2010 NHRA MILE HIGH NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - THE WESTERN SWING CONCLUDES WITH A HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE
THIS ONE WAS IMPORTANT - Winning NHRA national events is nothing new to Doug Kalitta.
However, he did admit his 32nd career Top Fuel win Sunday at the Mile-High Nationals was more significant than most of his victories.
Kalitta clocked a 3.963-second time at 308.35 mph to defeat Brandon Bernstein in the finals. Bernstein came in at 4.003-seconds at 297.35 mph.
“I tell you seeing that win light come on down there was real special, and a great relief,” Kalitta said. “They do a great job here. The facility each year gets better and better, and I’m just glad to finally get a win here. I’ve been close a lot of times and fortunately I got it done.”
Kalitta, by winning, added to the Kalitta family legacy at Bandimere Speedway.
Legendary Connie Kalitta, his uncle and team owner and his late cousin, Scott Kalitta, also were Mile-High Nationals Top Fuel champions. Connie won at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., in 1984 and ’85 and Scott was victorious three times in 1994, ’95 and 2004.
Doug had done plenty at Bandimere in the past, except win. He lost in the Mile-High Nationals finals in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2009.
This was Doug’s first win this season, after losing in the finals at Pomona, Calif., Phoenix, Charlotte, N.C., and St. Louis. Doug’s last victory was in 2009 at the Winternationals in Pomona.
When Doug came to the line against Bernstein, he knew he had a job to do.
“You just go up there and do the best that you can,” Doug said. “Brandon and Kenny (Bernstein), they’re great champions, and it always special to get past those guys. They had a good running car and Brandon was driving the heck out of that thing. It was a close race in the final, but fortunately we got the win.”
Kalitta is fourth in the point chase and Bernstein is sixth. Larry Dixon, who Bernstein beat in the semifinals, clinched the No. 1 spot for the Countdown to 1 playoffs on Sunday.
“Overall it was a good day,” Brandon Bernstein said. “We had the car, but the engine starting eating itself up down track and Doug came around us. Anytime you’re in the finals it’s a great day. It’s (a win) coming, but it’s frustrating getting there, especially when we know we’re right on the cusp of a victory.”
Doug, who has clinched a spot in the Countdown to 1, knows this win Sunday is a perfect momentum boost for his team.
“I’m happy we are locked into the Countdown and we want certainly have a car that can run up front and win,” Doug said. “This is really going to help our whole team and give us a little more confidence that we can run with these guys.”
HE’S BACK IN THE WINNING GROOVE - Last year, first round ignition problems probably would have sidelined Robert Hight and company. This 
is not last year.
This year, Hight and the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang crew proved their mettle as they bounced back from ignition problems to win the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver, Co.
Victory was only a tad bittersweet, as Hight recorded his 18th career win, this one over car owner and father-in-law John Force, tying him on the all-time list with Ed “the Ace” McCulloch and Mark Oswald. While Hight celebrated, Force flip flopped between satisfaction and disappointment.
“Bottom line,” Force explained, “he is my teammate (and) my son-in-law; the dad of my granddaughter. I ain’t mad at him; I just don’t like losing. I’m 61 and I am signed for five more years. I have a car that can run for the championship. Every point counts (because I know) I may not get that chance again.
“I have a car that is good now and it could go bad like it did the last three years. If anything, I am just an old sourpuss; a guy that just got spanked. I’ll get over it. We are celebrating. If (Robert) goes around me next week, I don’t care about that. I do, but that is part of the game. It is a Ford and it has Castrol and Auto club on it. At the end of the day, I just couldn’t believe I got beat, even in that lane.”
While Force stewed beneath the smiles, Hight literally glowed at how much his team accomplished on this particular day.
After sneaking past unheralded James Day with an unremarkable 4.319 second time in round one, Hight used his starting line skills to best Ron Capps despite a slower 1,000 foot performance in round two and then powered past Hagan and Force with back-to-back 4.21's.
While the win over Force was gratifying, especially since it was his first in three final round meetings with his boss and mentor, Hight was most pleased with a second round victory over Ron Capps.
“I don’t get a lot of (holeshots) because I shallow stage,” Hight said, referring to a technique that negatively effects reaction time. “We didn’t even know if we were going to make it back up (to the starting line). We had all kinds of ignition problems. That is actually why it slowed down on the first run. We didn’t find it until right at the end (of second round preparation). These guys behind me – Jimmy Prock, Eric Lane and my entire crew – they just pulled together. They never quit working on it and it paid off.”
Hight, a former Rookie-of-the-Year, won over Capps with a time of 4.251 seconds at 293.54 mph to Capps’ quicker and faster 4.235 at 296.11 mph in the NAPA Dodge now tuned by John Medlen.
Despite this being Hight's fourth win of the season, it's been a bit of a dry spell through the first two-thirds of the summer. Hight will now go into the final race prior to the Countdown the only driver capable of knocking Force from the top spot in the point standings. Force currently is 28 points ahead of Hight with the one race remaining.
The championship aside, Hight was just glad to be back making rounds and collecting the Wally.
”It's really good to get back on the winning side here at Denver.”
HEAR ME KNOCKING? - Alan Johnson has literally been knock, knock, knocking on the door of victory in the NHRA Pro Stock division over the past 
few months. For whatever reason, the door just wouldn't open.
It's open now.
Johnson bored his way through a stout Pro Stock field going from the number one qualifying spot to the winner's circle after beating Jeg Coughlin in the final round of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Coughlin had issues during the final round run, but Johnson was confident he had Coughlin covered all the way as he powered down the track to his first win of year.
Johnson got other assists along the way, the biggest being Mike Edwards' red-light miscue in the second round against Johnny Gray.
“I knew I had to be on my game and fortunately I was able to do that,” Johnson said, after making his fourth appearance in the final round at Bandimere Speedway in as many years. Johnson has been victorious in three of those four years, with the only loss coming in 2008.
“We've got an awesome set up for here. The engines guys, the motor they do for here are just unbelievable. The car guys, I can't say enough, just perfect runs every run today. I don't know what we could do different. I would like to run every race we run here.”
Johnson steered his HEMI®-powered Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car to a first-round win over Bob Yonke, posting a 6.973-second elapsed time (ET) at 197.83 mph. He sent Greg Anderson packing with a 6.998/197.59 pass, then dispatched former teammate Johnny Gray in the semis with a 6.997/197.45 run.
Bandimere is more than just a win for Johnson. It's his sponsor's race and he expects to keep the trophy in house.
“All the folks from Mopar, including the boss, Pietro (Gorlier), and Byron Kearney from Dodge, have been our good luck charms. They’re family to me. It’s not just a sponsor relationship. It’s so special to have them here.
“I was real tickled with how I did my job today, after the first round.
“We've got to continue this pace. Be aggressive towards that championship and we can pull this thing off.”
STILL HIS PLAYGROUND - If Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Andrew Hines has a home-field advantage at any NHRA track, it’s at Bandimere 
Speedway.
Hines spent 10 years in Trinidad, Colo., about three hours south of Morrison, where the track is located. Byron Hines, Andrew’s dad, ran the Freedom Motorsports Pro Stock Motorcycle shop in Trinidad, before the family moved to Brownsburg, Ind., several years ago.
Sunday, Hines concluded his weekend in the winner’s circle by defeating Karen Stoffer in the finals at the Mile-High Nationals.
Hines clocked a 7.342-second run at 178.02 mph to get past Karen Stoffer’s 7.402-second effort.
“I spent ages 10 to 20 in Trinidad, and those are the growing years,” Andrew said. “I know this place (Bandimere Speedway) as my home, and to come back here and get a win on the mountain, says a lot about our team. We did really good here when Matt (Hines) was racing and we have been pretty fortunate with our Harley-Davidson V-Rods ever since we came here.”
This was Hines’ third win of the season and 21st win of his career. Andrew, who pilots the Screamin’ Eagle Vance and Hines Harley, has now won twice at Bandimere, with the previous win in 2005. Matt Hines, who is Andrew’s older brother and crew chief, won at Bandimere four times in 1996, ’97, ’98 and 2002.
“We didn’t have the best motorcycle all weekend, just like we didn’t have the best motorcycle in Sonoma, but we were able to get our job done,” said Hines, who was a runner-up last week at Sonoma to Michael Phillips.
Andrew said he was stressing all weekend at the Mile-High Nationals, but his worries had nothing to do with racing.
