Berserko's Modern World
When someone named Berserko speaks, things get interesting
By Brian Lohnes; Photos by Brian Wood, Roger Richards

Anyone who has prowled around the drag racing Internet world enough has seen, read about, or heard of “Berserko Bob” Doerrer. Currently Bob serves as the PR man and logistics manager for Bob Gilbertson’s Fram/Autolite XP Fuel Funny Car team. This guy has an abundance of drag racing experience starting with the years he spent barnstorming around the country with the legendary “Jungle Jim” Liberman.

Doerrer is known as an outspoken guy who has never had a problem letting his opinions out into the open. In many ways he exemplifies a time in the sport of drag racing that we never see enough of anymore. He displays the raw passion and hubris that took professional drag racing to the pinnacle of American motorsports during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The raw, seething, visceral, give-me-your-lunch money nature of that era has been locked up in a steel box and padlocked with something called corporate sponsorship.
           
“I’m just an old guy having the time of my life,” Doerrer said. A life-long car guy, Doerrer recalls his first drag race as a 12-year old. “I remember going to the track as a kid and just loving everything about it. I fielded a semi-competitive stocker for a couple of years, beginning in 1964, but that was kind of short-lived because I was drafted into the military in 1966.”

Doerrer spent two years in Vietnam and was back on these familiar shores in 1968. That experience would forever make drag racing a logical choice of lifestyle.
           
“I really loved the early 1970s,” Doerrer said. “The amount of freedom in drag racing was amazing. I traveled with Jungle during that time and things were much more casual than they are today. There were no big sponsors to speak of, and national events were few and far between. In those days match racing was the big thing, and it was fantastic.” As most track operators will tell you these days, it gets harder every year to stage match races for several reasons. Modern nitro cars are getting harder and harder to come by, and more expensive to boot. The NHRA and IHRA are now running non-conflicting schedules for the most part, and the amount of time available for racers to go match racing is just about nil.

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“Things have gotten so corporate that the tracks just can’t afford to promote match races,” Doerrer continued. “Back thirty years ago we could run six races in six nights, all over the East Coast and southern Canada. That era was just great.”

So what were Doerrer’s duties during his tenure with the great Jungle Jim?

“I really helped any way I could,” Doerrer said. “I helped Jim get some sponsorship, I helped him with the bottom end, of course we didn’t pull the motor apart after every pass back then, but at the end of the night we checked the bearings and stuff. I drove the tow truck and just did crew type stuff.”
           
Had Liberman not passed away in the late 1970s, Doerrer truly believes that he had the type of personality that John Force exemplifies today and that would have been a plus for the sport.

“Jim was an owner/tuner and he was quite good it. One of Jungle’s best friends was Austin Coil. It’s very interesting to think about what could have been if those two had ever been able to get together and get their own deal going. I know he could have been what John Force is today.”

Doerrer admits that Jungle’s laid back mentality still invokes memories of the halcyon days of the early Seventies.

“I remember we had just won a race at OCIR. I was driving the tow truck down the return road and Jim was riding on the tail gate, playing his harmonica, yelling to the people, ‘Everyone come over to our trailer, we’re partying tonight!’ That’s the kind of guy he was and that’s why people like me really love drag racing, because of the access to the drivers and cars.”

Indeed, those were the days. Doerrer pulls no punches when he says those WERE the best years of racing. One thing has remained constant as he sees it. Funny Cars are still king and command a cult-like following.
           
“It’s clear to me that Funny Car is the most popular class in drag racing. That’s why the IHRA brought them back to their program. It was a big mistake to lose them in the first place.”

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Doerrer sees productive days ahead for the IHRA program, which his driver Gilbertson has already signed up for.

“It certainly is not going to be as easy as some people think. Lots of guys will run their 85% combination and attend the races to test on a good track and possibly make some money. Any time you can make some laps on your combination and have the potential to get paid for it, it’s a good thing. I wish the IHRA good luck with this. I think a bunch of the single-car teams will find this to be a good deal for them. I really hope this works as well as the IHRA want it to. The first race will tell you a lot because the IHRA race at San Antonio is just a week before the NHRA event in Houston. We’ll see who shows up for that one.”

In the back of Doerrer’s mind are a few concerns.
           
“IHRA races can run late, and no one wants to be making a pass at midnight. It takes time to get everything squared away at night. We’re human beings so running at midnight, leaving the track at 3 AM, only to be back a couple of hours later would probably start turning people off to that deal. If they are able to run the cars earlier and keep the shows on schedule, then I think people will be happy.”

