With relatives' help, Dodge man builds HD 305 series points lead

    Dodge native (and lifer) "Flyin'" Brian Herbert has been atop the Dodge City Harley Davidson Sprint Car Series points standings for much of the 2008 season.
    Now, he heads into tonight's races at Dodge City Raceway Park with a slim 10-point lead over one of the series' young up-and-coming drivers, Taylor Milton.
    The recent trend toward racing sprint cars with 305-cubic-inch motors has helped a younger generation of drivers spring into competition, and it has kept drivers like Brian, who race as a hobby and keep full-time jobs during the week, in the driver's seat.
    Brian said the trend toward racing 305s has played a role in the decline of 360-series races in the region, but he still keeps a 360-inch motor in one of his cars in case he can find a race in the area on some weekends.
    "That's what I got started on," he said. "You can tighten up the motor to make the car faster with the bigger blocks. On a 305, they just don't put out enough torque and horsepower to tighten them up any."
    Racing 305-cubic-inch sprint cars has been good to Brian and his crew, which consists primarily of his relatives. Brian was second in the Dodge City HD Sprint series in 2007 and will improve on that performance this year if he can finish by running as well as he has all summer.
    Brian's father, Alan, builds motors for the number 97 car, while his brother, Alan Jr., heads up the pit crew.
    "We can put together a 305 motor for $8,000-$9,000," Brian said. "Whereas buying a 360 motor would cost us $26,000-$28,000."
    Brian has five wins on the season this year: three at Dodge, one in Jetmore and one in Wichita.
    In the last full night of racing at DCRP in July, Herbert flew into first place and the winner's circle with only four laps remaining. He passed another young gun, Taylor Velasquez, to get the checkered flag.

All in the family
    Brian and his relatives work on the car during the week to get it ready for each weekend's race. His father, Alan Sr., builds the motors, cousin Stevie is a member of the 97 crew and Brian's son, Kaden, his daughter, Marissa, and his nieces and nephews help out on race day as well.
    Brian calls Marissa the number 97's "number one fan." When the 16-year-old got her first job, she told her boss that she would have to be off work by 7 p.m. Saturdays so she could be at every race.
    Brian's 12-year-old son, Kaden, has expressed interest in racing his own sprint car. Brian said if Kaden still wants to race in a couple more years, the top young racers like Taylor Milton, Taylor Velasquez and Tanner Mullens had better watch out when he takes over one of his dad's spare cars.
    "We make it a family time at the racetrack," Brian said of his homegrown crew. "The whole family helps out, whether it's changing tires or scraping mud. Even all the kids get down there and help."
    He estimated that by the end of the 2008 season in October, he will have entered somewhere around 40 races from Dodge to McCook, Neb. But the 41-year-old is realistic about his motivation and future in the sport.
    A driver earns $500 for each feature win— and all of that money, at least for the 97 team, goes into the racing account and right back into the car. Brian earns his real-life money as the foreman at the Ford County Landfill, a job he has held for 24 years.
    He doesn't race for money. With that kind of payday and the cost of upkeep on a sprint car, no one could. But Brian is able to rattle off a long list of sponsors who help him stay on the track every weekend and help him improve his car when it needs work.
    "It's just bragging rights. Anyone who tells you they're making money out there is wrong," Brian said of winning races. "It doesn't even make any difference if we get anything. It's just knowing that you outran everybody all year."
    The Herbert team doesn't worry about prizes, contingencies, jackets, belts or any other loot it could potentially earn. The team races so it can keep racing.
    But the sport can get expensive with the rising cost of fuel and other travel expenses, and to keep racing, you eventually have to win.
    Brian and his team have gotten into a good habit of winning in the three years and change they have spent on the Dodge City Harley Davidson Sprint Series.
    "The first thing I ever crawled into was a sprint car," Brian said. "After a few years, I could feel myself getting faster. Sometimes you stick your nose in there and get lucky. Winning comes with experience."
    Brian was 23 when he crawled in, and his father was paying out of his pocket to keep his own race career going at the time.
    "He couldn't afford to have two cars out there, so I found someone else that would let me drive their car from time to time," Brian said. "I started out at 8-10 races a season, but when my dad wanted to get out of racing, my brother and I bought everything from him."
    That was in 2001. With his recent success in the sprint series, he has a bright end to 2008 ahead of him and at least two more years before Kaden can race his own sprint car.
    And for Brian, that's just fine.
    "Besides, what else is there to do on a Sunday afternoon besides go racing?" he said.
    Tonight is discount night at DCRP. Hornets, NAPA Thundercars, IMCA Stocks, Monster Modifieds and Dodge City Harley Davidson Sprint cars will all be in action starting at 7 p.m.