“I have a baby coming on Tuesday, and I was hoping that she (his wife Tanya) would be able to hang in for the whole weekend,” Andrew said. “I kept waiting for a phone call, but I never got one. She’s doing a great job and feeling good and I will get home at midnight tonight. We will then go to the doctor on Tuesday.”
One of Andrew’s keys Sunday was cutting great lights. In his four wins, his worst light was .029 and that was in the finals. He had .006, .004, and .007 lights in his wins over LE Tonglet, Jim Underdahl and Michael Phillips. Phillips actually gave Hines the win as he had a red light.
“The bike has been really leaving the starting line consistently and that has allowed me to really focus on my riding,” Andrew said. “I was playing with fire with those 00 reaction times. I wanted it to be 30 in the final and it was a 29 (reaction time). Karen is a tough competitor and she obviously got her motorcycle turned around this weekend. It was really special to come up here and get a win on the mountain when the Suzukis were dominant all weekend, and we took out for of them. Phillips would have got around us if he had not had a red light because he was ahead of me at 1,000 foot when he shut off. We needed one lucky round (Sunday) and that was it.”
MATT SMITH STILL FUMING - For the second week in a row, Michael Phillips beat Matt Smith in the second round.
Phillips clocked a 7.289-second run on his Racers Edge Suzuki, to beat Smith’s 7.344-second run.
NHRA announcer Al Reinhart mentioned after the race Smith went and shook hands with Phillips. However, Smith isn’t ready to end the feud between the two riders.
“There’s still a rivalry,” Smith said. “I’m a good sport and he was hooting and hollering over there, and I just went over there and told him good job. We’re still going to have that rivalry and I still think he’s not legit. It’s just amazing, everybody in the class slows down three to four hundredths and he picks up two hundredths. NHRA, I do not know what they’re doing, but they have to do something. It’s just not fair. Ray Charles can see what’s going on.”
Phillips, who won at Sonoma, Calif., last week, lost to eventual-winner Andrew Hines in the semifinals Sunday at Bandimere Speedway. Phillips registered a redlight to hand Hines the win.
TWO WHEELERS CAN GO INTO THE SAND, TOO - With the death of Top Alcohol Dragster driver Mark Niver July 11 during eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash., the effectiveness of sand traps and run-off areas has been scrutinized by NHRA owners, drivers and crew chiefs.
On Sunday, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Redell Harris went into the gravel trap after his first-round loss to Michael Phillips. Phillips clocked a 7.310 seconds and Harris had a 7.536-second effort at 175.78 seconds.
Harris was uninjured, but had plenty of excitement at the end of his ride.
“I had no rear brakes,” Harris said. “We loosened the rear brakes up to try and get more wheel speed. That’s why we loosened the brakes up, and by the time I realized the brakes were real loose, I was so close to the end, I shut my motor off, so we wouldn’t hurt the motor and get rocks in the motor. I went about five feet into the sand (traps), and the bike just sunk down. I’m glad the trap was there and we have an uphill climb here, so that slows you down a lot. I probably was going 60 mph when I went into the traps. Had I seen I didn’t have brakes and touched my brakes a little earlier, I probably could have dragged the motor out and get it stopped. But, I didn’t realized I had no rear brakes.”
Harris says his motorcycle wasn’t damaged. It just got dirty from the pea gravel. Harris himself just got a scratch on his left shin.
Sand traps aside, Harris used the interview time to mention Pro Manufacturing (Pro MFG) out of San Dimas, Calif., came on board at the Mile-High Nationals.
“They’re supposed to come back with me the rest of the races this year and next year,” Harris said.
AREND'S MISSED OPPORTUNITY - When Jeff Arend came to the Mile-High Nationals this weekend, he had hopes of moving up in the Funny Car point standings.
That didn’t happen.
Arend lost in the first round to Cruz Pedregon and he remains in 11th place in the point standings with one race left – the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Aug. 12-15 in Brainerd, Minn. – before the Countdown to 1 begins.
Tony Pedregon, who is 10th place in the points, also lost in the first round to Ron Capps.
Tony Pedregon has 733 points, Arenda 700 and Cruz Pedregon, Tony’s brother, is 12th at 652. Cruz made it to the semis at Bandimere Speedway before losing to John Force.
“We have that Norwalk Night Under Fire we’re doing this Saturday, and we have to find a different way to run our car,” Arend said. “We need to make our car run more consistently and go down the track and not smoke the tires in the same place every time. If we can fix that up, we have the budget and the team owner and the sponsors and I think we can do better than Tony or Cruz and we should being do better than Tony or Cruz. Everybody is frustrated and it’s just a matter of getting that car to go down the track and run that 4.20 run.”
Arend says his Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car is routinely smoking the tires between 250 feet and 330 feet.
Arend also realizes how critical the Norwalk, Ohio, Night Under Fire is going to be for his team.
“It’s a match race, so we will have two runs at night, but we can test all day,” Arend said. “We usually can get four test runs in, so we should be able to get six runs in that day. This test comes at a great time for us because we need to go testing. Our car is too much on the edge, we have to find a different way of running it.”
In addition to Arend, John Force confirmed he and his daughter Ashley Force Hood will be at the Norwalk Night Under Fire.
Speaking of Ashley, she was trying to forget her holeshot loss to Jack Beckman in the first round at the Mile-High Nationals.
“We just have to pack up and go to the next race,” Force Hood said. “Obviously, I was bummed, buts getting mental about it isn’t going to do anything. We will just try it again in Brainerd.”
FORCE’S FIRE STILL BURNS: Legendary John Force is 61 years old, so obviously he has few years on most of his competitors.
Yet, he isn’t showing his age, especially this season. Force, who came into the Mile-High Nationals atop the season point standings, advanced to the semifinals by beating Bob Tasca III in the second round.
Force clocked a 4.280-second pass to edge Tasca III, who came in at 4.292 seconds.
“I was (gulping) down that oxygen up here on God’s mountain, trying to go after Tasca,” Force said. “He’s like Robert (Hight), these young kids have all the fire and this old man all he has is bull****. At the end of the day, we’ve got a race car there.”
Force moved into the finals by defeating Cruz Pedregon in the semis. Force clocked a 4.287-second pass for the win.
“Those Pedregons, Tony and Cruz, will give you a heart attack,” Force said. “I sat there with Cruz (at the line) and I said he ain’t going to go and I’m going to go, and all of sudden he went. I went to go in, and his top light goes out. I’m thinking oh you little boof you, I know the drill. I got my top light out and I still think Cruz left on me, but my old hot rod went around him down there.”
Force, the boss of John Force Racing, met his son-in-law Robert Hight in the finals.
QUICK HITS RACEDAY REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION
TOP FUEL
HE'S NUMBER ONE - Larry Dixon advanced to the semi-finals for the twelfth time in 16 races this season and in the process earned the number one seed in the upcoming Countdown to the Championship playoffs in Sunday’s NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series’ Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.
The two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion defeated Morgan Lucas and Tony Schumacher in the first two rounds on Sunday. In securing the top spot in the Countdown, Dixon earns a 30-point advantage when the six-race playoff begins Labor Day weekend at the U.S. Nationals.
HOT RODDING TO THE SEMIS - "Hot Rod" Fuller, a seven-time NHRA Top Fuel winner, powered his Abu Dhabi/Yas Marina Circuit dragster to a semifinal finish Sunday afternoon at Bandimere Speedway near Denver. It was Fuller's best finish since the 2008 NHRA season.
A day after racing his Abu Dhabi/Yas Marina Circuit dragster to the No. 11 qualifying position at 4.113-seconds, Fuller defeated No. 6 qualifier Shawn Langdon and No. 3 qualifier David Grubnic, before falling to perennial title contender Doug Kalitta in the final round. Kalitta won the race Sunday at Denver.
"It's kind of bittersweet to get that far and not win; I really thought it was our day," Fuller said. "I felt really rusty last week at Sonoma (Calif.) and I felt much better in the car here this weekend. It's hard to just jump back into a car and be competitive. I feel like I've been sitting behind a desk and getting fat and lazy.
"I really want to thank all the fans for the great support at the last two races. I feel very privileged to have this opportunity to drive this race car. There are plenty of great drivers on the sidelines looking for rides, so I feel lucky. We've got two more races left (Indianapolis and Charlotte 2) and we have nothing to lose. These other guys will be fighting for the championship and we can play the spoiler. I really believe we have a top five car that can win races."
CLINCHED - Morgan Lucas lost in the first round to current series points leader Larry Dixon.
