Brian Gahm could only pump his fist in elation back in July when he was told that he was the first driver to run in the 6.20s.
You’d think a man who was first into the 6.40s and then the 6.30s would
get used to breaking down barriers. Gahm said he understood that Pro
Stockers just weren’t supposed to run 6.20s – in his mind that was pure
science fiction.
“I think we’re as far as we can go now,” Gahm proclaimed in July in
Ontario. “You’re not going to run any faster than that. Don’t get me
wrong, there’s going to be someone else that will run in the .20s,
there are at least four other guys who will do it before the year is
over.”
Gahm’s words would prove prophetic. During last weekend’s IHRA Torco
Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway
[MIR], four drivers qualified with a 6.299 or better.
When qualifying was complete, Gahm was the quickest. He said it still
amazes him that he retains the quickest and fastest Pro Stock run in
the world at 6.281 seconds and 223.95 miles per hour.
“Who would have ever thought
you would see Pro Stocks running in the 6.20’s at over 223 miles per hour?” –
Brian Gahm
Brian Gahm could only pump his fist in elation back in July when he was told that he was the first driver to run in the 6.20s.
You’d think a man who was first into the 6.40s and then the 6.30s would get used to breaking down barriers. Gahm said he understood that Pro Stockers just weren’t supposed to run 6.20s – in his mind that was pure science fiction.
“I think we’re as far as we can go now,” Gahm proclaimed in July in Ontario. “You’re not going to run any faster than that. Don’t get me wrong, there’s going to be someone else that will run in the .20s, there are at least four other guys who will do it before the year is over.”
Gahm’s words would prove prophetic. During last weekend’s IHRA Torco Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway [MIR], four drivers qualified with a 6.299 or better.
When qualifying was complete, Gahm was the quickest. He said it still amazes him that he retains the quickest and fastest Pro Stock run in the world at 6.281 seconds and 223.95 miles per hour.
“It’s just amazing,” Gahm said. “Who would have ever thought you would see Pro Stocks running in the 6.20’s at over 223 miles per hour? It was just unbelievable. I never dreamed in my lifetime that I’d see a Pro Stock car go into the 6.20s. Then you have Pro Modifieds running 5.90s and 6.0s. I just never imagined this was even possible.”
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor’s website
Maybe it was the full moon shining over MIR that made everything fall into place. Gahm said his run shouldn’t have made it down the track.
“It was trying to shake the tires down low because we had it a bit soft. I thought it was going to shake and it drove out of it real quick. The car was hauling the mail once it got halfway. I didn’t know how fast it would run, but I knew it was on a good one.
“When it got out of that shake, it carried the mail. We rolled the dice on that one. We were going for it. We left no doubt about that.”
That’s the game that Gahm (pronounced game) plays. He comes to the line and leaves no doubt once he reaches the finish line. That is the resolve that has netted him two world championships and eleven national event victories since joining the class in 2001.
Just to think, with only five years in the class under his belt in the class, Gahm was voted by a panel of mountain motor experts as the No. 10 driver among hundreds who have raced in the class for the past three decades. That’s a pretty lofty achievement for a driver who helped pioneer the Pro Modified division and only began racing again at the urging of a friend who convinced him to return to racing in Pro Stock.
Winning championships was an even loftier goal for a young Gahm in the Sixties, whose first racing experience was cleaning wheels on his father Eugene’s AA/Gasser. He wanted to race but chose instead to follow his elder’s business example.
Eugene quit racing to build a salvage business, Gahm’s Car and Truck Parts; a company that thrives today.
For Gahm, working took precedence in his life over racing. He said that racing didn’t enter the picture until he was 30 years old.
“When I got out of school I (also) started working there,” Gahm said. “We had a business we were building and I didn’t do anything else.”
The 100-acre salvage yard eventually dovetailed into other businesses: a NAPA store, a crane service, and heavy duty recovery for semis.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor’s website
“We do a little bit of everything. I also have a brother and it took all of us to run it–it still does, today. And that’s why it’s very hard for me to leave here knowing that I’m leaving my 68-year old parents to run this show.”
If you’re looking for someone to sugarcoat things, Gahm is not your man. That has been his trademark for as long as he has been racing. That’s what inevitably got him into the Pro Modified class and out of it years later.
“I couldn’t handle bracket racing,” Gahm said of the Top Sportsman class which preceded Pro Modified’s inception. “I came home after a year and a half and told Dad that I had to race heads-up.”
It wasn’t long before Gahm got caught up in the controversy of Pro Modified. He raced a nitrous combination, and although he won a national event, he said it became apparent to him and others they were racing at a disadvantage.
“I sold everything to a gentleman from Puerto Rico because I was ready to quit,” Gahm said. “I was burned out over the blower versus nitrous bellyaching. It was always controversy.”
Doug Kirk, along with his dad Carl, was responsible for getting Gahm to consider coming back. Fate and Jerry Haas Race Cars did the rest.
“It turned out that Jerry Haas had built a Mustang for somebody and they didn’t take it, so he called me up,” said Gahm.
Gahm then called Jon Kaase for an engine, and in his first season finished fourth in points.
“I was as excited as can be,” Gahm said. “It was like a new injection of life and it’s been wide open ever since. It‘s just an honor to be part of this group of guys that race; I‘ve just been lucky enough to (break some records) first.”
Gahm said the records have been great but running a Ford once again, is what really ratchets up the excitement.
“My grandpa was a Ford man,” Gahm said. “I ran Chevrolets with the nitrous stuff, so when I had a chance to run a Ford, I jumped on it.”
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor’s website
While many of his fellow Pro Stock racers are looking for the secret to his success, he said there isn’t one outside of good, old-fashioned hard work. He has the right personnel including Cliff Moore, whose daily regimen includes working for Kaase Race Engines.
“I think we’ve all pretty much got the same power,” Gahm said. “I think it’s whoever does the best job with it — who can best get it down the track. We just got a new car that works really well and we’ve got a good engine program, and I’ve got good guys behind me–it just all came together as a whole package.”
Gahm said he’s as hands-on as it gets.
“I work for a living,” he explained. “I maintain the car myself, I drive the tractor trailer myself; we’ve got a brand new car that we haven’t even been testing. I know some of the guys test at least once a week, maybe twice a week. But I feel very fortunate to be able to stay competitive, because it’s a very tough class.”
“You can’t be on top all the time. We struggled some and then we got a new car and we’re fast again. It’s a very humbling sport; you can be (good) one day and at the bottom on the next. But I have a good crew. You can‘t do it by yourself, it‘s not just me, it takes everybody. It even goes back to our business; if I didn’t have Mom and Dad and my brother running it while I‘m gone, I couldn‘t do it.”
Gahm said he’s mathematically out of the championship chase but that doesn’t deter him from swinging for the fence like he did last weekend. He said he does that because the IHRA’s mountain motor class is one that deserves his best effort – his “A” game, if you will.
“This is the best class the IHRA’s got,” Gahm said. “None of them run as close as we do. (However) we’re really not close enough to win a championship. We lost two motors the first two races and that hurt us bad. But that’s just part of the game when you’re trying new stuff. We’re going to keep plugging; maybe we can spoil it for somebody else.”
The weekend before last, he spoiled it for 15 other drivers.
Robert Bravender contributed to this article.
