Bob Vandergriff
Jr. is definitely someone who looks at the glass as half full opposed to half
empty.
He has to.
How else would you explain
his ability to keep going? Vandergriff, over a career that began in 1994, has
had his cake. He just hasn’t tasted it yet. He’s advanced to 11 final rounds
his NHRA career without earning his first national event victory. But he
understands that even a racer has more to his life than a little gold trophy.
"I think it used to
(get to me)," said the Top Fuel veteran, who has advanced to four finals
this year and comes into this weekend’s Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals in
Richmond, Va. with a shot at qualifying for the final four in the NHRA’s new
Countdown to the Championship. "I realize now that it’s not such a bad
thing. It’s not like we have a bad car and lucked into the final. When we get
to the finals, we’re running good and things for whatever reason take place and
we don’t win the round.
"I tend to look at the
big picture of things. I look at the success of us getting to the final and
winning rounds. And eventually, when we do knock that door down, (those wins)
are going to come in bunches. But like I said in other interviews before,
there’s nothing in my life that I can complain about. And I’m certainly not
going to complain about losing a drag race."
Vandergriff Shows He Can Play With The Big Boys
Bob Vandergriff
Jr. is definitely someone who looks at the glass as half full opposed to half
empty.
He has to.
How else would you explain
his ability to keep going? Vandergriff, over a career that began in 1994, has
had his cake. He just hasn’t tasted it yet. He’s advanced to 11 final rounds
his NHRA career without earning his first national event victory. But he
understands that even a racer has more to his life than a little gold trophy.
"I think it used to
(get to me)," said the Top Fuel veteran, who has advanced to four finals
this year and comes into this weekend’s Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals in
Richmond, Va. with a shot at qualifying for the final four in the NHRA’s new
Countdown to the Championship. "I realize now that it’s not such a bad
thing. It’s not like we have a bad car and lucked into the final. When we get
to the finals, we’re running good and things for whatever reason take place and
we don’t win the round.
"I tend to look at the
big picture of things. I look at the success of us getting to the final and
winning rounds. And eventually, when we do knock that door down, (those wins)
are going to come in bunches. But like I said in other interviews before,
there’s nothing in my life that I can complain about. And I’m certainly not
going to complain about losing a drag race."
Vandergriff, in fact, has a
lot to be happy about when it comes to what he’s accomplished in drag racing.
It started his first season in 1994 when he had the distinction of being the
guy who put Don "The Snake" Prudhomme on the trailer for the final
time. But it also includes four top-10 finishes and advancing to the 11 finals.
Yet by the 2001, after running the entire 2000 season on a limited budget, he
thought it best to put away childish things.
"It was about the time
I started my family," recalled Vandergriff, who would not return until
2004. "I had small children and it just seemed like the right time to step
back and re-evaluate some things. I could spend some time at home with the kids
and recharge my batteries a bit."
He also could work on his
other passion — golf. Vandergriff, who is friends with PGA Pro Jay Don Blake,
got a chance to refine his low-handicap game, playing in a variety of
tournaments, including some professional events.
"I got to play
golf," he said jokingly of his respite, which also allowed him to build up
his apparel company. "My golf game got pretty good. I did have a chance to
explore the competitive side of golf.
"But those guys are really, really good. I
got competitive at too late an age. I get to play with a lot of them still, but
at my best, they still beat me by three-to-four shots a round and when you take
that over a four-round tournament, that’s 16 shots. And that’s the difference
in making the cut and not making any money. Those guys are just at a whole
different level."
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But while he
enjoyed his sabbatical, he knew he was a drag racer and the sport kept calling
him back. He finally relented. But it took a rainy day as a spectator, with
veteran crew chief Rob Flynn, who was also unattached at the time, at the 2004
Winternationals.
"We had nowhere to go
to stay out of the rain," Vandergriff recalled. "At the time, we were
thinking that this really sucks. But later at dinner, we kind of hatched the
plan to run 10-12 races to get the dust and rust off me a little bit and start
exploring the opportunity to come back.
