A Real Folk Hero
By Luke Bogacki
Photos courtesy Folk family
11/15/07
Over the course of a career spanning nearly two decades, sportsman drag racer Brian Folk has amassed a resume that is nearly unmatched among his peers. Entering the 2007 season, Folk had won seven IHRA national events and nine NHRA national events (including the prestigious U.S. Nationals). He claimed IHRA division titles on five occasions, twice won the Moroso 5-Day Bracket Championship, and claimed countless big dollar bracket triumphs. Over the last decade, Folk has finished in the national top ten an incredible seven times (four times in IHRA and three times in NHRA). Despite his consistently phenomenal performances, the one major accomplishment that had eluded Folk as he entered the 2007 season was the pinnacle of sportsman drag racing: a World Championship.
Despite another strong, consistent season behind the wheel of his venerable Super Rod Cavalier, Folk looked relegated to another top ten finish in 2007. Defending Super Rod champion Steve Furr was nearly unbeatable throughout much of the early and mid-stages of the 2007 season, amassing a stunning five event victories in his Nitroplate Camaro. When Brian Folk entered his final Pro-Am event of the 2007 campaign (IHRA sportsman
competitors claim points both at the Summit Pro-Am Series events and Torco Nitro Jam National events) at Osceola Dragway in September, it appeared as though Folk and the remainder of the Super Rod field were competing for second place. It was in Osceola, however, that Folk’s fortunes began to change, based on what would originally be considered an unlucky break.
In Friday night testing, Folk destroyed the engine in his familiar Cavalier. Without a viable spare on the premises, and in contention for a sixth IHRA Division Championship, Folk enlisted Hank Mulligan, a family friend to drive to their Folk Race Cars shop, pick up the team’s new Camaro Roadster (which the Folk team had built from the ground up throughout the season and had tested just once), and bring the machine to Indiana for eliminations the following day. Unbeknownst to Folk at the time, that decision would jumpstart one of the most phenomenal runs in IHRA Sportsman history.
