This fall, Brian Barby will try to power past some of the top drag racers on the planet.
Barby, a 51-year-old from Prince George, has qualified for the International Hot Rod Association Summit Sportsman World Finals, Oct. 12-14 in Memphis, Tenn. He advanced to the prestigious event when he drove to victory in the top class at an IHRA meet in Edmonton last weekend.
The seventh-year drag racer considers his triumph in the Alberta capital a career highlight. And, when he considers the possibilities at worlds, he can't keep the grin off his face.
"The win itself is something you want to put on your bucket list," Barby said. "The money that's up for grabs at the world finals is amazing -- 10 thousand dollars cash from Summit Racing Equipment, a brand new turn-key dragster from American Dragster, a motor from Trick Flow, a championship diamond ring and a trip for two to Aruba, along with the ability to say you're a world champion. Going into this race in Edmonton, I really didn't think this would happen. I'm still kind of on a high from it."
In Edmonton, Barby was in the cockpit of his 2009 Mullis rear-engine dragster. His thousand-horsepower machine pushed him through three rounds of eliminations, including the final.
With the spot in Memphis up for grabs, Barby beat Sherwood Park's Barry Kozicki when he ripped down the quarter-mile strip in an elapsed time of 7.709 seconds at a top speed of 169 miles per hour. Kozicki clocked in at 9.883 seconds at 159 m.p.h. The key for Barby was a lightning-quick start. His reaction time on the green light was 0.005 seconds.
When Barby was lined up against Kozicki, he was feeling the pressure of the moment but was able to keep his wits about him.
"I had 40 [supporters] standing on either side of my staging lane when I pulled into the final race," he said with a chuckle. "That put the pressure on me to get the win, which I did."
For Barby, the victory was made more special by the fact that wife Heidi and daughter Taihler were there to witness it. Heidi is his crew chief and Taihler is a former junior drag racer who was partly responsible for getting him involved in the sport.
"My wife had tears in her eyes because of the win," Barby said.
In Memphis, Barby's division will feature 16 of the elite drivers in the world. And he'll be holding nothing back as he guns for international glory.
"It'll take everything I've got," he said. "I have to go down with my game on, my car has got to be spot-on."
With drag racing just getting back onto its wheels locally, Barby's home track the past number of years has been Eagle Motorplex in Ashcroft. His primary sponsor is White Spruce Enterprises of Prince George.
