Larry Dobbs was the NDRA Alcohol Funny Car Champion.  (Stacee Kenington photo)

NDRA Series Finale at Cayuga, Ontario

Dobbs and Earhart take Alcohol Funny Car and Pro Doorslammer season championships

Words by Dale Hickey
Photos by Stacee Kenington, Jessie Sharpe and Darwin Kent

The National Drag Racing Association Series closed out their 2013 Alcohol Funny Car and Pro Doorslammer final outing with plenty of close action on the Labour Day long weekend at the Toronto Motorsports Park – Cayuga Dragway.

The Second Annual Canadian Funny Car Championship wound up with Welland, Ontario’s Larry Dobbs as two-time champion in the NDRA Alcohol Funny Car Drag Racing Series presented by Ohsweken Speedway. Going into the event, Dobbs was determined to take his 2002 Pontiac Firebird, sponsored by Sportz Truck Tents by Napier Enterprises fueled by Shellbourne’s M53 racing fuel to the winner’s circle despite the quality of competition that he faced.

With two earlier 2013 event wins and his 2012 title on the line, Dobbs fully understood the importance of taking the final stripe for his third win out of four events. And that is exactly what he did.

He made his way to the final to face London, Ontario’s Paul Noakes and his 2002 Meritor Motorsports Euclid Harman HVS Ford Mustang.

Noakes came to the party being the #1 qualifier with a 5.76/253, picking up the Low E. of the event (5.676 in the second round) and taking the Top Speed at 255.10 mph. Dobbs was the #2 qualifier with a 5.83/248. Indeed, it was a good match-up.

When the green flashed, Dobbs had some tire spin while Noakes’ car went out of the groove and crossed the centerline resulting in a DQ and the win for Dobbs. Two great racers and two great cars will be around to face off another time.

(Stacee Kenington photo)

When asked how he felt about capturing his second NDRA Alcohol Funny Car Drag Racing Series championship, Larry said, “Certainly, it’s extremely satisfying to win the series again this season! Our approach this season was to get the car down the track consistently with decent ETs.

“We had a few lucky breaks along the way and a couple of times the guy in the other lane helped us out. We made it to the finals in all four (NDRA) events and won three of them. The car is still not running what it is capable of (best is 5.60 at 260 MPH at Charlotte, NC) but is getting closer!”

He went on to say, “My crew has been absolutely amazing all season. This year we had some bearing issues and these guys stayed right on top of this problem by checking all the bearings after every run. I’m totally impressed with how quick and thorough they have become.