The words on his computer screen essentially reached out and slapped his face.

That’s how current IHRA Pro Stock point leader Jeff Dobbins reacted to comments made by the sanctioning body President Aaron Polburn in an interview with the Fayetteville Observer Times and later republished in CompetitionPlus.com. Polburn’s comments were in reference to the boycott of Pro Stock drivers from competing in the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alb.

“This was really not a boycott,” Dobbins said. “It wasn’t about that. There was no pact. It was never anything like that. I saw where one Funny Car racer couldn’t make it to the event, they didn’t break his balls. There are some racers who can’t make every event in other classes, but you don’t see the IHRA racing to cancel their class. I don’t understand why they took this so personal when they knew it was coming.”

IHRA Pro Stock points leader says Edmonton was a business decision … 

 

The words on his computer screen essentially reached out and slapped his face.

That’s how current IHRA Pro Stock point leader Jeff Dobbins reacted to comments made by the sanctioning body President Aaron Polburn in an interview with the Fayetteville Observer Times and later republished in CompetitionPlus.com. Polburn’s comments were in reference to the boycott of Pro Stock drivers from competing in the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alb.

“This was really not a boycott,” Dobbins said. “It wasn’t about that. There was no pact. It was never anything like that. I saw where one Funny Car racer couldn’t make it to the event, they didn’t break his balls. There are some racers who can’t make every event in other classes, but you don’t see the IHRA racing to cancel their class. I don’t understand why they took this so personal when they knew it was coming.”

Dobbins said that ever since the IHRA first scheduled an event in Edmonton there has been a meeting amongst those who ran Pro Stock class as a means of finding an acceptable middle ground to approach the IHRA with regarding this event.

“We just always discussed the costs associated with that event versus what is available for us to win,” Dobbins said. “The whole thing has never made sense to us. We’ve never pushed them [the IHRA] to say they have to give us more money. We just never said that.

“Then you add in the fact they send us out there on the Fourth of July when everyone wants to be at home with their families and not in a foreign country. Those were really our two major concerns from the first time we went out there.”

Only once since the inaugural IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in 2003 has the IHRA filled a complete 16-car field in Pro Stock. That was in 2006, and seven of the racers that competed in the event are no longer competing on the series.

Outside of Edmonton the furthest west the IHRA schedule travels is to San Antonio, Texas. This season’s IHRA Texas Nationals attracted 17 entries.

Dobbins pointed out the IHRA Pro Stock teams are being unfairly branded as the bad guys in this situation towards the fans.

“Aaron Polburn knew in Budds Creek that no one was going out there except for Bob Bertsch. The IHRA knew that we weren’t coming, why didn’t they tell the fans ahead of time? Instead, they made us look like the bad guys. We knew that we weren’t coming in advance while they were still selling tickets.”

The first reports of the Pro Stock drivers not attending Edmonton was published in CompetitionPlus.com and later picked up by various media entities. The message boards quickly embraced the controversy and the topic became a conversation piece in the pits.

The initial report was published on Friday while the teams were in Budds Creek, Md., and by Saturday the tension was at an extreme between the teams and the sanctioning body. Reportedly, a pact was signed between the top drivers agreeing not to go. This document has yet to surface and according to Dobbins, he never signed such.

“I don’t think the media really blew this out of proportion as much as I think the IHRA took this personal,” Dobbins said. “It was treated more like hurt feelings than it was treated as a business decision. I want to race IHRA Pro Stock and I’m sure there are a lot of my fellow racers that feel that way.”

The IHRA’s Pro Stock division has been the only professional category contested since sanctioning body’s inaugural 1971 season.

“We don’t want to go anywhere, we don’t want to see those guys [IHRA] out,” Dobbins added. “This is home. But, you know, they have to work with us too. They pay the fuel guys.”

The IHRA announced special incentives shortly after word broke of the proposed boycott. The program had been in the works prior to any of the rumors.

“You can get $1500 at any race for qualifying,” Dobbins explained. “You make $500 extra if you lose first round. It costs us $6,000 in fuel alone to go out there. I bought three plane tickets and that was $4,000. I bought them and didn’t use them. There’s over $10,000 in two expenses and only one guy can win the race.”

Dobbins said this decision to sit out the race was the overall consensus of the racers and cannot be pinpointed to any racer “stirring” the pot.

“The meeting ended up in Robert Patrick’s trailer because he’s the world champion,” Dobbins said. “I think he got falsely accused of orchestrating this thing. It wasn’t. There weren’t two or three ringleaders. No one pressured anyone. I was there at the meeting.”

The bottom line, Dobbins said, is he had a choice to make. He could have traveled to Edmonton or stayed home and raced the three events afterward. He said from a business standpoint the decision was an easy one to make, but the fans in Edmonton made the decision tougher than it should have been.

“There’s probably not a better fan out there than the fans in Edmonton,” Dobbins said. “I’ve been up there three or four times and they will sit in the rain and when you are in the pits, they’ll set up their chairs and watch you work. They are really into it.”

Dobbins points out the tough economy has made teams across the board curtail many of their regular racing expenditures. Many of both the IHRA and NHRA events thus far this season have had lesser car counts than in years previous.

He adds this is merely a sign of the impending tough times ahead.

“There are a few teams out here in this class whose racing is tied to their businesses and those same businesses are struggling in this economy and they are going to have to start making some changes,” Dobbins admitted. “When you’re laying guys off at work and you’re running up and down the road, how does that make you look in front of your employees?”

Dobbins races with one of the smallest budgets in the class.

“There’s a belief that all the guys that runs this class are overwhelmingly rich and have extremely deep pockets. I’d like to see Aaron Polburn and Mike Perry [IHRA Public Relations director who was critical of the drivers in his IHRA.com Blog] pay to work at the IHRA for a month. Essentially that’s what they are asking us to do.

“They want us to take a loss for them and to be honest, there’s nowhere else we would have rather been. We’re not trying to make this a money thing, but all we’ve heard is how this is the largest money race they’ve had all year. This is a business. You can only lose so much money and expect to continue. We just did what we felt was best to be able to continue.”

Dobbins said the teams won’t sell their cars on eBay as suggested.

“Contrary to what some believe, we do have other places to race,” Dobbins said. “Our hearts are solely with the IHRA, and that’s our number one priority. Our objective is to race with these guys. If they decide not run us, we do have other avenues to race.”

Dobbins said aside from the recently formed ADRL Extreme Pro Stock division, the Pro Stock racers can compete in Fun Ford competition as well as the National Musclecar Association.

“I think Aaron made his comment a little hastily,” Dobbins continued. “I can’t help but think if he had the opportunity to speak, he might have said something different.”