Images Courtesy Bret Kepner

Cobra Jet racer and second-generation engine builder Chris Holbrook of Holbrook Racing Engines has been having a great season so far, as he started the year off right with an awesome 8.50 at 160.68 MPH pass during the NMRA’s Cobra Jet Shootout at their opening race in Florida. That pass netted him the title of  “quickest production vehicle in factory trim” along with the claim of the first driver over 160 MPH in the quarter-mile in a stock drag racing vehicle.

From there, he moved on to the NHRA’s Gatornationals, where he took home the AAA/SA class championship for the weekend, while also producing the quickest elapsed time in the history of Stock Eliminator with an 8.68 pass. Just a month later, he made an appearance at the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Clermont, Indiana, where he reset his own Stock Eliminator record by blasting to an 8.58 at 158.33 MPH during the course of the weekend.

This success has opened doors for him, as he recently signed up Watson Racing as a major sponsor – the same guys who partner with Ford Motor Company to develop the Cobra Jet platform. Holbrook and Watson are two names that go way back in the Detroit area; Holbrook’s late father Carl and Watson Racing head honcho Chuck Watson, Sr. became fast friends back in the early 1960’s, when Carl Holbrook’s legendary racing career began, and it seems to be a match made in heaven. Holbrook will be able to take advantage of the Watson Racing team’s decades of knowledge, and Watson gains the talents of an engine builder whose exploits are legendary in the industry. Keep an eye on this team moving forward.