"(Rob) was available
and I was available. We had a shop full of cars and parts and felt we could do
it pretty economically. (That) motivated me to come back."
Once back in the cockpit
Vandergriff hardly missed a beat. The veteran, despite running just 12 events,
finished 15th in points while advancing to one final and scoring a 9 -11
eliminations record.
He was then able to up the
program a bit by bringing United Parcel Service in as a major sponsor. But that
too was a slow process.
"We actually started
working on putting together a deal with UPS in September of 2004,"
Vandergriff said. "There was time where we thought we might be able to get
it done and run the 2005 season.
"But unfortunately,
with the delays of putting the program together internally, it was pushed it
back to (2006). But it worked out just fine."
The team, which had very
limited pre-season testing due to a late start in 2006, struggled somewhat
getting its feet wet. Vandergriff qualified at 19 of the 23 national events,
but he won just four elimination rounds. Those sub-par performances, though,
did lay the groundwork for what has turned out to be a solid campaign this
season.
Vandergriff has qualified for 19 of the first 20
national events, is 21-19 during eliminations and is one of just six competitors
in Top Fuel to score at least four final-round appearances. He also has just
five first-round losses.
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"I think we
learned a lot from the team aspect of it," Vandergriff said. "We got
off to a late start (in 2006), and we were never able to dig ourselves out of
the hole we started in. Everything was brand new, and we just got behind.
"But one thing we did
learn was that the guys never gave up, never quit. They just kept working hard
and we kept moving forward. We knew at some point, we’d get a handle on it, and
we did.
"That’s why you are
seeing the type of year we’ve had this year. The guys continued to work hard
and push it, and the attitude was never say die, and it paid off."
The NHRA’s new Countdown to
the Championship – a pseudo playoff – hasn’t hurt his chances, either.
Vandergriff, who started the Countdown to Four in sixth place, is coming off a
runner-up at the Fall Nationals near Dallas two weeks ago. He comes into this
weekend’s Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals near Richmond, Va., the final event
of the four-race stretch, a mere 21 points out of the final four, meaning he
must both out-qualify and go one round further than fourth-place Brandon
Bernstein to keep his championship hopes alive.
Under the old format,
he still might be in fifth place, but the only thing he would be fighting for
is that elusive first victory. The championship chase would be out of his
grasp.
"I think
there are plusses and minus (to the new points format)," Vandergriff said.
"One side of it is that we’re probably exactly where we should be with the
old system, right at fifth place.
"But that way,
realistically, we wouldn’t have a chance to win the championship. This way,
we’re in fifth place with a chance to win the championship. I’d say the new
formula has played in our favor."
Vandergriff also likes the
new format for another reason.
"I always think we can do a better job
promoting the sport," Vandergriff said. "I’d like to see that,
obviously. But I think (the Countdown to the Championship) has created a little
more interest, a little bit more drama.
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"The return
has been good, because that’s what attracts the media attention — the drama. I
think that’s been good, a positive."
As for his team, the goal is
rather simple for the final three races of the season.
"If we go to the finals
at Richmond, that will take care of getting into the Countdown to One (unless
he loses to Bernstein in the final)," Vandergriff said. "Then if we
go to the finals at the last two races, I like our chances (to win the
championship).
"I think consistency
has been the key to our season this year. We suffered very few first-round
losses, we’ve won a lot of rounds, and our car goes down the track. Consistency
has put us in the spot we are in, and we’re going to keep going with that same
attitude."
But Vandergriff knows what
the talk would be if that scenario comes to fruition and he wins the
championship despite going winless this season. But he has his arguments
already lined up.
"I think there would be
a little bit on both sides," Vandergriff said. "I think some people
would think that a guy who wins the championship without winning race, ‘Well,
that’s not right.’
"But the other way you
look at it, it’s not really a sprint, a one-race deal. It’s a 23-race deal. And
overall, maybe the most consistent car did win. I can see arguments on both
sides of the fence.
"We’d like to take it out of the equation
and win one of these final three races, or two, or whatever. But at the end if
we get the big trophy sitting there, we’ll take it anyway we can get it."