"The Swing is over, finally, and now we get to go back to a track where we won the race last year," Lucas said, of the upcoming Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. "Hopefully, we can go back to Brainerd and represent GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil better than we have been.
Lucas earned his spot in the playoffs when Dave Grubnic lost in the second round, making it mathematically impossible for anyone to bump him out of the Countdown field. There is one race left before the Countdown begins over Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil.
TORRENCE STILL IN THE HUNT - Steve Torrence took a giant stride toward finalizing a Top Fuel berth in NHRA’s Countdown to 1 playoffs Sunday at Bandimere Speedway by advancing to the quarterfinals.
Torrence remained ninth in Full Throttle Racing Series points with 673, 64 ahead of No. 10 David Grubnic with the final Countdown to 10 race awaiting at Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 13-15. He has an 83-point advantage over Terry McMillen, who is 11th.
“We had another good weekend,” said Torrence after completing the third Western Swing race and a grueling seven races in the last eight weeks. “The car continues to run well and we were able to keep our advantage over Grubnic.”
BERNSTEIN COMES UP BIG - In the first round, Brandon Bernstein and Cory McClenathan met in a heavyweight battle.
Bernstein came up with the victory edging Cory Mac. Bernstein clocked a 3.962-second time, to beat Cory Mac’s 3.98-second effort.
“I was pretty nervous,” Bernstein said. “When the suns comes out like that you just do not know what the track is going to give you. NHRA does a great job for track prep for that first round, and obviously we put a number up. The Copart/Lucas Oil car is going on.”
McMILLEN EXITS EARLY - The biggest races in terms of the Countdown to the Championship happened back-to-back in round one.
Terry McMillen came into the Mile-High Nationals five points in front of David Grubnic for 10th in the point standings. After first round, that’s not the case anymore.
First, Doug Kalitta, Grubnic’s Kalitta Motorsports teammate, defeated McMillen. Kalitta had a 3.920-second run to get around McMillen’s 4.066-second effort.
“Hats off to Jim O(Oberhofer) and my whole team to get thing to run a 92, we’re pretty happy with that,” Kalitta said.
Moments later, Grubnic responded with the top run of the round at 3.880 second to get past Steve Chrisman.
“Our long-term goal is to get into the Countdown, but our short-term goal is to win this race,” Grubnic said. “Connie, what can I say? An 88 at 314 mph, he’s the man. I have to thank him and all my guys, they do a fantastic job. We just keep taking it one round at a time.”
SCHUMACHER-DIXON RIVALRY RENEWED - Seemingly every week, Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon are racing against one another. That’s the case again at the Mile-High Nationals. Schumacher and Dixon will meet in round two.
Dixon, who is leading the point chase, has a 6-3 record in rounds against the Sarge this season, including winning four in a row. Schumacher last beat Dixon in the semifinals at Topeka, Kan., in May en route to the event win.
Asked about his second round match up, Schumacher chuckled saying, “Who we running?
“Like I wasn't paying attention,” Schumacher quickly added. “Only one of us is going on. It should be a great one to watch.”
Matching their first round runs, Schumacher had the edge 3.950 to Dixon's 3.963.
FULLER SHOWS WELL UNDER PRESSURE – Hot Rod Fuller pulls off the only upset of the round, beating Shawn Langdon by just two hundredths of a second at the line. Fuller won on the strength of hot light with a 3.981.
“I could hear him the whole time,” Fuller said at the top end. “I was nervous as heck. I just wanted to get this win. Bandimere is the greatest.”
FUNNY CAR
FORCE OFFERS CLARIFICATION - Following his first-round win over Paul Lee, the legendary John Force took a second to clarify something.
“John Force is about drag racing,” Force said. “Sometimes I try to be funny and I’m not. I need to stick to what I do best.”
Force, who is one of the all-time characters in the sport, faces fellow Ford driver Bob Tasca III in the second round.
TASCA BIT - Tim Wilkerson knew, beyond any doubt, that continuing to race his alliance teammate Bob Tasca at such a regular clip would finally bite him. Wilk had raced Tasca three times this year, and had not only won all three match-ups but had then gone on to win all three of those races, after twice beating Tasca in the opening round (Norwalk and Seattle) while once defeating him in a final (Gainesville). On this day, Wilkerson faced off with his friend and colleague in the first round at Denver and now the head-to-head record sits at 3-1, with Tasca running strong to take the win over a tire-smoking Wilk in front of another huge crowd at Bandimere Speedway.
All in all, the always-difficult tuning challenge that is Thunder Mountain was as tough as ever in 2010. Wilk worked hard to find a tune-up that could master the atmospheric conditions as well as the track itself, and by the end of qualifying he was sitting in the No. 10 spot. Being in the bottom half of the field, however, hasn't been a real detriment to the Levi, Ray & Shoup driver this year, with his three race victories coming from the 9th, 10th, and 11th spots on the grid, so Wilkerson's challenge was more a matter of traction and a matter of odds, as opposed to the challenge of winning from the bottom half.
"Those guys are too good, and you're just not going to keep beating them, especially in the first round," Wilkerson said. "They ran better than we did in qualifying, and they ran a lot better than we did in round one. I'm not exactly sure how we ended up making too much power up on the mountain, but we just overpowered the race track, plain and simple.
"Not a good day for our team, but we never hang our heads over this sort of thing. If anything, we get a little more analytical when we lose, because that's the sort of data that can teach you even more than some of the laps you win. If everything is going perfect, you just keep racing and hope the ride lasts a long time. When you mess up, you need to learn the lesson and that's what we try to do on a day like this. We came straight back to the pit and got to work analyzing the data. There's a lot to learn from a lap like that."
CRUZ PEDREGON TRIES TO MAKE MOVE - In the quest to make the Countdown to 1, Tony Pedregon, Jeff Arend and Cruz Pedregon, Tony’s brother, are in a battle to finish in the 10th position in Funny Car points.
There’s only one race remaining, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Aug. 12-15 at Brainerd, Minn., before the Countdown to 1 begins.
Cruz beat Arend with a 4.191-second run in the first round, while Tony lost to Ron Capps.
Cruz came to the Mile-High Nationals in 12th place in the point standings, 121 points behind 10th place Tony. Arend was 31 points behind Tony in 11th place.
“We dug ourselves a little hole this year with the Snap-on Toyota, but I tell you what, it feels so good to have a car run like that,” Cruz said. “The car responded to all the changes.”
BECKMAN WINS ON A HOLESHOT - Fast Jack Beckman lived up to his name Sunday in the first round of the Mile-High Nationals, especially on the lights.
Beckman ran a 4.238-second time to beat a quicker Ashley Force Hood, who came across at 4.203 seconds. The difference was Beckman’s .068 reaction time compared to Force Hood’s .104 reaction time.
“I’m getting used to these close runs and that was amazing,” Beckman said. “I love Denver and it appears today that Denver might love us.”
WHAT A WIN WILL DO – Ron Capps, following his first win of the season in Sonoma last weekend, admitted that for the first time this year he didn't look at the pairings entering eliminations. Capps faced Tony Pedregon in the first round and won handily with the fastest pass of the round – 4.204 - at the time. Hagan came out later and ran in the high teens.
“It's the first week in a long time I haven't had the butterflies,” Capps admitted after his line to line win. “I didn't even look at the ladder.”
When asked if he was even the least bit excited Capps quickly responded, “I get up to race Tony. Trust me, I was excited.”
MOVING AHEAD - Heading into Sunday’s final eliminations of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, CO, Summit Racing driver Greg Anderson knew he would have his work cut out for him in order to contend for his third career win at Bandimere Speedway, establishing some competitive consistency in the challenging conditions. Starting from the eighth position, he was the recipient of some good fortune in the opening round, as V. Gaines left the starting line early, awarding him the automatic win.
This set the stage for a second-round meeting with good friend and rival Allen Johnson, who had reset the track record in capturing the No. 1 qualifying position and been the dominant car throughout the weekend. Knowing he would need every advantage, Anderson used an extremely quick .019 reaction time to gain a slight edge. However, running in the less-preferred lane, Anderson’s 7.056-second, 194.80 mph pass was not enough to hold off his opponent, who used the quickest pass of the round at 6.998 second to gain the victory. Even so, the three-time champion saw cause for optimism as the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series looked to return to more typical conditions in Brainerd, MN following a two-week break.
