Nitro Dogs Racing

Doug Herbert is used to going fast. He has been a racer for most of his life and spends his weekends driving a Top Fuel dragster at more than 300 mph. The words “slow down” have never been in his vocabulary.

Although the NHRA veteran does nothing at a slow pace, he realized Jan. 26 that it is possible to go too fast. On that day, Herbert received the phone call that changed his life.

“They told me that my sons, Jon and James, had been in a car accident and that it wasn’t good,” said Herbert. “They had crossed into the other lane, and Jon lost control of the car; he was just going too fast.”

In the wake of the tragedy, as Herbert began to deal with the heartache of losing his two sons, he spoke with members of his community and fans from across the country who had similar stories of their own. As he learned more about the number of teenage deaths caused each year by car accidents, he decided to take action and formed BRAKES (Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe).

The charity organization aims to save lives by promoting safe driving and raising awareness among teenagers of the serious consequences that can result from reckless driving.

“I know that driving fast is an adrenaline rush for kids because it’s still a rush for me to go down the racetrack at 300 mph,” said Herbert. “The difference is that I’m on a racetrack. I have confidence in the person next to me, in what they’re doing, where they’re going, and how they’re doing it. On the street, you can’t have that confidence because you don’t know what the other people on the road are going to do.”

(Above) Herbert and daughter Jessie. (Below) Herbert has received the love and support of his drag racing family.

To better prepare young drivers for the roads, BRAKES has begun the Teen Safe Driving Program, which provides attending teenagers and their parents the opportunity to practice and improve accident-avoidance skills. The first session, to be held Nov. 8, 2008, will be in Herbert’s hometown of

Charlotte, and the program will be nationwide in 2009.

“I think it’s going to save a lot of lives, and that’s my main goal with BRAKES, to make sure that fewer parents have to face what I’ve gone through,” said Herbert, who is still learning how to make sense of his life as he works through his grief.

“When I lost Jon and James, everything changed forever, and I still haven’t really figured my life out,” explained Herbert. “I try to make everybody else feel better, but at some point, I’m going to have to focus on myself and try to make myself feel better. Sometimes I’ll go out and ride my motorcycle to be alone or take a drive by myself. That’s what I like more than anything about racing right now. When I’m strapped into the car, it’s just me and my thoughts.”

Although some of Herbert’s most calming moments come when he is behind the wheel of his dragster going 300 mph, he has found a greater appreciation for the time he spends out of his race car with his 10-year-old daughter, Jessie.

“I still have a lot to figure out, but the one thing I have figured out is that my time I get to spend with Jessie is more valuable. I take more time off to be with her, to do things she likes. We’ll take an afternoon and go out on the lake or something like that. It’s nice to just spend time with her and slow down for a little while.”