Match Race Madness

By Berserko Bob Doerrer
Photos by Chris Stermon
6/2403

The late Jungle Jim Liberman has had a busy season since Bob Gilbertson took his tribute car on tour this year. Here, author Doerrer poses with a cardboard cutout of Liberman. With all of the Hooters girl around, guess they both can be forgiven for
looking a little "stiff."

or the first time since it's debut at Englishtown last month at the NHRA SuperNationals, Bob Gilbertson hauled the "Jungle" Jim Liberman tribute car out to Mooresville (NC) Dragway June 21 for a two-round match race under the lights against the IHRA teenage driving sensation, Josh Starcher, driving Joel Collins' and Richard Hartman's Colhart Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster.

Mooresville Dragway's popular eighth mile track in the heart of the Charlotte, NC metro area usually draws good crowds but this night they had to use the overflow parking lots for the first time since 1995. A standing room only crowd was treated to a "Nitro Showdown" which they'll never forget.

In the first round, Gilbertson started off the show by doing a 1,000-ft burnout on the eighth mile track (660 feet) and the crowd went nuts while Starcher did his normal burnout deal as "Gilby" was backing up. Both cars staged and at the green they launched. It was a pedaling contest from the hit with Starcher recovering first and cranking out a 4.274/116.84 over Gilbertson's up-in-smoke (which by the way the crowd loved) 6.561/121.68.

Ironically, the Mooresville Xmas tree (circa 1973) lost the battle with a pair of 8,000 horsepower race cars and had to have all the bulbs replaced before racing could continue.

Both teams returned to the pits and serviced the cars while the crew chiefs (Nick Boninfante, Jr. for Gilbertson and Richard Hartman for Starcher) tried to figure out a combination for the tricky Mooresville surface.

In the second round both cars again boiled the tires, but Starcher recovered enough to re-set the track record (was a 3.88 by an Alky Funny Car) to a sub-par (for a Top Fuel car) 3.73. Gilbertson again burned rubber at the hit and kept his foot in it, smoking the tires the whole way down the track and still ran a 4.45/189.98.

Even though Gilbertson and Starcher didn't run the numbers that were expected, the crowd loved the show and plans are already being made for another "Nitro Showdown" in the heart of NASCAR country.

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