Pssssst! Wanna experience what it feels like to be shot out of a cannon?
Here’s your chance. Just bid on a ride with either Mr. or Mrs. Kokomotion at tomorrow’s Greater Vancouver Pioneers Society induction ceremony.
Bob and Irene Kokotailo (Mr. and Mrs. Kokomotion) are auctioning off an opportunity for the winning bidder to be strapped into the passenger seat of one of their drag cars, which can travel a quarter-mile from a standing start in 10 seconds, reaching speeds approaching 210 kilometres an hour. The ride can be claimed any time.
Bob Kokotailo has been burning up West Coast drag strips in his furious wheel-standing high-horsepower machines for a half-century. Irene Kokotailo trailers her own dragster to Mission Raceways, where she is also a fierce competitor. Sometimes the married couple of 38 years face off against each other. Now that’s a show.
The Kokotailos, who both serve on the GVMPS committee, will have one of their Kokomotion dragsters and Irene’s drag car outside Shannon Hall at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds tomorrow afternoon, where an estimated 300 enthusiasts will attend the who’s who of motorsports with the induction of 16 new members. All will have a chance to bid on a ride down the Mission Raceways drag strip with either Mr. or Mrs. Kokomotion. All proceeds go to support the GVMPS.
Bob first campaigned a 1955 Chevrolet drag car at the opening of Mission Raceway in 1965.
After losing a tire and flipping end over end, he graduated to a 1953 Henry J, which is capable of lifting the front end high in the air when it leaves the starting line to scream down the quarter-mile course. ‘Henry’ is one of the best-known drag cars on the West Coast and has won a roomful of trophies.
Never satisfied with yesterday’s performance, the now-retired trucking-company owner purchased and campaigns two of the best-known Pro Stock drag cars from the stable of legend Warren Johnson.
Bob Kokotailo piloting his Kokomtion II Henry J in the early days of Mission Raceway.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
If the name Warren Johnson doesn’t jump out at you, know that he is second only to John Force as the winningest drag racer of all time. This is top level NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) racing with Johnson notching 97 national event victories. He has set numerous track records for low elapsed times of 6.7 seconds in the standing quarter mile with a speed of 340 km/h (211 m.p.h.).
The sale of two of Johnson’s most famous cars to Surrey’s Bob Kokotailo came about because of a bottle of scotch. Johnson had to forfeit his supply of scotch as he crossed into Canada for a guest performance at Mission Raceways in 2000 to mark his 25th anniversary in racing.
Bob Kokotailo heard about the confiscated booze and sent Johnson a bottle of 25-year old scotch, and a cross-border friendship soon developed with the Georgia native.
As a result, Bob was able to purchase Johnson’s Pro Stock 1998 Firebird decked out in Superman graphics and running under the GM Goodwrench banner. But he had to wait one year to get it because it was displayed on contract with the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
“I always wanted to be a Pro Stock driver and needed a car to do it,” Bob says.
Drag racing team of Bob and Irene Kokotailo are offering a ride in one of their dragsters.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
His next purchase was Johnson’s equally famous 1,385- horsepower GTO Pro Stock dragster decked out in a Stars and Stripes motif.
It was this car that rolled over numerous times in 2009 at Mission Raceways when a Kokomotion crew member forgot to tighten rear sway bars, causing a tire to blow. Bob walked away from the wrecked dragster. He subsequently sent it to the builder in Missouri for repairs.
Giving people a chance to ride in their dragsters is nothing new for the Kokotailos. They have been involved in the Making Dreams Come True program, which helps terminally ill patients. Irene and Bob have had passengers aboard aged 13 to 70, smoking down the track at blistering speeds.
Irene spearheaded cancer fundraising by teaching four breast-cancer survivors to compete among themselves with her drag car. The initiative raised $110,000 for the fight against cancer.
The couple have seven children and a dozen grandkids. “They all love the drag racing,” Irene says. Five of her seven children have competed.
Bob was inducted by the Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneers Society in 2009 for his amazing drag-racing career, now spanning half a century.
He and Irene will be on hand at tomorrow’s GVMPS induction ceremony with one of their cars to explain what it is like to explode off the starting line with the front of the drag car lifting off the ground and screaming down the track before a parachute deploys to slow the car down after passing the quarter-mile mark.
The GVMPS gala and induction program is open to the public tomorrow, from noon to 5 p.m. People are invited to bring their special-interest vehicles. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, visit gvmps.org
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com