“I guess we were never able to conquer the mountain this weekend,” said Anderson. “This is a tough place to race that we try and figure out every year, and even though our Summit Racing team has had its fair share of success at Bandimere, we‘ve never been completely comfortable racing here. We tried a few things throughout the weekend and got close on a couple runs in qualifying, but just couldn’t get as good a handle on the tune-up as some of our competitors did today. We’ll just sweep this one under the rug until next year, head home to regroup and get ready for Brainerd.
GRAY SCHOOLS PROFESSOR - Shane Gray is having a great rookie season in Pro Stock. Gray, who is a teammate to his dad, Johnny Gray, came to the Mile-High Nationals, eighth in the points chase.
Shane’s solid season continued Sunday as he beat the Professor and legend Warren Johnson in the first round. Gray clocked a 6.993-second time to edge Johnson’s 7.053-second run.
“I do not know if I ever will get used to running Warren,” Johnny said. “I’m just happy we were able to make our best run of the weekend in first round.”
Johnny Gray also made it to the second round where he will meet Mike Edwards.
KRISHER GETS UPSET - Ron Krisher qualified No. 14 at the Mile-High Nationals, but that didn’t matter in round one. Krisher upset Jason Line in the first round.
Krisher ran a 7.014 seconds at 195.68 mph, compared to Line’s 7.027-second effort. The margin of victory at the line a scant seven hundredths of a second.
Krisher’s win earn’s him a date with Shane Gray in the second round.
ENDERS DOING HER TIME – It was like Samson and Delilah only this time Delilah couldn't get close enough to trim Samson's strength.
In what was referred to as the biggest mismatch of the day, Jeg Coughlin easily dismissed Erica Enders in the first round. Coughlin owned the race from start to finish as Enders had problems almost from the hit; coasting across the finish line some four seconds after Coughlin blasted through the lights.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
ALMOST - Karen Stoffer rode her Suzuki to a runner-up finish on Sunday.
In her best outing of the 2010 season, Stoffer blazed a trail from the No. 3 starting slot to the money round by knocking off Angie Smith and top-10 riders Craig Treble and Steve Johnson to get her chance at Andrew Hines, the second-ranked rider in the class.
"It's kind of fitting that we had a finish like this up here because it seems like we've been climbing a mountain since Gainesville," said Stoffer, who leaves the race ninth in the Full Throttle points. "We're ecstatic. We made a nice move in the points and we were kind of in control of our own destiny today taking on the riders we needed to beat in the standings.
"This gives us so much confidence, all of us on this team, including the rider, to have a result like this. It shows us we have the power, that we know how to setup the bike and tune it for good runs. It's just a feel good deal all the way around."
PERFECT - A perfect reaction time Sunday against Hector Arana helped propel Matt Smith to a first-round Pro Stock Motorcycle victory in the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
The hard-to-get .000-second reaction gave Smith a good lead and Arana couldn’t catch up. Smith, driving the Al-Anabi Racing V-Twin, got the win light 1320 feet later in 7.326 seconds, 180.69 mph to Arana’s .078, 7.353 at 181.25.
But Smith wasn’t able to get past Michael Phillips in the quarterfinal round, Phillips stopping the timer with a 7.300 at 181.37 to Smith’s 7.344 at 179.42.
ELIMINATED - Angie Smith knew Sunday she needed her best run of the weekend to defeat Karen Stoffer in the first round of the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. She was the 14th qualifier and Stoffer was the third.
Smith came within four-thousandths of a second of registering a perfect start and perhaps a round win, but the red-light not only ended her competitive day, it squelched her hopes of finishing in the top 10 and advancing to the playoffs. Stoffer was 10th, 65 points ahead of Smith going into the race.
Stoffer posted an elapsed time of 7.263 seconds at 180.77 mph to Smith’s 7.501 at 173.01 and advanced to the final round before losing.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - SETTING THE FIELDS FOR SUNDAY'S FINALS
JON ASHER: NOW THEY'RE READY TO RUMBLE
ALMOST THERE, KINDA SORTA - Allen Johnson has done almost everything he has to do this year to chase down Pro Stock point leader Mike 
Edwards. He's won poles, he's gone rounds, but he has yet to win a race.
Second in the point standings, Johnson hopes this is the weekend he finally breaks through to a victory.
“I'm hoping this is our breakthrough for the season,” said Johnson after nailing down the top spot in the Pro Stock class. “We've figured out every way in the world to lose this year in the finals. Maybe this one will carry the banners for Mopar, bring home that first win and hone in on that championship.”
Until this weekend, Anderson has been the only driver to show the strength to get the job done over Edwards on Friday and Saturday. It just hasn't been there on Sunday.
With Mopar the title sponsor and the pit area filled with Mopar and Dodge representatives, Allen believes his pockets may be filled with the luck he needs to break through with a win.
“We've got a lot of good luck charms here this weekend with all the Mopar folks. We want to show off for them.”
If his final pass is any indication, the good luck might just be there.
“That last run, the cloud cover came over, the track really got cool – awesome conditions. Same thing happened last year in the fourth qualifying run.
“That Moper Dodge Avenger is cooking.”
Johnson, who has won two of the last three finals at this event, will face Bob Yonke in the first round.
FOR A GOOD CAUSE - Team Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and his father and engine builder, Roy Johnson, took part in the “Go Red for Women” awareness walk on Saturday morning at Bandimere Speedway. The event was hosted by the American Heart Association and St. Anthony Central Hospital to raise awareness of heart disease in women, the No. 1 killer of women over the age of 20.
The cause hits especially close to home for the Johnsons. Roy Johnson was stricken by a near-fatal heart attack while working in the pits with his son at the 2007 NHRA Phoenix event. With first-hand knowledge of the effects of heart disease, the father-and-son Team Mopar duo was happy to join with a large group of participants for the walk along the Thunder Mountain quarter-mile.
“We came out to support the walk this morning because we know the results of heart disease,” said Johnson. “It’s a very worthwhile cause, and we were glad to be out there.”
NOTHING LIKE SHOWING OFF FOR THE SPONSOR - Blessed with conditions almost as ideal as Friday night, Matt Hagan pulled out a pole 
winning run in the final round of qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, knocking 14-time champion John Force from the top spot.
After long delays during the final Top Fuel qualifying session, track temperatures dipped to 90 degrees as Hagan prepped for his final pass. With near ideal conditions for a track a mile high in the atmosphere, Hagan made an outstanding 4.161-second run at 301.33 mph to eclipse Force's 4.191/296.76, set on Friday night under the lights.
Racing the special Mopar-bodied Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car Hagan collected his second No. 1 of the season, the fourth of his career, and his first at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.
“We just have a really great race car,” said Hagan, who is currently fourth in the point standings. “(Crew chief) Tommy DeLago is doing such a good job. And we're reaping the benefits from these crew guys. I can't talk enough about them. They've had a flawless year this year. (The car) goes up there every time and starts and, knock on wood, we haven't had any problems. Our guys have really come full circle this year for us compared to where they were last year.”
Hagan didn't know until the last minute his crew was swinging for the fences.
“Tommy basically said, 'Look, kid. Hang on to it; you never know what's going to happen up there.' He said he was going to get after it and he did.
“It went out there and [the clutch] tried to get one-to-one and when it did that it just took off. All I could do is keep it in the groove and hang on to it until the win light came on.”
Amazingly, Hagan almost wished he wasn't on the pole. Its great for one of his sponsors, Mopar, and for the team, but, “sometimes that seems to bite you on race day.”
Hagan will face Jack Wyatt in the first round on Sunday. Wyatt pushed to the line during the final round of qualifying, but even though he didn't make a run down the track, qualified in the 16th spot.
STILL THE ONE - It's a good thing Antron Brown isn't a betting man. If he was, he'd be a poor man sitting on the Top Fuel dragster pole for the 31st 
annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Confident his Friday night run, 3.961 seconds at 286.19 miles per hour, would fall to the cooler temperatures, Brown expected to either improve himself or watch the time fall to his closest competitors. He was willing to bet Kalitta, Dixon, Schumacher, McClenathan or any of the other top names would find the combination to knock him off the top spot in the final session of qualifying.
It didn't happen, which saved Brown from losing the farm.
“The fastest of that session was a .97,” said Brown, elated to have captured his fifth pole of the season. “My .96 still ran and we only went 800 feet down the racetrack on Friday night.”
Both Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher ran identical 3.974's in the final session, just seven hundredths of a second slower than Brown's Friday night run. Schumacher was seeded fourth based on speed with his 312.42 being significantly quicker than Dixon's 295.66.
Brown admitted the Matco Tools team wasn't trying to hold onto the top spot in the final two qualifying sessions, however they were trying to find speed which they can use later in the year.
