Bob Bode was not going to make the walk alone.

The former powerboat racer from Barrington, Ill., brought along his wife Alice and son Bobby when he went to the media center at the Strip at Las Vegas.

Bode, for the first time in his nine year Funny Car career, had driven his way to the provisional low qualifying position. He believed family deserved to be in that room, facing the media as much as he did.

Bob Bode was not going to make the walk alone.

The former powerboat racer from Barrington, Ill., brought along his wife Alice and son Bobby when he went to the media center at the Strip at Las Vegas.

Bode, for the first time in his nine year Funny Car career, had driven his way to the provisional low qualifying position. He believed family deserved to be in that room, facing the media as much as he did.

“They give up a lot for me to be out here,” Bode said, his pride showing.

Bode was living a dream and even though his 4.145 elapsed time won’t likely hold past Saturday’s first session, the feat was more than he could have ever imagined.

“The dream was to be qualified in the top half,” Bode said. “Standing here after the first day as the provisional No. 1, all the stars lined up, and everything was just amazing to let that happen for us. We worked hard at it, it’s not like it fell into our laps. We never thought we would get that kind of success all at one time. “

Bode has a sneaking suspicion based on the increasingly treacherous conditions facing the drag racers on Friday afternoon that the first day of the event was going to be limited to one session.

“I felt like with four or five pairs, the worst I was going to be was ninth,” Bode recalled. “Then I counted down to seventh. Then when it got down to the last pair, we were nervous standing there. Then when we ended the day as No. 1, everyone who worked on the team jumped up and down.

“We’ve had a few unsuccessful races so we know how tough it is when it runs bad. We were just unbelievably happy when it happened. It’s kind of like it came to us.”

Bode confirmed that he and the team were shooting for a 4.16. Tuning Bode this weekend are Richard Hogan and Robert Przybyl Jr.

“The best we had run to 1,000 feet was a 4.13 back when we were running the quarter-mile stuff.” The 4.14 was the best he’s run to the 1,000 foot since drag racing to 1,000 was made mandatory.

The addition of Hogan, along with Przybyl, has given Bode a sense of confidence he’s been lacking in the last few seasons.

“We came in here knowing that we had a good tune-up,” Bode said. “We knew we could step it up but we had no idea it would be enough to where I would be standing here. It was a surprise.”

When Bode left a 21-year career in powerboat racing to go nitro drag racing, he fell on some hard times.

“The first two years were tough but now I love driving these cars,” Bode admitted.

“We’re racing against the best out here and we get beat up regularly just because of the way we do it,” Bode said. “When we can come out of it and hit that good shot like a golfer, it’s amazing … it will fuel us for a long time and that just makes us happy knowing that when we do get beat up, we can hang in there.

“This is a dream for us.”  

 

 

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