DuPage mom, son living life in the fast lane

It's obvious Barb Nesbitt isn't your typical 9-to-5 woman when you step into the office of her family-owned towing company in Addison.

Dressed in jeans and a zip-up hoodie, the 52-year-old Lombard woman joins a crew of workers who field phone calls and do paperwork while sporting rock T-shirts, black spiked hair or blonde mohawks.

She doesn't line the coffee tables with waiting-room reads like People magazine or Family Circle. Instead, she displays copies of Fastest Streetcar Magazine.

And when she's off the clock, Nesbitt often joins her 27-year-old son, Tony Nesbitt, a plumber who also lives in Lombard, at the racetrack.

The two aren't betting on horses or cheering for NASCAR, though. Instead, they are revving souped-up engines on the starting line, gunning to reach speeds of about 200 mph while drag racing down a straight, quarter-mile strip.

Sometimes, the mother and son race each other.

Since 2002, the Nesbitts have made a name for themselves on the drag-racing circuit, competing with the National Muscle Car Association. Last year, Barb reached the third rank in her class, while Tony had won three championship races in his class.

Tony is also tied with another racer for the most series event wins in the entire organization, at 13.

"You ask what would life be if we didn't drag race, and I've got to tell you, I've never thought about that," said Barb Nesbitt. "It's just what we do."

'Beat by a girl'

It was about six years ago when Barb and Tony Nesbitt discovered their need for speed through Barb's longtime boyfriend, Billy Adams, a racing aficionado.

Barb was the first to race. In her 1967 Camaro, the mother of five and grandmother of three racked up her own wins and eventually inspired Tony to join the sport. Occasionally, Tony found himself racing his mother and worrying about her to the point of distraction.

Inside the cars, which are equipped with cameras, Adams and the pit crew would catch Tony cheering for his mom when they faced off.

"I've seen Tony looking out the window saying, 'Come on, Come on!'" Adams said.

But soon enough the two were separated on the track, as Tony snatched win after win in the Nostalgia Pro Street class, earning Rookie of the Year in 2003 and winning three championship races from 2004 to 2006.

Last year he advanced to the highly competitive Super Street class, racing his 2002 Corvette.

Scott Sparrow, editor of the National Muscle Car Association's magazine, said Tony jumped to a hard-core class. Super Street is tough because drivers ride on narrower tires, making maneuvering trickier with less rubber making contact with the road.

"This is about the pinnacle in this particular genre of drag racing," Sparrow said. "It is a well-known class where a lot of very respectable and respected racers race."

After building his skills for almost a year, Tony Nesbitt won the prestigious Nitto Tire Super Street race in July in Joliet.

Meanwhile, Barb Nesbitt takes pride in being ranked third in her class last year. She's also thrilled anytime she wins in this male-dominated sport.

At a race in late summer, Nesbitt riled up the top-ranked driver when she beat him.

"I took out the top guy in the first round, and that was such a confidence booster," Nesbitt said. "He was so mad and I thought, 'Yes!' He's throwing his helmet up against the fence and I think he was just mad he was beat by a girl."

A family affair

The Nesbitt family never jets off on traditional vacations because their travel revolves completely around racing.

Their association holds seven races a year, and they are one of the rare families who compete in every one, Sparrow said. The Nesbitts also compete in several additional races per year.

While they insist the trips are great fun, the journeys also prove quite pricey - especially because most offer prizes of $5,000 or less.

Even with sponsorships, Sparrow said, most racers, even those featured in the drag racing one might see on TV, require another source of income.

When the Nesbitts traveled to an Atlanta race last month, they loaded a truck to transport their prized cars, costing about $2,000 in fuel. They also purchased a plane ticket from Florida for a crew member (who they insist is worth every penny) and more than 10 additional airfares for themselves, Adams, the pit crew and Tony's girlfriend, as well as Barb's daughter Susan - who plans their travel - and Susan's 9-year-old daughter, Samantha, and other family members.

"It's like a family reunion every time we go," Barb said.

Sparrow chuckles at a mention of the Nesbitt clan, who he says are famous for bringing a Slurpee machine into the pit at every race. Barb, he says, is affectionately known to everyone as "Mom."

Occasionally, the family will even get scolded for having too many people at the starting line of a race.

"When they come to the track, it's like a circus," Sparrow said.

Biggest engine ever

To understand the Nesbitts' fascination with drag racing, it's best to see and hear their cars.

The body of Tony's black Corvette and Barb's silver classic Camaro resemble the factory models, but nothing else about them is normal.

Both dashboards are replaced with computer systems, and the seat belts are now top-notch harness systems.

Only the driver's seats exist, and when they brake, both cars can release parachutes to help slow down.

When they test out the engines inside a garage, the cars growl so loudly the room seems to vibrate.

"People ask, 'How big is the engine?' and I tell them it's the biggest engine they will ever see."

Perhaps that's why Tony's fastest speed is 203.49 mph, which he reached in six seconds during one race. And if mere seconds seems like a short time to hit such immense speeds, he begs to differ.

"Believe me, that six seconds can't come soon enough," he said. "You don't think as fast as you're moving. You're on the edge."

Both mom and son agree the thrill of racing behind the wheel is beyond words. Barb says each race moves so fast, she barely has a chance to breathe.

And the Nesbitts like it that way. The duo plan to continue competing around the country and at Chicago area raceways in Joliet and Byron and in Union Grove, Wis.

The family would also be thrilled if their hobby carries on to a third generation. This year, they bought a junior dragster toy for Samantha, who loves watching Grandma and Uncle Tony behind the wheel.

"When we gave that to her she looked at me and said, 'Gram, now can we race together?'"