Pro Stock racing has always been a fan-favorite at NHRA’s Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

The Pro Stock class began competing at the Mile-High Nationals in 1978. The Pro Stock drivers competed at the Mile-High Nationals every year it was held through 2019 when Greg Anderson claimed the title.

The 2020 Mile-High Nationals were canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions in Colorado. The event returned in 2021, but Pro Stock didn’t because of decisions made by NHRA braintrust.

Well, the Pro Stock contingent will be back for the 2022 Mile-High Nationals, July 15-17.

“I’m kind of one of those guys who would love to have everything,” said Sporty Bandimere who is part of the executive team that runs Bandimere Speedway. “I would love to have Pro Stock, Pro Mod, nitro Harleys you know the whole nine yards. I think what is interesting is obviously at your national events Top Fuel and Funny Car are your big draws. But there are a lot of purists who have always enjoyed Pro Stock. Even though Pro Mod is a pretty exciting class and has been really cool, there are people who missed (Pro Stock).

“They are really looking forward to having those cars back on the Mountain. I’m excited for it. It has always been a highly-competitive category and typically those are the guys who have to come in and do some testing because they have to change a lot.”

Allen Johnson is the “King of the Mountain” in Pro Stock at Bandimere Speedway. He won the Mile-High Nationals seven times, tied for most alongside late Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, and advanced to a record 11 final rounds. Between 2007–2016, Johnson built an amazing streak of 10 consecutive final-round appearances and a near-perfect 37-3 round-win record at the venue.

Bringing Pro Stock back to Bandimere Speedway isn’t the only thing Bandimere is upbeat about for the Mile-High Nationals.

“The other piece we are really excited about is last year they cut things back, they cut back the Pro sessions where there was only session of the Pros on Friday and two on Saturday, and we are going to go back to having two sessions on both days,” Bandimere said. “We are very excited about that as well.

“This last year we had a good Friday and Saturday was through the roof. I think a lot of that was because of the fact people were thinking it was tough to get there Friday and there was only one session, and I will go on Saturday. From a fan standpoint, you want to give them a really good show and the best way for us to give them a really good show is to have two sessions each day. We are really excited about that.”