“Tomorrow is definitely going to be the day,” Brown explained. “Today, we were trying a few things. Trying to get our car ready for the Countdown. We were trying to see what would work for another combination that we are going to use later on in the year. We're just going to keep on pushing that envelope.”
The team will go back to a more traditional engine combination on race day, as they concentrate on going A to B and rounds.
“Tomorrow, we'll go back to like a normal race day set-up,” Brown explained, before his mind returned to final qualifying run. “We thought it could be better and it almost was better. The car was on a run to run a 93, 92, somewhere in that area. That is what we were pushing for but the track didn't want any part of it because we got too aggressive too far down the racetrack. We just had to be more aggressive sooner. So, we're just going to make those adjustments tomorrow – back her down a little bit and try to go A to B because that is what it is going to take tomorrow – is going A to B every run. If the sun comes out it is going to make it even more tricky.”
If anything Brown and the Matco Tools crew have learned this year to not look beyond the current round staring you in the face.
“We're just going to take it one round at a time.”
THE WRONG GUESS - On Friday night, Michael Phillips thought a 7.26 or 7.27 elapsed time was going to win the pole at the Mile-High Nationals, he 
was wrong.
Phillips set a new track record for the second day in a row at Bandimere Speedway, winning the pole with a 7.238-second time at 186.41 mph.
“When I saw Karen Stoffer go out there she went 27 and then Jimmy Underdahl went 28, I knew I was going to go at least 24 or 25,” Phillips said. “I hit all my shifts and I made a perfect pass on that 23.”
This is Phillips’ second pole position of the season and also the second of his career. Phillips won the pole at Englishtown, N.J., last month and he went on to captured the event victory on his Edge-sponsored Suzuki.
In addition to Englishtown, Phillips has two other wins this season at St. Louis and most recently at Sonoma, Calif., last week.
On the road to his Sonoma victory, Phillips beat Eddie Krawiec in the semis and he also set a new national speed record for Pro Stock Motorcycles at 197.65 mph.
Phillips will begin his quest for another victory Sunday against No. 16 qualifier Redell Harris.
“I have not checked the weather for Sunday, but as long as it is not real hot, we should be all right,” Phillips said. “You will probably see some low 20s. On my last qualifying run, I thought I should have gone at least a 21, but I missed a shift. I would love to get another win. I’m staying focused and not letting anybody distract me right now. As long as I stay focused it is going to be hard to beat me.”
Phillips also is thrilled to have Craig Treble as his teammate for the remainder of the season. The Attitude Apparel team of Rodger Brogdon and Steve Kent signed on Treble Friday night. Treble will showcase the Attitude Apparel clothing line on his bike.
“I have some good guys behind me in Rodger and Steve,” Phillips said. “They want to win the championship and bringing (Craig) Treble on with us is going to be a real big deal.”
Phillips, Matt Smith and Andrew Hines are in a battle to take second place in the point chase. Hector Arana, the reigning world champ, is the point leader. Arana and Smith actually square off in a key first-round match-up Sunday.
COUNTDOWN DRAMA - When the NHRA created the Countdown to the Championship, it was to inject more excitement and drama in the sport.
Trying to get into the Top 10 has definitely been a roller-coaster ride for Top Fuel drivers Terry McMillen and David Grubnic.
McMillen came to the Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., 10th in the point chase, five points in front of Grubnic, who races out of the Kalitta Motorsports stable. The Countdown to the Championship concludes at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Aug. 12-15 at Brainerd, Minn. The Countdown to 1 playoffs begin at the U.S. Nationals Sept. 1-6 in Indianapolis.
“There’s really no pressure on us to be in the top 10 other than the pressure we put on ourselves,” said McMillen, who is in his first year competing full-time in the NHRA ranks. “We go out there and just try and make it happen. On the other side, I do not think there’s any pressure on David either. Connie Kalitta and his team has been racing forever. Obviously, we’re all going to try and get in the Top 10. Certainly for our team, being a first-year team, and having that opportunity is awesome. Have we counted points? Absolutely.”
Grubnic, meanwhile, is upbeat about his team’s chance of making the Countdown to 1.
“I feel good and our team is confident,” Grubnic said. “We need to pick up our consistency on race day, and what we have to focus on is running well and running consistently well. I know we want to have a chance to run for the championship.”
Grubnic does have an advantage so far at the Mile-High Nationals as he is qualified third at 3.970 seconds, while McMillen is No. 15 at 4.217 seconds.
What’s more, McMillen faces No. 2 qualifier Doug Kalitta, Grubnic’s teammate, in the first round at Bandimere Speedway. Grubnic faces No. 14 qualifier Steve Chrisman.
“Connie has a good handle on this track and I hope I can go some rounds Sunday,” Grubnic said. “The pressure is the same every time we go up there. Whether we’re going for the championship or it is the first race. You do your best and give 110 percent every time you go up to the starting line and just take it one round at a time.”
McMillen has advanced to the second round in four races, Topeka, Kan., Chicago, Englishtown, N.J., and Sonoma, Calif. Grubnic has three round wins this season at Phoenix, Houston and Seattle. At Houston, Grubnic knocked off McMilen in the opening-round.
“We’re going to do everything we can to go A to B and whatever he does, we’re going to try and go one round better,” said McMillen, who drives the Amalie dragster. “Hopefully at the end of Brainerd, we’re in 10th place. It’s our goal to get there and we know it is going to take a team effort. The NHRA is the toughest of tough and we’ve been able to elevate our program and we’re very excited to have a chance to be in the top 10.”
FORCE SOUNDS OFF - John Force appeared on his way to winnig the pole position at the Mile-High Nationals, and then Matt Hagan snatched it from him.
Hagan clocked a 4.161-second run in the final qualifying session to knock Force off of the pole. Force is second, 4.191 seconds at 297.42 mph.
“(Matt) Hagan went out there and ran that 16, and boy that is a prayer on the mountain, but he did it,” Force said. “My car was good and consistent and we have three cars with Ashley (Force), and Robert (Hight) and myself. We’re just going to have to go out there Sunday and see if we can do some damage.”
Hight qualified fourth. Ashley Force Hood is eighth. John Force faces Paul Lee in the first round, while Hight gets James Day and Force Hood clashes with Jack Beckman.
HOPE’S TEAM STILL SEARCHING - Last Sunday at Sonoma, Johnny Gray said he was hoping to finalize a deal on Monday to build a motorcycle for David Hope.
That deal, according to Hope, didn’t get finalized.
“We were looking at the chassis that he (Gray) builds,” Hope said. “We haven’t made any decisions and we’re just seeing what is out there. We may stick with what we have or we may run something different.”
Gray, a Pro Stock competitor, builds motorcycle chassis with Michael Furick. The Bad-Dog chassis they build was recently purchased for Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angie Smith by JD Coffman, her sponsor, and team owner Karl Klement.
Hope said his team has been running a Kosman chassis for several years.
“That chassis has done well for us,” Hope said. “I do not know when we will make a decision about the chassis, that’s up to my team owner and crew chief John Hammock.”
Hope is eighth in the season points chase. He qualified No. 7 at the Mile-High Nationals and faces No. 10 qualifier Shawn Gann in the first round.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - SHAPING UP TO BE A MOUNTAIN OF AN EVENT
LINK: JON ASHER'S FRIDAY OBSERVATIONS
DOUBT; NO DOUBT - The feud between Michael Phillips and Matt Smith is a hot topic in the Pro Stock Motorcycle pits.
The rivalry intensified to a new level this week amid an allegation of racial prejudice and cheating.
Smith believes Phillips is cheating namely because Smith thinks Phillips can’t legitimately make the power he’s making with the motors he is buying from Vance & Hines.
Last Sunday at the Fram-Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif., Phillips won the event and during his semifinal victory over Eddie Krawiec, Phillips also set a new national speed record for Pro Stock Motorcycles at 197.65 mph. Phillips then beat Andrew Hines in the finals.
Phillips is riding a Suzuki formerly ridden by Andrew Hines. Phillips bought the bike from Hines in 2003.
Matt Hines, the crew chief for his brother Andrew Hines and Krawiec, isn’t shocked by the numbers Phillips is posting.
