For Steve Kent and Rodger Brogdon Sunday’s eliminations came to an end about an hour and a half earlier than the RACERS EDGE (OTC: MCHU) /Attitude Apparel team had anticipated. To say that the way the day came to an end was a surprise would certainly be an understatement.

After running flawlessly through qualifying and the first 2 rounds of eliminations the team found themselves on the verge of their first NHRA Pro Stock final round. With data collected from earlier runs the team felt confident that their plan of running a mid-6.53 second run against Jason Line should be sufficient to achieve that final round destination. What happened during the run though caught everyone totally by surprise.

“Everything was fine until I let the clutch out,” commented Brogdon. “When that happened the engine dropped rpm, bogged for a second as the clutch came in against those lower RPM’s, and then the car took off. It felt just like what happened in my Comp car a few years ago at Indy in the late rounds, and there we had a piece of debris get into one of the carburetors. When we got back to the pits and started analyzing everything and had the chance to download the computer, all the fuel systems showed to be ok. Fuel pressure was right where it was supposed to be the whole run. As Tim (Freeman), the Dr. (F.J. Acosta) and the guys started their search it appears that we had an electrical gremlin bite us. Either something in the coil or crank trigger area looks to be the culprit.”

“It certainly was disheartening, I can tell you that,” Rodger added.  “Even being in the less favored left lane, we felt comfortable going into that round. We had made 2 good runs in qualifying in the left lane and felt that we could throw a mid to high 6.53 at Jason, unfortunately we’ll never know.”

“All in all though we can’t complain about the weekend. We qualified #1, made it to the final four, set the national record with the RACERS EDGE (OTC: MCHU) Pontiac, and my guys won the Full Throttle pit crew challenge award for all their hard work. We rebounded nicely from our miscue in Pomona and feel we’re back to where we need to be. There are a lot of races left for the season and the points we earned this weekend pulled us up into the top 4 in points, so we’ll take the weekends results and build from here. But trust me, we WILL find that electrical problem before we hit the track in Vegas!”

The 2nd stop on the NHRA 60th anniversary tour happens this weekend in Gainesville Florida and Rodger Brogdon, Steve Kent and the Racers Edge / Attitude Apparel team can’t wait to get there.

With abbreviated qualifying at the season opening race and no chance to recover from an opening session miscalculation everyone on the team is ready to get back on track and showcase the performance that they know the Racers Edge / Attitude Apparel Pontiac is capable of.

Brogdon and crew ran career best numbers at last year’s event and if the weather prognosticators are anywhere near accurate in their weekend forecast the probability is strong that career best numbers could be seen again. Qualifying last year in the #5 spot the team was looking strong for eliminations until an engine stutter in elimination. This year the expectations are high to surpass last years results.

“We’ve got a great race car but unfortunately we made one small miscue in our opening session setup at Pomona. It bit us on that run and then Friday was rained out,” Brogdon lamented. “Saturday’s early session was in the least favored right lane and we had the car ready to rip for the final session. It was definitely getting cooler as the day progressed but we were pretty sure we could make a solid move and then they pulled the plug on qualifying. Wasn’t what we wanted, but at least we were in the show.”

“This weekend in Gainesville should be interesting. Conditions are supposed to be darn near perfect, cool temps and mostly sunny skies, so the air and track should both be conducive for some great times from the Pro Stock field. We know we’ve got the power from Cagnazzi’s Race shop, so we’re excited to get there and see what we can do. We’ll get some testing in at Bradenton just before the race, just to get everything set and ready to go.”

This weekend will also mark the debut of new sponsor The Racers Edge (OTC: MCHU) elevated marketing efforts as the company will be debuting new print and video advertising throughout the NHRA market. “Jim Wheeler and the folks at Microholdings US, Inc. have seen just what the Racers Edge pain chips can do and are anxious to spread the word about how much relief they can bring, and we’re just as excited to be a part of their program.”

Television coverage will be on ESPN2 /ESPN2HD, check your local listings

In the 14 weeks that have passed since the NHRA tour left southern California Steve Kent, Rodger Brogdon and the entire Racers Edge / Attitude Apparel team have been focused on one objective, being 100% ready to go when the 2011 season begins this weekend in Pomona, CA.

To achieve those goals, the crew spent their off season in the shop going through every facet of the operation. If it needed replaced, it was, and if it needed freshening, it got a new lease on life. “Big Show” prepped the transporter for the long haul the 2011 campaign will require, while the guys at Cagnazzi Racing made sure that the engine program would provide all of the needed horsepower for the team to make a run for the 2011 Full Throttle championship.

With the team focused on their preparation, Rodger & Steve devoted their attention on the sponsorship program with the new owner of The Racers Edge, Microholdings US, Inc. (a public company trading on the OTC under the symbol MCHU). With the completion of the acquisition in early 2011, Microholdings US, Inc. will expand the exposure of The Racers Edge products through sponsorship of the Rodger Brogdon driven Pro Stock Pontiac as well as the Comp and Super Stock cars of David Rampy.

“We’re ready for 2011,” said Brogdon, “we’ll start the season with the same car we finished last year with, and after some mid-season corrections the car was both quick and consistent.  The guys in the engine shop have been working hard to find us some additional power and our testing in Florida was, let’s say, very informative. Our test sessions may not have provided the numbers that some of the others ran, but we did discover some things that we know will help us on race day, and race day performance is certainly the main objective.”

“In Pro Stock, you have to be at 98-100% every lap down track,” Rodger added, “and the only way you can do that is by being fully prepared with both equipment and personnel. We feel that the lessons we learned last year combined with our preparation going into this year are going to give us a very solid shot at a championship run, a run that just might surprise a few people.”

The 2011 NHRA Full Throttle season begins this week at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona CA with the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals.  Qualifying will runs will take place Thursday & Friday at 1:00 p.m. (local west coast time) and conclude with 2 sessions on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. Final eliminations begin Sunday at 11:00 a.m.