There are those whose greatest fear is the unlikely potential for an individual with the moniker of Berserko to inherit the title of “Czar of Drag Racing.” As one movie quipped, “There goes the neighborhood.”

“If I were in charge I would change a lot of stuff. First off, I would have only one fuel class. That would eliminate a lot of confusion and we would have one fuel winner per race. I would open the fields up to 32 cars. That would give everyone a good shot to qualify and really make the racing tougher. All electronics, like throttle stops, delay boxes and all of that crap would be outlawed.”

Of course, it wouldn’t take long for one bias to shine through.

“The fuel class would be Funny Car, but I have never really like that name. I think Fuel Coupes sounds a lot better. I don’t think people would mind the change and it does sound more professional. I don’t think we could change the body rules that much because we’ve really come too far for that. Yes, they look like melted jelly beans, but those are some pretty fast jelly beans.”

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Maybe Billy Meyer wasn’t so far off in his 1988 assessment that you could pick a .90 index and run it exclusively, abandoning the previous standard of class racing. Berserko’s rendition would be one with“old-school” connotations.
           
“I’d eliminate the sportsman classes. I’d set everything on a pound-per-cubic inch scale and run it all heads-up. I’d set up 10-12 weight breaks and run it all heads-up. No one wants to watch bracket racing and this would be something people could adapt to. You want to run a dragster? Fine. You want to run a 1955 Chevrolet? Fine. This brings back all of that variety that people love to see in drag racing.”
           
In terms of the actual “show,” Doerrer would encourage major staging duels, double burnouts across the starting line and all of the other stuff that brings the fans to their feet.

“I think Pro Stock is the most boring class in the world because everything is so uniform. Both cars pull up, do their burnouts, back up, and launch. They look the same and act the same. That just doesn’t do it for me.” Does Berserko have any hope of these things happening? Like the Hertz commercial goes, “not exactly.”

“In the 1970s I used to know everyone at the NHRA and they had all been there since the beginning,” Doerrer said. “Those people had a knowledge and understanding of the sport that the people running NHRA now just don’t have. I don’t know anyone in the management level any more. There is no one there with a lot of historical perspective anymore. I think that puts them at a disadvantage when they are trying to promote the sport in boardrooms and to potential sponsors.”
           
Doerrer’s take on Import and Sport Compact racing is not exactly in line with the vision the NHRA has for the “little cars” in their future.

“I hate them and I think they suck,” he said. “I don’t like the whole hip-hip culture around them. I understand them, because these kids can’t go buy a V-8 car to hop up, but they are all so complicated and reliant on computers. I find the noise they make annoying and I basically think they suck. I think what the IHRA is doing with their Pro Stock program is a mistake. It sends a really bad message to their current competitors by adding these cars into that mix.” (Editor’s note: Since this was written, the IHRA has put plans to allow turbo V6 entries in Mountain Motor Pro Stock on hold).
           
Although Doerrer dislikes the current state of affairs in Sport Compact drag racing, he does have an extensive background in import competition, having served as PR man for Mazda during their IMSA GTO program days in the 1980s. The IMSA series was well attended by manufacturers and enjoyed good sponsor support, but ended up folding due to lack of interest, spiraling costs and a lack of return for the big companies running the cars. Having seen that happen first hand, Doerrer has a plan that he thinks would help drag racing avoid the same fate.

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“The thing with IMSA was that no one cared. No one came to those races. Attendance was dismal. The only races they drew a crowd were the street races like Miami, but any time we were at an established race track, no one would show up,” Doerrer said. “Drag racing is an excellent product. Right now the open wheel racers are split in two, so are the sports car racers. This is a perfect time for the NHRA to really step up and become a major player. I don’t know what it is. I really think live TV is the next level we need to reach.”
           
Doerrer, like many others, has taken note that ESPN is going to be broadcasting NASCAR racing next season. Many have suggested the NHRA will be shoved farther down the list of importance (we’re not sure how much lower it can go).

“I think this is a good thing for us because it will make a show like Sportscenter more motorsports friendly,” Doerrer said. “We need the press to get involved. USA Today gets involved a little but we really need to see a major press presence. Hopefully, this will benefit drag racing.”
           
Turning the conversation towards the corporate nature of today’s drag racing world, Berserko sees startling differences from the days of old.

“I guess it was really in the 1980s when the sponsors came along and points races became so important. That’s about the time the outlaw nature of drag racing really left the sport. Now we basically have spec cars.”

