One look at Rahn Tobler doesn't exactly conjure up images of Michael Corleone, the fictional character played by Al Pacino in the Godfather movies.

Maybe not, but recently he did sound like him.

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

Tobler's retirement didn't even last an entire year, after announcing his departure from Don Schumacher last January. He's got no problem declaring himself a "fly-in" guy to work alongside tuner Joe Barlam as they prepare to guide past Rookie of the Year driver Austin Prock towards an NHRA Camping World Top Fuel championship.

There was no long courtship on his return to racing; it was just Rahn and his wife Ellen, on a Christmas vacation with a group of drag racing couples, including Jimmy and Jill Prock.

"When I got there, Jimmy and I were sitting with our feet in the pool the very first night, looking forward to having a great week, and we all were in one house together, which was great," Tobler recalled. "And he looked over at me when I said, 'What's happening with Austin?"

Prock offered up the details, including Barlam's role on the car, and asked, "Would you like to be in on that?"

 

 

 

Tobler admits he was taken aback by the question because he certainly wasn't fishing for inclusion.

Tobler, who admits retirement hasn't been a bad experience, hemmed and hawed, responding, "Oh, man, I don't know. I'm not sure."

The more the idea ruminated in his mind, the more returning became real in his heart.

"After a couple of really good bottles of wine, I looked over at him, and I said, "Jimmy, if someone has something to say to me, I'll listen to whatever anyone wants to say to me or ask me," Tobler said.

Then it was on like Donkey Kong.

"We completed our week," Tobler admitted. "We never discussed it again. But at the end of that week, it got me thinking how much I really enjoy Austin's company, as I always have Jimmy and Jill, but it just really was great to spend a week there with him in that kind of a setting. And then my mind started wandering and saying, 'Man, have that kid as a driver and then really get to work with Jimmy?"

The thought process only amped up as January's slow days passed.

"I never heard anything, and I said, 'I'm not going to reach out to anybody. I will wait to hear back from Jimmy or whoever."

Then last Friday, the phone rang.

Tobler was offered the deal and found himself on the phone with Robert Hight and, by that afternoon, we had the details worked out. "Then just like that on the Godfather, I found myself sucked back in," Tobler admitted.

There's no pressure of a multi-year commitment for Tobler.

"To me, there's not a lot of pressure doing this," Tobler said. "And the fact that I can still come back here to Huntington Beach, and I can still enjoy my pool. I can still enjoy the beach. I can still enjoy paddleboarding. I can still do all the things I wanted to do when I moved here. And so that was a big part of it as well, as being the fly-in kind of guy."

It's been a while since Tobler found himself working exclusively on the long-skinny cars.

"I cannot wait," Tobler admitted. "After 14 years of Funny Cars, I am so happy to be back on the dragster, but, obviously, we, as teams, whether it was Cruz [Pedregon] or DSR, we were very successful in the Funny Car ranks. I'll always look back at that, but there was always a part of me. I spent 35 years in dragsters, my first 35 years in the sport, so I'll be anxious to get back and run one of those."

Interesting note, which is not widely known, during his tenure as the wine-sipping, hip-hop music connoisseur tuner with Ron Capps, the two actually contemplated a run at racing a Top Fuel dragster.

"It was always like a fantasy," Tobler admitted. "When I actually went to work for Don, I called Don. Don had called me the year before and asked me, and I said, 'No, I just got to Cruz [Pedregon's]. I don't want to bail on this guy."

"But when it became apparent that I was going to leave Cruz, because he was really unsure about sponsorship for 2010 and I called Don back to take him up on his offer, I said, 'Oh boy, I'd love to get on a dragster."

 

 

 

"And he said, 'The only thing I have open is the Funny Car, so it goes on from there."

Tobler said he and Capps used to daydream about the things they could do with a dragster.

"It looks like it's going to work out for me at least right now and not for him," said Tobler, referring to Capps fielding his own Funny Car team apart from Don Schumacher Racing. "So I'm sure he's happy where he's going to be, and I'll be very happy where I'm going to be."

Tobler enjoyed what he had with Capps; what he was over was the daily regimen in the shop. He was extremnely hands-on, and chose to do many of the tasks instead of delegating.

"That was tough for me to let go of that aspect of it because I always have been in the shop, and I always say, 'Every day that my guys worked, I was there," Tobler said. "There were very few cars that were actually put together without me being there. I just enjoyed those kind of things.

"I liked to walk by that car 100 times a day and just look at it and say, 'Ooh, you know what, in six months, this air line could get pinched, and then rewrap that airline. But that I always thought was a good part of what I did is I was so involved with the car, but there's times in life where you have to let go of things and have faith in other people."

Tobler is ready to write another chapter of his career, starting with testing at Wild Horse Motorsports Park, outside of Phoenix.

"I know we're going to have a great team," Tobler said. "That's one of the first things that I asked about when they called me. It sounds like they have a really good team put together. And I don't think there'll be any shortcomings as far as any of those things go, so you just have to let go.

"I don't regret doing what I did when I did it. I'm happy to be out here. I'm happy to be moved into our house. I wouldn't trade any of that for anything. This deal came along, and it just seemed to be a perfect fit."