Doug Herbert will make his 2009 NHRA Top Fuel season debut this weekend, May 15-17, at the NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. Herbert, who has been sidelined this season due to a
lack of full time sponsorship funding, has kept himself busy with his performance parts business
and other projects, but the drag racing veteran is thrilled to be heading back to the drag strip.
"Drag racing is what I love doing," said Herbert, who has nine career top-10 points finishes. "I
have really been working hard to put something together to get back out there and race. When the
zMAX and Food City people heard that I wasn't going to be able to run the NHRA race, they decided
they wanted to help me make it to the event. I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to run
at Bristol again; I love that track."
Herbert has a storied history at Bristol Dragway, he scored his first Top Fuel victory at the track
in 1992 and went on to score five more at the historic venue. While racing at Richmond last season
Herbert, who has a total of 10 NHRA Top Fuel victories, became the third driver to run in the 3.7s
at the new 1,000-foot distance.
The driver's most recent visit to Bristol was in March when he started the dragster for a crowd of
160,000 NASCAR fans prior to the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. During last year's NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals, Herbert qualified seventh but fell to Larry Dixon in the first round of
eliminations, 4.621 to 4.679.
"A few weeks ago we made a blast down the track during PINKS All Out at zMAX Dragway and it
reminded me how much I love driving a Top Fuel dragster," said Herbert, who had the best average
reaction time of all Top Fuel drivers during the 2008 season. "Although it's been nice to have
some extra time this year to focus on B.R.A.K.E.S. and the land speed car I'm building with Ray
Evernham, I want to be racing. Our team is working hard to secure corporate support for the
remainder of this season and 2010. I can't wait to get back out to the track on a regular basis so
I can keep racing and promoting B.R.A.K.E.S."
