Thu, 6 Oct 2011, 09:12 AM Take Two

By Kelly Wade Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Carbery at the '03 U.S. Nationals

Pete Carbery has been at this for a spell. The Competition Eliminator driver out of Odessa, Texas, got his start in Jr. Fuel back in the 1960s, collaborating with a group of young and un-marrieds - just like himself at the time - and they were racing for thrills and fun. After Jr. Fuel, they took a spin in a AA/Fuel car and enjoyed some success. Back then, it was all about living life to the fullest, seizing the moment, and doing it as fast as possible.

"Then I got married, and I knew that I couldn't have a racecar and a brand new wife at the same time, so I quit," said Carbery with a chuckle. "I concentrated on my business and my family, and about 12 or so years ago, we decided that we had a little extra time and money so we started racing again. The driving, the speed, it just gets you hooked."

In the Jr. Fuel days, Carbery competed in a front engine dragster. It was powered by a small block, nitro-infused engine with port injection and it didn't have a transmission; it was direct drive.

"It was quite a learning curve to do all that," he said. "But we had a lot of fun, and we did real well. We won rounds, but never did win a race because back then you couldn't get the parts and you couldn't keep the motors together. We broke a motor about every time we went, but when we went to the AA/Fuel car, several of us were together on that, and we won a couple of events down at Green Valley Raceway in Fort Worth. It was a real good time."

Carbery at '01 Memphis.

Stepping away from racing gave Carbery time to build his business, Carbery Fabrication, in addition to playing the role of husband and dad. When the timing was right to make his return to the dragstrip, Carbery eased back into it and took up bracket racing at local tracks.

Soon, though, the desire to increase the pace took over, and Carbery graduated to NHRA's Competition Eliminator category.

"I liked Comp mainly because we could afford to do it without sponsors and all of that business," said Carbery, a multi-time top 10 finisher in Division 4 who has been ranked as high as third at the conclusion of the season. "It's a sportsman category but there isn't any breakout, so it's a lot of fun. We do this as a hobby, but we don't go often enough to be consistent - mainly, consistent with the driving - enough to chase the championship.

"The B/A class is Jr. Pro Stock; you have to have the combination pretty close to right to be competitive with the rest of the guys. That's the hardest thing to do, to be able to get that race car down the track. It has a lot of horsepower."

The horsepower beneath the hood at national events is leased from Warren Johnson Racing, but that deal didn't come easy. Several years ago, Carbery and Johnson's son, Pro Stock racer and engine builder Kurt Johnson, agreed that it would be a pretty neat deal if the WJR braintrust were able to build a B/A engine for Carbery, but WJ himself - ever focused on his Pro Stock program - took some convincing.

Carbery and WJ

"What they do is pretty strenuous," said Carbery, who tried his own hand at Pro Stock in 2004 for a couple of events. "But building this motor gave them a chance to kind of hang out with us and have a little fun, too. It's worked out really well, but Kurt had to use a little influence with Warren because he didn't have the time to devote to it. But it all came around, and they're really, really cool people."

Carbery originally bought motors from long time business associate Steve Schmidt in Indianapolis, and he still uses the Schmidt engines, usually at the divisional level. Either way, the engine compartment of his Jerry Haas-built Chevy Cobalt is equipped with a reliable heart.

The car was purchased from Lee Sharp, and it was originally a Richard Freeman-owned entry. It is well-suited to 6-foot 4-inch tall Carbery because it was built for Freeman to drive, and the two are just about the same size. When Carbery found it would be for sale, he knew he had to have it.

Though he spends up to 14 hours a day in the fabrication shop, Carbery finds time on the off-weekends to perform the necessary maintenance on the clutch car, a task made easier by the fact that he keeps it in his race shop that is right out the back door of his home. He has help from Leslie Carson, who acts as crew chief, and Ray Wise.

Carbery at the recent event in Dallas.

"We go to race, and we try to be as serious about winning as absolutely possible," said Carbery, the runner-up at the Dallas national event at Texas Motorplex in 2000 and the current B/A national record holder with a 6.92 and 198.67 mph pass recorded in Las Vegas last fall.

"In Comp, it's pretty tough to win. But we've had our share of accomplishments: the same year we won in Dallas, we went to a divisional race in Oklahoma and won. We had enough points accumulated to go to the Allstar race and represent Division 4, and let me tell you, that was fun. We went out third round, but we were really happy."

As is often the case, Carbery has found that the support of his better half has enabled his racing career to continue. He thanked his wife, Sandy, for her support, as well as the rest of his family and the many friends he has made at the racetrack.

"It's challenging to get the race car to go down the racetrack like we want it to do and be fast and quick and competitive, and driving is challenging," he said. "But this is all just so much fun. It really is."