Barr in finals of Street Legal drag race showdown

John Barr worked in the automotive industry until his retirement five years ago, so he is aware that reaction times are slower for older drivers. The 65-year-old Barr thus isn’t too disappointed at losing to a 21-year-old in the finals of the National Hot Rod Association’s Street Legal drag race showdown at Pomona Raceway.

“I was just happy to get to run down that track twice,” Barr said. “It’s sort of the holy grail of drag strips.”

Barr was one of 21 drivers who qualified for the Nov. 9 showdown, for which more than 500 drivers sought qualifying berths. He advanced several times after other drivers accelerated before the green light activated. “I got everybody to red light,” he said.

His competitor in the finals had a reaction time of 0.012 seconds while Barr’s reaction time was 0.126 seconds. “It went very well. It was well put on,” Barr said.

Barr was born in Scotland and moved to Canada during his childhood. He was 15 when his family moved to Glendale in 1961, and he graduated from Glendale High School in 1965 before attending UCLA.

Barr admits to illegal street racing in Glendale and Burbank when he was younger, but he also raced at various legal drag strips in Southern California.

Barr, whose professional career included more than 20 years with the state’s Bureau of Automotive Repair, was also involved in drag racing in that capacity. The Bureau of Automotive Repair assisted the San Diego Police Department with law enforcement’s DragNet operation; vehicles captured during illegal street racing underwent smog checks to determine if emissions violations were added to speed contest and other California Vehicle Code crimes.

Barr moved to Fallbrook from Burbank about 20 years ago when the Bureau of Automotive Repair transferred him to the Oceanside office. He had previously been a quality control and warranty support specialist for Volkswagen Porsche Audi AG in Culver City. “Automobiles are my passion. It’s been my whole life,” he said. “Every job I’ve had has something to do with the automotive industry.”

In addition to legal and illegal drag racing, Barr has also participated in off-road, open road, and circle track racing. Barr teams with his wife, Carey, who serves as the navigator for the open road Silver State Classic in Nevada which is held twice each year. Although they did not compete in either of the 2011 events, Barr and his wife have several class wins in that race and plan to compete in the May 2012 competition.

Barr had been driving a Corvette, but two months ago he acquired a 2011 Ford Mustang he uses for his racing activities. In October, he drove the Mustang in the Mojave Mile, whose results are based on the car’s speed one mile after starting. Although Barr didn’t win, he attained a speed of 146.7 mph in the Mustang.

Barr took his Mustang to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana for testing in October on what happened to be the final day of qualifying for the NHRA Street Legal drag race showdown. “I absolutely did not realize what was going on. I was up there just testing,” he said.

Qualifying was based on reaction time. Barr placed the Mustang on the drag strip and had a reaction time of 0.005 seconds. “That was a real good light,” he said. “I’m pretty good at the lights to begin with, but I’ve never been that fast with the lights.”

Barr soon found out how good that reaction time was. “The following Monday they called me and said: ‘You’re one of the qualifiers’,” he said.

Approximately 2,000 spectators witnessed the NHRA Street Legal drag race showdown at Pomona. “It was neat to run down that track,” Barr said.

Barr’s opponent advanced to a Nov. 13 exhibition during the actual NHRA competition. Barr wishes the best for the 21-year-old who beat him. “The place to race is at the track, not on the street,” he said.

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