“Jungle” Jim Liberman would have been proud of what transpired during the Extreme Pro Stock final round at the ADRL Dragstock event two weekends ago in Rockingham, NC.

Brian Gahm and Doug Kirk both performed long, smoky burnouts in their Ford Mustangs. As the haze of the burned rubber hovered over the idle factory hot rods, unexpectedly to the race fans, an ADRL official jumped the guard wall and directed Kirk into the opposite lane from which he burned out in. Gahm followed suit.

"Jungle" Jim Liberman would have been proud of what transpired during the Extreme Pro Stock final round at the ADRL Dragstock event two weekends ago in Rockingham, NC. event two weekends ago in Rockingham, NC.

Brian Gahm and Doug Kirk both performed long, smoky burnouts in their Ford Mustangs. As the haze of the burned rubber hovered over the idle factory hot rods, unexpectedly to the race fans, an ADRL official jumped the guard wall and directed Kirk into the opposite lane from which he burned out in. Gahm followed suit.

Both cars staged and left a capacity crowd of race fans wondering what had just transpired. The spectators didn't seem to mind the shift in tradition, as they cheered even louder as they were privy to something that was outside of the norm.

Gahm and Kirk's actions, while unique, were not original.

"Beserko" Bob Doerrer, longtime friend and traveling buddy with Liberman, remembers the night the Jungle and Richard Tharp faked everyone out during a 1971 match race at New England Dragway in Epping, NH. The noted showmen did extensive burnouts and while the smoke hung in the air, they pulled off a completely undetected "switcheroo" of lanes.

"They were both comedians and they decided to do this and not tell anyone," said Doerrer, who now serves as publicist for NHRA Funny car driver Bob Gilbertson. "We saw the cars backing up and I could have sworn that Jungle had burned out in the lane I was standing in."

Doerrer said the crews quickly swapped lanes to retrieve their cars but clearly, "No one knew what the hell was going on."

"I'll never forget it, Jungle backs up and there he is in the car waving," Doerrer said with a laugh. "They kept it a total secret ... they didn't tell the announcers, their crews ... nobody. It shocked me and everybody."

Ken Tesoriere was a crew chief on the Eastern Raider Dodge Charger during that era, and was next in line to start his car during another match race in Michigan when he looked up from preparing his team's car to witness Liberman and Tharp pulling off the same stunt.

This was in an era before the instantaneous reporting of the Internet, and news didn't travel as quickly as it does in today's world. Each time the two pulled off the stunt it appeared to be original.

"Not only did the audience go wild when they backed up in opposite lanes than they did their burnouts in - and the place was packed - but most all the crew chiefs gathered at the line then to study the track surface of preceding racers, doubled over in laughter," Tesoriere explained. "Some were a bit jealous that Jungle had pulled off another previously unthought-of stunt. Since my car was up next, I was laughing so hard I could barely squirt the injectors to fire up when our turn came."

The difference between the Funny Car stunts is that they were conducted during the match race arena with no forewarning to the promoter. Gahm and Kirk approached ADRL officials regarding the publicity stunt and after thoughtful consideration that their final round race held no championship implications, the officials granted permission.

"Back then, the burnouts weren't as critical and it was more of a show," Doerrer explained. "I remember Pam not knowing what was going on. She ran over and backed up Jungle. It was funny. I remember the announcer went nuts over it. It was a pretty good PR deal. Those were the good old days."

And for one evening in Rockingham, before a packed house, Gahm and Kirk tapped into that magic of yesteryear's showmanship.

Advertisement