Jeff Dobbins knew he had one season to pull off the unthinkable and with one opportunity left, he’s feeling confident.

Working with half the budget of his counterparts, the former Top Sportsman world champion and six-time professional national event winner is looking to pull off a world championship in Pro Stock.

“Rockingham will be our last race together as a team,” Dobbins explained. “Everything is for sale. The guys have probably spent more than they should have but they wanted to give us the best possible chance they could.”

Call their story, team owners Jimmy Johnson and Kevin Burnett, along with driver Dobbins, the ultimate underdog tale. They are the epitome of a budget Pro Stock team, who has scratched and clawed their way into championship contention by sacrificing to buy the best parts available. Not to be forgotten, they burned the midnight oil paying attention to detail.

Rockingham will be the last hurrah for scrappy independents …

Jeff Dobbins knew he had one season to pull off the unthinkable and with one opportunity left, he’s feeling confident.

Working with half the budget of his counterparts, the former Top Sportsman world champion and six-time professional national event winner is looking to pull off a world championship in Pro Stock.

“Rockingham will be our last race together as a team,” Dobbins explained. “Everything is for sale. The guys have probably spent more than they should have but they wanted to give us the best possible chance they could.”

Call their story, team owners Jimmy Johnson and Kevin Burnett, along with driver Dobbins, the ultimate underdog tale. They are the epitome of a budget Pro Stock team, who has scratched and clawed their way into championship contention by sacrificing to buy the best parts available. Not to be forgotten, they burned the midnight oil paying attention to detail.

The eve of their final event rapidly approaching, Dobbins stands just 26 points out of first place on the strength of two national event victories. All that stands in his way is out qualifying point leader Pete Berner by two points, earning a Last Man Standing award and going one round further in eliminations. Those feats will ensure the unlikely becomes reality.

Dobbins stands exactly in the position he wants to be, the spot that mandates he and the team have nothing to lose. The last two IHRA Pro Stock championships have been won in the last event of the season and from drivers residing in the second position.

When we started, they always had modest goals. They knew how tough the class was and never ran the car for a championship knowing that. They just hung in there and ran as long as they could. 

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And, if he does win, the clock will strike midnight on this Cinderella story.

Being in contention for a championship was never the objective. Instead they just wanted to play in the game. Somewhere along the line, they became so much more.

That line was drawn last year at the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, N.C., when Dobbins rewarded his car owners and crew with their first-ever national event win.

“When we started, they always had modest goals,” Dobbins said. “They knew how tough the class was and never ran the car for a championship knowing that. They just hung in there and ran as long as they could.”

The largest factor in being a successful Pro Stock team, regardless of sanction, is to find the right combination. A large part of that combination can be attributed to crew chief Butch Petersen, who has prior Pro Stock championship experience with Chris Holbrook.

“I think when you run Pro Stock, it just takes a few years to get things going,” Dobbins said. “I always knew we had the right car, it was just stumbling across the right combination. I don’t think it’s a surprise that we’re there. I think the talent is there and the parts are there, we just had to put it together.

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“Our obstacle has always been funding and the reality that we couldn’t afford to test with the other guys. We’d love to have a

sponsor and with a budget, well you know…

“I think we’d be a force to be reckoned with.”

Sponsor or no sponsor, Dobbins and the team will press forward with their aspirations of winning a championship this weekend.

Dobbins will call on his many years of being proficient at the starting line. He’s leaving nothing on the table this weekend, not that he’s ever made a habit of being starting line conservative.

“That comes from the better part of 25 years of practice and building the simulators that I do,” Dobbins admitted, discussing reaction times. “I am dedicated to the sport and I’m not afraid to work hard to get to where I am today. I won’t quit. Things get tough you keep digging. I guess some people it comes natural and I’m fortunate.”

He’ll cop to being fortunate, more so than he would have admitted to being a championship contender at the beginning of the season.

“I never would have thought it, and when you look at guys like Pete Berner, they usually test every Tuesday night,” Dobbins added. “They make runs every week and have tons of spare parts. It’s really unimaginable when you think of a team with our budget being able to compete with teams like that.”

When it all ends on Sunday, win or lose, Dobbins will take great pride in knowing he’s stood at one time where the greats have all stood – atop the IHRA Pro Stock points. Drivers with names like Glidden, Shepherd and Johnson – Bob, Lee and Warren – have stood atop the IHRA mountain.

Jeff Dobbins is on the list now.

“It’s quite gratifying when you get to stand in the position that many of those whom you’ve idolized all of your life at one time or another,” Dobbins said. “It’s hard to believe, humbling and overwhelming all in one.”

And never has an underdog barked so loud without even opening its mouth.