The outspoken Berserko was very clear on the impact that money has had on how drivers and teams conduct themselves.

“Look at Dale Earnhart Jr. He was dropped by a couple of sponsors for saying “Shit” on television. There’s so much riding on this stuff now, you just can’t make mistakes. Who on earth has not heard the word “Shit” before, you know?

“None of the cars have names anymore,” Doerrer went on to say. “That was one of the great things back in the old days because the name of the car was a big deal.” When asked why fans seem to beg for drivers to be emotional and honest on camera, then backlash on guys like Whit Bazemore, Doerrer said “I really like Whit. He’s got a unique personality. He’s a guy who throws himself into everything he does and he hates to lose. I’m not too sure what the fine line is. Some of these guys try to be comedians and that can be pretty funny, but take a guy like Clay Millican. I find him a little annoying. There’s a happy medium in there somewhere.”

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Doerrer’s love for yesteryear played a big part in his involvement in the introduction of nostalgia Funny Car craze.
             
“Man, that nostalgia Funny Car deal has just gone crazy,” Doerrer said. “There are people building bodies and cars all over the place now. It is a hobby for the racers who are into it now. It’s an expensive hobby, that’s for sure.”

The current major debate remains how to administrate the classic floppers and where to run them. The Goodguys VRA has established a set of rules that its racers must adhere to, but since most of that organization’s races take place in California and surrounding states (aside from a shindig at Indianapolis every year) many racers are hesitant to build a car to their specs.

“I think it is ridiculous to build a car to their rules unless you are running their series. You can build one of these things any way you want and have some fun with it. The biggest thing we did with the first Funny Car Reunion was have a performance-based purse. If you wanted to run the wheels off the thing you would get paid for it, but if the car was acting like something people would not pay to see, you got what you earned.”

Doerrer knows a good market exists for these cars, but even that must be approached with caution.

“If you show up with eight of these cars in Joliet, it isn’t going to draw anyone. Look at that race in Dallas, Georgia, last year. They had a couple of cars and the place was packed to the gills with people. These cars have to be the biggest dog at whatever show they are doing.” Doerrer added that he, Virgil Hartman and Jeff Gaynor have been working on a nostalgia funny car race for the 2006 season. He declined to offer any details but did say that it would be a booked-in nitro and blown alcohol show.

“This thing is growing by leaps and bounds, there are lots of good alky cars out there now. I have always hated bracket/index racing - this will be heads-up stuff.”
           

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In all of the experiences that Berserko has encountered, (the admitted to-experiences), endured and exposed (including himself during some wacky 70s streaking episodes) it has always led back to the drag strip. It has always traveled back in time to the good ‘ole days and the urban legend of the Bob's Berserko Lounge.

“I got back from Vietnam in 1968 and went to work at Englishtown, announcing any time the track was open. I got the "Berserko" nickname from a friend of mine and I had a little bar in my house that we called the "Lounge."  I guess it was 1969 when I had a friend of mine, Mr. J, who lettered most of the cars coming out of Circus Custom Paints come up with a design for a T-shirt. 

“I had some shirts and decals made up and started passing them out to racer friends of mine.  The deal caught on and before I knew it there were literally dozens of cars with my stickers on them.  When I got tied up with Jungle in 1969 and going to the west coast with him for the winter tour he had Bob's Berserko Lounge lettered on the back of his car and the rest they say is history.

“Everybody asks me where the lounge is. Most thought it was a real club, not knowing the Lounge was just my house or wherever I happened to be.  Here’s an example. Once I rented a motorhome and parked it along the fence at the 1975 Summernationals.  I had a huge after-the-race party that drew literally hundreds of people, from sportsman racers to pro Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers.”

Doerrer was content to allow Bob's Berserko Lounge to remain a topic of folklore because of the politics involved with such an undertaking.

“I did want to open a real BBL but the cost of a liquor license in NJ was beyond my budget.  I still have Bob's Berserko Lounge T-Shirts for sale in all popular sizes from small to XXXL.”

Of all the opportunities in the world, we just had to ask why such an explosive sport after enduring the volatile confines of Vietnam.
           
“It’s the greatest sport in the world. It is man against man, one on one. There’s one chance to do good and one chance to f*** up. You could win the race and be spot-on perfect, or spin the tires and be done in an instant. There are 16 cars out there trying to beat each other and beat the track. If everything works right, there is nothing like it in the entire world.”

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