.

Doug Kirk met number one qualifier and points leader Richard Penland in the finals at GALOT Motorsports Park. On paper, Penland was the clear favorite, but Kirk was determined and used a .009 reaction time and 4.149 to take the stripe over Penland’s 4.085.

After taking out a slew of heavy hitters, Justin met his toughest competitor yet in the finals, multi-time world champion Steve Furr. Kirk ran dead on his 3.96 dial-in while Furr broke out by .002. At lucky Dragstock XIII, a father/son duo claimed class wins at the same event for the first time PDRA history.

“That was a big deal,” Doug said emotionally. “It’s a big accomplishment. There’s people that race all their life and never win a national event. For a father and son both to win it the same night was very special. It was big alone for Justin to get his first ever national event win, much less for us both to win.”

“You can’t explain it. Can’t put a price on it,” seconded Justin. “Out of all the wins I’ve got, this is the best one, other than my grandpa not being there. He’s had some health issues. He tore the rocking chair all to pieces, I’m sure, trying to get through the iPad, but he got to see it on the Live Feed.”

Both Doug and Justin were excited to have their win come at the PDRA’s biggest race to date. “To race at GALOT in front of a big crowd like that it makes it special,” told Doug. “I want to thank everybody at PDRA and the crew at GALOT Motorsports. That was some kind of facility. Also want to thank everybody that’s helped along the way, especially my family and friends.”

The team had further cause for celebration over the win as it put Justin first in Lucas Oil Top Dragster points. With just two events left, he’s two rounds ahead of David Brown.

“In a better spot now than I have been all year,” Justin said of his points position. “Takes the pressure off. Now it’s on David. All the weight’s on him. If I can just keep doing what I’ve been doing, I’ll be fine. I like where I’m sitting right now.”

“He’s not only a good driver, he’s become a good crew chief,” Doug said of his son, proudly. “He’s got to where he does probably 80% of all the calls on the Pro Stock car. He’s going to be a true racer. He understands the more you’re involved, the further you’ll go. He wants to know what makes everything tick.”

Justin will be competing at this weekend’s Mel Bush Motorsports Sunshine State Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Both father and son will be back behind the wheel for the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park for the final determining of champions.

Although this was the first time Doug and Justin had both won at the same event, it was not the first time they’d been in the finals together. They actually met each other in the finals of a $10,000 to win bracket race once. In true racer fashion, both wanted to run for the money, and it was Dad with the win.