Fresh off a semi-final finish in the series debut for the X-treme Drag Racing League (XDRL) at Tulsa, Oklahoma, last weekend, Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) veteran Doug Kirk is focused on going one round further and hopefully earning the event win this weekend (Apr. 13-14), in the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Hardee’s Georgia Drags VII at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
“All of our races have been very close at the finish line, so I know our day is coming,” said Kirk, who won the first XPS race when it was introduced as an official class to the ADRL.
“With my brother-in-law, Ronnie Herald, we build all of our engines in-house now and made the switch over to electronic fuel injection this year and I can feel we’re making good power,” the former IHRA mountain-motor Pro Stock world champion added. “It’s just a case of making those last few adjustments to our tune-up and I’m confident we’ll see a win or two this year—maybe even more.”
Kirk will soon have a new teammate, too, as his 20-year-old son, Justin, recently took delivery of a brand-new, state-of-the-art American Race Cars dragster built by Mark Horton that he plans to race in Top Dragster with both the ADRL and XDRL. He expects to make his debut in the new blown, 530-equipped machine Apr. 26-27, in the XDRL event at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee.
“I’m pretty excited about getting out there,” the young driver said. “And Dad’s crew chief, Butch Peterson, he’ll be helping out on the dragster, too, so that’s a huge advantage for me.”
Kirk Racing is a three-generation team, anchored by Doug’s father, Carl, a former Rod Shop Dodge team member in the 1960s to early-‘70s who continues to attend all their races. In addition to Peterson and Herald, the team also includes Rick Adkins and Gerald Smith, plus Jeff Dobbins Jr. at ADRL events only.
“We’re excited about all the opportunities this year holds,” Doug Kirk said. “We really want to thank both the ADRL and XDRL for giving us some great places to race. I hope all the fans and our fellow racers will support both series because without them we would have nowhere to go.”
This story was originally published on April 11, 2013. 
