Mike Neff is used to challenges.

The championship nitro tuner turned driver returned tuner is faring well in his bid to put one of drag racing’s most prolific racers in the championship hunt. Considering 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force was the first to clinch a Funny Car Countdown to 1 berth, suffice to say, Neff has been an asset to the already colorful tuning crew comprised of the likes of Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly.

At this weekend’s NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals Neff will have to rise to the challenge of 5,500 feet when it comes to tuning Force's Funny Car.

Not to worry, Neff already has a plan.

“Denver is a challenge,” Neff admitted. Neff hasn't won at Denver as a driver but in 2006 he tuned Gary Scelzi to victory. “Our strategy is going to be to try to make as much power as we can.

“That’s the problem with Denver. It’s a mile high, roughly 5,500 feet elevation and it’s just hard to make power. We’re going to try to make sure we’ve got the engine tuned up and we’ve done our homework on that. To make sure we’ve got good power will be the first task and then making sure you can make it run on eight cylinders. The trickiest thing going into Denver is trying to get the engine set-up correctly.

“That’s the biggest challenge of the year just because the conditions are so different and you never really know for sure. You’re not really comfortable until you get started and you just have to hope for the best. That’s one place where you’re just happy when it’s over so you can get back down and race in the normal conditions.”

Mike Neff is used to challenges.

The championship nitro tuner turned driver returned tuner is faring well in his bid to put one of drag racing’s most prolific racers in the championship hunt. Considering 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force was the first to clinch a Funny Car Countdown to 1 berth, suffice to say, Neff has been an asset to the already colorful tuning crew comprised of the likes of Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly.

At this weekend’s NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals Neff will have to rise to the challenge of 5,500 feet when it comes to tuning Force's Funny Car.

Not to worry, Neff already has a plan.

“Denver is a challenge,” Neff admitted. Neff hasn't won at Denver as a driver but in 2006 he tuned Gary Scelzi to victory. “Our strategy is going to be to try to make as much power as we can.

“That’s the problem with Denver. It’s a mile high, roughly 5,500 feet elevation and it’s just hard to make power. We’re going to try to make sure we’ve got the engine tuned up and we’ve done our homework on that. To make sure we’ve got good power will be the first task and then making sure you can make it run on eight cylinders. The trickiest thing going into Denver is trying to get the engine set-up correctly.

“That’s the biggest challenge of the year just because the conditions are so different and you never really know for sure. You’re not really comfortable until you get started and you just have to hope for the best. That’s one place where you’re just happy when it’s over so you can get back down and race in the normal conditions.”

Drawing from previous data this season? Forget it, all a tuner can do is return to last year’s tune-up and try to work it in with the most up to date equipment.

“A lot of things change over the course of a year so it always seems like you have something a little bit different each time you go back than you had the previous year,” Neff explained. “Denver is definitely tricky and there’s some luck involved.  It’s just picking that right set-up and if you can get it close right out of the start on your first run then your weekend can be a whole lot easier. If you get off on the wrong foot it can really get difficult throughout the weekend.”

For now, Neff and the team are just trying to make it through the next two races without deviating from the game plan which vaulted them into the championship dance. There will be no testing, just straight up racing.

“We’ve pretty much got all of the parts and everything that we’re going to be able to run for the rest of the year,” confirmed Neff. “We won’t be experimenting with anything. Right now it’s just a matter of fine tuning and getting the most out of what we have and getting the car to perform good on the different track temperatures that we haven’t been good at. When the track has been cool we’ve been really fast and when the track has been hot we’ve been really good about getting it on track. We’ve been a little off when the track is in the 120 degree range and that’s what we’re trying to work on.

“The other thing is that our goal is to go into the Countdown in that number one spot. We’ve been leading the points all season and we certainly don’t want to give that up now right before the Countdown and every point counts. It’s good to have that little extra 20 points for being the number one. It’s definitely something that we want to try to do.”