Special Section
WHEN JEFF DOBBINS LIT UP THE SCOREBOARD WITH A 4.007-SECOND BLAST IN THURSDAY TESTING AT THE 2018
PDRA EAST COAST SPRING NATIONALS AT GALOT MOTORSPORTS PARK LAST APRIL, HE HAD EVERYONE BELIEVING THE
FIRST-EVER 3-SECOND EIGHTH-MILE PASS IN A MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK CAR WAS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
It would be another seven months
before Dobbins would lay down a
3.988 at 181.62 mph in testing before
the PDRA World Finals in October.
Despite cool track conditions during
the season finale, the PDRA closed
the 2018 season without an official
3-second run in Liberty’s Gears
Extreme Pro Stock.
This season, Dobbins and engine
builder Larry O’Brien plan to make
the record official with the Bear’s
Performance ’14 Dodge Avenger.
The duo’s priority since partnering
late in 2017 has been to crack the
elusive barrier in competition.
Doing so in testing isn’t good
enough, even though the car was
42 PDRA660.com
in legal trim and rolled across the
scales 10 pounds overweight.
“When we finally broke into (the
threes) in Virginia, we were super-
excited, but what happened after
that run – when we couldn’t make
it official – just proves how hard it
is to do,” Dobbins says from his
Wilmington, North Carolina, home
one month before the season
opener. “There were three opportu-
nities over the weekend to set the
record. One run I took it 150 (rpm)
too high. Everything has got to be
so perfect to make that run.”
Even with a 3-second time slip in his
logbook and a run data file to go
with it, Dobbins points out the chal-
lenge that still lies ahead for himself
and his competitors. “It’s so close
right now, but it’s still so far away
from everybody,” Dobbins says of
the 3-second barrier. “I kind of feel
like we’re in the front of it because
we’ve done it, but even with having
that information, it’s going to be
super-hard to do. Everything’s got
to be perfect.”
Perfection is required from both man
and machine, with O’Brien and his
Oldcastle, Ontario, Canada-based
Bear’s Performance shop handling
the horsepower aspect. Dobbins, a
Mountain Motor Pro Stock veteran,
is responsible for driving and tuning
the car, two daunting tasks given
the current competition level in
Extreme Pro Stock.
“There’s a lot of pressure when
you’re trying to make that first run
(in the threes),” Dobbins admits. “Ob-
viously, they’ve got to be one of the
hardest cars on the planet to drive.
We’re in fifth gear at 3.8 (seconds)
into the run. We have to shift it.
There’s a lot going on in one of those
things. To be perfect is tough. It’s
really hard to drive that thing.”
When it comes to the weather con-
ditions that will be required to run
the first official 3-second pass,
Dobbins believes the perfect condi-