“Those things (Suzukis) make quite a bit of horsepower,” said Matt Hines, who won three Pro Stock Motorcycle world championships from 1997-99. “If you go back and look what was done, I went 7.09 (seconds) in 2001 and we set the mph record at 194, that wasn’t maybe a legit speed, it was probably more like 189, and those things (Suzukis) have like 50-plus more horsepower (now) than they used to back then, so why can’t they go that fast; 6.80s aren’t out of the question. He (Phillips) has big speed and he tucks in and that bike is probably one of the most aerodynamic bikes out here. His bike also may have some things that are working just a little bit better than some of the rest of the guys. Maybe it has a really good air box on it or a few things here and there.”
Phillips and his motorcycle were at their best again on Friday as he set a new Bandimere Speedway track record at the Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo. Phillips clocked a 7.308-second pass. The former track record was 7.319 seconds set by Hector Arana last year.
Matt Hines also thinks if Smith’s team was using Phillips’ bike, Smith would have similar results.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you took Michael’s bike and you gave it to Matt Smith’s crew guys and they did all the prep work on it, and let Matt ride it, Matt would probably go just about as quick or the same as Michael,” Matt Hines said. “We sold Michael the motor he’s using, but he really doesn’t do anything to the motor. The only thing he does is take the head off and give it to us, and he might change the valve springs. We (Vance & Hines) do all the real maintenance on the motor. Nobody else has gone inside that motor besides Michael or us (Vance & Hines). Some of these other guys out here who we’ve sold motors to should be running faster. And, Michael tucks in so good, he puts his head down and he can’t even see where he’s going. He has his head lower than anybody else out here and his body fits his bike really well.”
Like Phillips, Matt Hines says he also had fellow competitors doubting his elapsed times back when he was riding.
“I’ve made runs in the past that surprised me and people told me there’s no way I could be running as fast as I was,” Matt Hines said. “So, it’s definitely possible for him to be going that fast.”
PHILLIPS ON TOP AFTER TWO - If Michael Phillips proved anything Friday night at the Mile-High Nationals it is that he is not easily distracted.
On Wednesday his feud with fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith intensified amid allegations of racial prejudice by Phillips and Smith calling Phillips a cheater.
Phillips, who won the Fram-Autolite Nationals last Sunday in Sonoma, responded by capturing the provisional pole Friday night at the Mile-High Nationals in grand fashion.
Phillips clocked a new track record time of 7.308-seconds. The former track record was 7.319 seconds set last year by Hector Arana.
“That 30 was a surprise actually I thought that run maybe was going to be around a 40 or 41,” said Phillips, who pilots his Racers Edge-sponsored Suzuki. “It had a decent short time and I revved it up pretty good and got it done. That 30 was pretty impressive.”
Phillips also addressed the war of words he and Smith had this week.
“I’m not going to worry about that guy (Smith), he has a racial problem,” Phillips said.
Phillips is riding a Suzuki that Andrew Hines used to ride. Phillips bought the bike from Hines in 2003. He also is running a Vance & Hines engine.
Smith believes Phillips is cheating. Namely because Smith thinks Phillips can’t legitimately make the power he’s making with the motors he is buying from Vance & Hines.
“I showed Byron (Hines) what I was doing and I pulled it up on the computer (Saturday),” Phillips said. “He (Byron) told me I was doing a great job and to keep up the good work. I’m finished with all that he-said, she-said stuff. I have to stay focused and I want to win the championship and I’m not going to let anybody get in my way to do that. That motor I was running (Friday), I have 10 runs on the valve springs, and 30 runs on the crank. Once I make it out of this weekend, I’m going to send that motor back and have it freshened up because I have a new one (motor) sitting on the floor. Then, I will be ready for the rest of the year.”
When Phillips came to the Mile-High Nationals, he was fourth in the season point chase. However, he’s in a tight battle with Matt Smith and Andrew Hines for second place. Hector Arana, the reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ, is atop the point standings.
Phillips who has three wins this season knows he’s going to step it up if he wants to keep the pole Saturday.
“You will probably see somebody go a 26 or 27 in the morning, it is going to be real fast,” Phillips said.
ADDING TO HIS RESUME - There is very little John Force hasn’t achieved in his legendary career.
Friday night, he added another line to his “novel” of accomplishments.
Force, a 14-time world champion, won the provisional pole with a 4.191-second time at 296.76 mph at the Mile–High Nationals in Morrison, Colo. The mph being critical as Del Worsham had an identical 4.191-second effort, but only went 294.75 mph; handing Force the provisional pole.
“We really jumped in there in the first run just to make sure it would go A to B to see what would happen,” said Force, who clocked a 4.401 pass on his first qualify lap, which was the best in the class. “It didn’t drop any cylinders, but at half track I was thinking this is almost embarrassing. The crew chiefs were making the decision to get us down the track. It was very critical to get down there. Coming into this race being No. 1 in points and Robert (Hight) being second, that puts us to the rear of the pack to watch the rest (of the drivers) qualify.”
Force definitely took notice of the number Worsham posted in front of him.
“I thought that was a great number on the hill,” Force said. “We’ve run that before, but we were just a little bit off. Then, it went out and we did it (4.191 seconds) and we got it (the pole) by speed. It is just great to be back here in Denver.”
Force is in position to start from the front for the fourth time this year and for the 135th time in his career. This also would be his sixth career pole at Bandimere Speedway. He was the No. 1 qualifier at the Mile-High Nationals in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1996, winning from the pole in ‘94 and ‘96.
This season, he has been the No. 1 qualifier at Phoenix, Houston, and Chicago.
BACK AND FORTH - Mike Edwards and Allen Johnson have been like Siamese twins during qualifying lately. One tosses up a number and the 
other matches it.
Edwards, in his Penhall/K&N/Interstate GXP, drew blood in the first round of qualifying, but it was Johnson, in the Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger, who took the top spot at the end of the day in the cooling temperatures of a setting sun by a scant one thousandth of a second – 7.020 to 7.021 seconds. Johnson also had the fastest speed at 197.19 miles per hour.
“The conditions got a lot better,” Johnson explained. “I think the track temperature was 20 degrees cooler. (We) just put some gear ratio in there, revved it up and got after it. (The) track is pretty awesome.”
Johnson knows the duel for the number one spot come Sunday is far from over. “We'll still adjust to it tomorrow,” he stated, cautioning, “I really think tomorrow will be the best day; it's suppose to cool down. We'll have to work tomorrow to hang onto it.”
You can bet Edwards will be gunning to retake the top spot, along with a resurgent Jeg Coughlin. Coughlin rocketed from 13th fastest to third fastest in the second round, shaving almost a full tenth of a second off his first run in his Jegs.com Cobalt.
Johnson admitted to some trepidation while preparing for his first round run. In previous years Denver was the first stop in the Western Swing and Pro Stock teams would test en masse in preparation for the three race run of Denver, Seattle and Sonoma.
“We didn't test here this year and we normally do, so we were a little nervous the first run. We hit it pretty close. So, second round we were just able to tweak it a little bit. That mastery comes from just good old hard work. We come up here and test a lot and we have a lot of data; blood, sweat and tears.”
Ron Krisher and Greg Anderson filled out the top five amongst the fastest qualifiers while Greg Stanfield, Roger Brogdon and Kurt Johnson struggled to put top twelve numbers on the board.
A GOOD REBOUND - Last Sunday in Sonoma (Ca.), Antron Brown’s race day ended abruptly.
Brown, who drives the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster, was upset by Terry McMillen in the first round.
Brown’s Don Schumacher Racing crew obviously has a short memory.
Brown rebounded to take the provisional pole Friday night at the Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., with a 3.961-second pass at 286.19 mph.
“The conditions out here (Friday night) were really good,” Brown said. “But, people weren’t making it down the track because they were spinning the tires because the track is so good. We were back at our trailer and we thought we stepped it up because we kind of put the same power level that we had here last year when we ran a 3.88 at night. We wanted to get the car down the track and get some information so we could make it better for (Saturday).”
As Brown’s run began, he wasn’t overwhelmed by the power of his dragster.
“When I went down the race track, it took off and it was slow in a couple of areas,” Brown said. “Then, the car really took off hard from the 330 to 660 (foot) mark. It went almost 275 mph at half track, so we knew we were on a run. Then, it dropped a hole out there and when it dropped the hole it shred the blower belt, that’s why we only went 280 mph. The car shut off about 700 feet down the race track. We would have ran a 91, 92, or 93 if the car didn’t shutoff. We had all those other cars out to go after us and they got after it, but they needed a little bit more power. That’s where the mountain fools you, it gives you one number, but when it is just a little bit worse, it is a lot worse.”
Thanks to the high-altitude of Bandimere Speedway, Brown knows crew chiefs are frantically trying to find the right combination.
“This track is definitely a tuner’s race track,” Brown said. “The crew chiefs have their hands full and us as drivers, we’re just trying to keep the car in the groove.”
Brown also realizes his elapsed time is unlikely to keep him on the pole after Saturday’s qualifying.
“I do not think that 96 is going to hold,” Brown said. “You’re going to see some guys out there going for it, and I think you’re going to see a low 90 or a high 80 that will be the No. 1 qualifier. We just have to get the power level right and get our car hooked up.”
NEW RULE IMPACTS WYATT - On July 14, the NHRA mandated that rear carbon fiber brake rotors and pads will be mandatory for Top Fuel 
Dragsters, Funny Cars, Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars effective July 21, 2010 and front carbon fiber brakes will be mandatory for Funny Cars and Top Alcohol Funny Cars by Aug. 11.
The amendments to the NHRA rulebook come on the heels of the death of Mark Niver, a Top Alcohol Dragster driver, July 11 during eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash. Light confirmed Niver was using steel brakes in his dragster during his fatal run.
Light estimated the amended rule would not have much impact on fuel Funny Cars. However, fuel Funny Car pilot Jack Wyatt will have to change out his front steel rotors if he wants to keep racing in the NHRA after this weekend’s Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.
“We’re still running steel brakes, but we will have to replace them before Brainerd,” Wyatt said Friday before qualifying at the Mile-High Nationals. “We run a proportioning valve on ours on the front and I know other Funny Cars do. So, we’re not using brakes real heavy in the front anyway. I’m not really against the rule, but I do not see that there was a problem with the steel brake rotors in the front with stopping the Top Fuel or Funny Cars. You take the Alcohol Funny Cars and those guys are running steel brakes in the back, and they really need carbon brakes. I’ve stopped my (fuel) Funny Car before, when the chutes came out late, using carbon brakes in the back and steel in the front. We were still able to get it stopped and we were still going a pretty good speed. We got it stopped before the sand trap at Maple Grove, which is a fairly short shut off area. The alcohol cars definitely need carbon brakes.”
Wyatt says he plans on being at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Aug. 12-15.
NEEDS MORE WICK - Greg Anderson knows he needs to turn up the wick just a little higher if he plans on starting higher than fifth in Sunday's Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
“I’d say we had an average day today,” said Anderson. “We definitely have to do a little tune-up on our engines, because they’re a little off in this altitude. However, we’re pretty happy with our Summit Racing Pontiacs, because they’
NEEDS MORE WICK - Greg Anderson knows he needs to turn up the wick just a little higher if he plans on starting higher than fifth in Sunday's Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
“I’d say we had an average day today,” said Anderson. “We definitely have to do a little tune-up on our engines, because they’re a little off in this altitude. However, we’re pretty happy with our Summit Racing Pontiacs, because they’re making decent runs. I think we can certainly get closer, although it might be tough to get that No.1 spot away from AJ (provisional No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson), as well as he runs here on the mountain. However, I definitely think we can get to where we have a chance to win the race.”
Anderson's best effort, 7.048 seconds, 195.96 mph, in the evening put him fifth on the charts with two more runs scheduled for Saturday when temperatures are forecasted to be significantly cooler.
“I’m not 100% disappointed, but I’m also not 100% satisfied either,” said Anderson. “We have more work to do, and the good news is that we supposedly have better weather coming tomorrow, which means you could possibly run faster than we did today. The bottom line is that we have two good baseline runs, and a chance to improve. That makes us pretty happy heading into tomorrow.”
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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK
Already locked into the Countdown to 1, Kalitta is looking to break out of the bridesmaid role and take home the Wally this year.
FULLER LOOKING TO REPEAT AT BANDIMERE - Three years ago was a dream season for popular NHRA racer “Hot Rod” Fuller. The seven-time NHRA winner won a career-best three races in six final rounds and nearly claimed the Top Fuel championship. One of his three race triumphs was at scenic Bandimere Speedway near Denver, a favorite stop on the NHRA tour. Fuller looks for a repeat of his win three years ago near Colorado's stunning red rocks in the 31st annual Mile-High Nationals.
“When we had four races to run in, I circled Denver,” Fuller said. “It's a beautiful track and nobody has an advantage because of the altitude and we only race there once a year. Also, Lee Beard is one of the best guys on the mountain. He's had a lot of success there and he's from Colorado. This is a big race for us because Richard Cregan, the CEO of Yas Marina Circuit, will be there and it would be great to hand him the 'Wally' to take back to Abu Dhabi.”
COULD SUPER GAS WIN BE A TICKET TO THE COUNTDOWN - Second-year Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon and his Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster teammates are riding a wave of good feelings after Langdon's big win last Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Northern California. Sure the victory came in Super Gas, not Top Fuel, but Langdon's nitro brothers shared in the glory and now find themselves as motivated as ever to win their first race together in the Top Fuel rail.“We try to do everything we can as a group,” Langdon said. “We win as a group, and we lose as a group. After we got beat in the first round (of Top Fuel) the guys got their work done and came over to the Super Gas pits and helped me get that car ready for each round. It meant a lot to me.
“To have them all there on the starting line at the end of the day was special. It brought us closer together, I think, and it definitely made us want to get a win in Top Fuel real soon. We can all taste it now.”
A two-time national champion at the Sportsman level, Langdon remains one of the best drivers in the Top Fuel class. His car has been consistent, just not exceptionally lucky this season.
“Hopefully we can go a couple rounds in Denver and clinch our spot in the Countdown,” Langdon said, referring to the NHRA's six-race playoffs. “That’s our main focus right now. We want to get that weight off our shoulders. We’re almost there, we’re close, and we'd like to get it done in Denver and move on to the next goal.”
Prior to the race, Langdon and his entire crew will visit the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in nearby Colorado Springs for a private tour of the facility, followed by a meet and greet session with the servicemen and women that work at NORAD and Peterson Air Force Base.
“We’re really looking forward to going to NORAD,” Langdon said. “It's something cool that most people don’t get to do. To be able to do something like that and sign autographs for the guys and girls over there will be a lot of fun. Hopefully, they're as excited to see us as we are to tour Cheyenne Mountain.”
TWO-TIME DENVER CHAMP CORY MAC HEADS TO THE MOUNTAIN - Cory McClenathan and the FRAM Top Fuel dragster team are heading to “the mountain” to see if they can reach the top and win their third national event at the MOPAR Mile-High NHRA Nationals and their fourth of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.Cory Mac was the MOPAR Mile-High champ in 1997 and 1998, runner-up in 2002, and No. 1 qualifier in 1997, 1998 and 2008. He and the FRAM team have hopes their success at Bandimere Raceway will continue this weekend.
“We won there a couple of times in the past and it's always been a great race for us,” said McClenathan, who's won three times this season in five final rounds and stands third in the rankings. “For some reason we get up there on the hill and we still run good. There's ways to do that and I think (crew chiefs) Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler and the FRAM boys have a leg up on that. We've tested some things for the altitude, so I'm excited to get to Denver and see what this FRAM car will run.
“I love the Denver race,” added McClenathan, who has already clinched a berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs. “The Bandimeres are great people. I've known them since they had just one little tiny tower and they built the empire that they have there now. They're very good Christian people and very solid. I'm looking forward to seeing them and racing on Sunday at 12 noon.”
Only three drivers have won all the races so far in Top Fuel: points leader Larry Dixon (8), followed by Tony Schumacher (4) and McClenathan (3). McClenathan has yet to defeat Dixon in their three match-ups this season and he's hungry to do it and gain some rounds on him. “He's the guy,” said McClenathan. “And if you can't start breathing down his neck before the Countdown then you have to do something different. We need to switch it up.”
TASCA UP FOR CHALLENGES OF DENVER - Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team may have left Sonoma early by just a few inches, but they plan to take those inches and get at least one more round win this weekend in Denver. Tasca and the team returned to the strong performance they exhibited earlier this season with a semifinal appearance in Somona, providing a needed boost to the team heading into this weekend’s NHRA event in Denver. Just by qualifying this weekend, Tasca will assure himself a berth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.
“In the last two months, we’ve had one win, two semifinal appearances and two first-round losses, but those first-round losses have asterisks by them because we had some mechanical issues in those two races,” said Tasca. “We diagnosed the issue and got our stuff pulled together. We were back in the semifinals and probably one of the top cars to beat this past weekend. With what we accomplished in Sonoma, I’m very confident heading into Denver.”
Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team look forward to the high-altitude challenges Denver presents to their Mustang’s tune-up. Tasca believes that a little bit of skill and a little bit of luck will go far in Denver.
“Denver is one of those races where you can go in with confidence but you also go in with your fingers crossed because you are in a type of air that you don’t see the entire season,” said Tasca. “Denver is 9,000 feet above sea level, and we have a new combination in the BOSS 500 engine. Chris Cunningham, Marc Denner and I have spent a lot of time talking about our strategy and brainstorming ideas on what to do with this set-up at that altitude. We have a team that can put a plan together and put ourselves in a position to win.”
Tasca will rely on crew chief Chris Cunningham for the proper tune-up heading into this weekend’s NHRA event in Denver. Cunningham has more than 25 years experience working on a Funny Car and Tasca will yield to his expertise in the mile-high city.
“For the last three months, Chris has been thinking about Denver,” said Tasca. “Denver is not something you just roll in and take your stock pistons and rods off the rack and stick them in the motor. Denver is a total tune-up change - rods, pistons, compression, fuel, fuel volume, ignition and clutch. We’ve got to make the right decisions and Chris has certainly done a lot of prep work to get ready for Denver. I’m very confident that he’ll make the right decisions.”
WORSHAM IS FOCUSED ON SOLID DENVER PERFORMANCE - “The Al-Anabi Toyota team didn’t get the result we wanted last weekend in Sonoma, but we are still improving our race team as we get closer to the Countdown,” Worsham said. “We increased our lead on 10th place in the points, so Sonoma was positive for the points. We only have two races left before the Countdown begins, so we are looking good to make it, but we have to stay focused and get our Al-Anabi Toyota back to winning rounds. We have eight rounds left before the Countdown so the more we win, the better we’ll be when we get to Indy (U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, first race of the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs).“We are looking forward to racing at Bandimere Speedway this weekend. The Bandimere family has been a big part of NHRA for a long time, and I always like racing there. Everyone on the Al-Anabi team is just as focused as we have been, and we’ll be ready to go when we roll into Denver.”
STANFIELD HOPING TO LOCK IN AT DENVER – A coveted spot in the Countdown to 1 is so close Greg Stanfield can taste it. With another good outing in the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Stanfield and Kenny Koretsky’s Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP Pro Stock team could be guaranteed a berth in NHRA’s Countdown to 1 championship playoffs.
Stanfield is sixth with 763 points going into the penultimate event in the 17-race regular season. He is one slender point ahead of Ron Krisher after upsetting Krisher last Sunday at Sonoma, Calif. The top 10 will advance to the six-race title showdown.
“We’re getting close,” said Koretsky, a former Pro Stock and Top Fuel driver. “I hope we run well this weekend and get it done.”
The same thoughts are echoed by Stanfield and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia.
“We should do it,” Guarnaccia said. “We want to run better when we get into the playoffs, and we are concentrating on that, too. Greg went home (to Bossier City, La.) and was working on motors in the engine shop Monday morning.
“We have to make some adjustments because the track is more than a mile high and there isn’t as much oxygen in the air. We also expect to see a hot track. We think Greg is one of the best drivers out there right now and we definitely want to keep winning rounds.”
ANDERSON HAS HIGH HOPES IN DENVER - With two wins in their previous nine visits to the Centennial State, Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Pro Stock team are well-versed in what it takes to succeed “on the mountain”. Therefore, despite having one element missing from their normal pre-race preparations due to the changes in this year’s schedule, they come into the event quietly confident about their chances.“The conditions in Denver are unlike any other on the circuit, requiring a completely different tune-up, especially in Pro Stock,” said Anderson. “Having not tested at Bandimere Speedway before the event for the first time in many years, we’re a little nervous, but it just wasn’t feasible for us to do so this season. Besides, as well as our Summit Racing Pontiacs have been running and with the extensive notes we have from previous races here, we should still be in good shape.”
The placement of this race at the end of the NHRA’s traditional Western Swing has only served to increase the challenge for the racers, as they will have less than five days to make the 1,300-mile trip from California to Colorado and complete the necessary changes to their race car. Faced with a 30% reduction in horsepower, the “factory hot rods” will require extensive modifications to their normal set-up in order to compensate.
“To get ready for this race, you basically pick up the gas cap and slide a new race car underneath it,” said Anderson. “There’s not anything that stays the same of the parts that we’re capable of changing, other than the front and rear tires, because if you don’t dramatically alter the race car, you’re going to get crushed. Fortunately, this KB Racing team has learned a lot about racing at Bandimere Speedway over the years, so we’re familiar with the drill and know what areas to work on.
“Fortunately, both Jason’s (teammate Line) and my Summit Racing Pontiacs have been working really well over the last few weeks under a wide variety of conditions, which is why I’m not nervous about not having tested in Denver. With just a couple races to go before we lock horns for the championship, things are really looking up for us. We know we still have work to do, but now believe we have a realistic chance to win every race we enter, which wasn’t necessarily the case not that long ago. Our game plan for Denver is simple - we’re going to go there, give it all we’ve got, and do whatever we can to leave there with the trophy.”
ANGIE SMITH MUST GO ROUNDS IN DENVER - There’s no getting around it. Angie Smith needs to win rounds during the final two regular-season Pro Stock Motorcycle races if she hopes to finish in the top 10 and advance to the playoffs.The numbers tell the story. Smith has accumulated 346 points on the Karl and Kim Klement-owned Coffman Tank Trucks V-Twin and is in 12th place. Shawn Gann is 11th with 386 and Karen Stoffer holds the coveted 10th position with 411. Each round win is worth 20 points.
Smith is taking the positive approach to Denver.
“I’m going with an ‘I’m going to win this race’ attitude,” she said. “That’s what I must do. We know we have to win rounds this weekend and we know we have a team that can do it.”
Matt Smith, her husband and engine builder, will supply tuning expertise, too. He won back-to-back races (2007-08) in Bandimere Speedway’s thin air. “He has a good tune-up for that track and our times should be very good,” Angie said. “He also was the No. 1 qualifier in 2007 ... I’m riding the bike he rode then.”
After a slow start this season, Angie has been within striking distance of the top 10 and her goal of making the playoffs. “Anything can happen at the next two races,” she said. “We have to do the best we can to try to make sure it’s all good.KALITTA LOOKING TO BREAK OUT OF BRIDESMAID ROLE IN DENVER - Doug Kalitta was the Top Fuel runner-up at last season’s event in Denver. He also posted runner-up finishes in Denver in 2003, 2001, and 1999.
Already locked into the Countdown to 1, Kalitta is looking to break out of the bridesmaid role and take home the Wally this year.
FULLER LOOKING TO REPEAT AT BANDIMERE - Three years ago was a dream season for popular NHRA racer “Hot Rod” Fuller. The seven-time NHRA winner won a career-best three races in six final rounds and nearly claimed the Top Fuel championship. One of his three race triumphs was at scenic Bandimere Speedway near Denver, a favorite stop on the NHRA tour. Fuller looks for a repeat of his win three years ago near Colorado's stunning red rocks in the 31st annual Mile-High Nationals.
“When we had four races to run in, I circled Denver,” Fuller said. “It's a beautiful track and nobody has an advantage because of the altitude and we only race there once a year. Also, Lee Beard is one of the best guys on the mountain. He's had a lot of success there and he's from Colorado. This is a big race for us because Richard Cregan, the CEO of Yas Marina Circuit, will be there and it would be great to hand him the 'Wally' to take back to Abu Dhabi.”
COULD SUPER GAS WIN BE A TICKET TO THE COUNTDOWN - Second-year Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon and his Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster teammates are riding a wave of good feelings after Langdon's big win last Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Northern California. Sure the victory came in Super Gas, not Top Fuel, but Langdon's nitro brothers shared in the glory and now find themselves as motivated as ever to win their first race together in the Top Fuel rail.“We try to do everything we can as a group,” Langdon said. “We win as a group, and we lose as a group. After we got beat in the first round (of Top Fuel) the guys got their work done and came over to the Super Gas pits and helped me get that car ready for each round. It meant a lot to me.
“To have them all there on the starting line at the end of the day was special. It brought us closer together, I think, and it definitely made us want to get a win in Top Fuel real soon. We can all taste it now.”
A two-time national champion at the Sportsman level, Langdon remains one of the best drivers in the Top Fuel class. His car has been consistent, just not exceptionally lucky this season.
“Hopefully we can go a couple rounds in Denver and clinch our spot in the Countdown,” Langdon said, referring to the NHRA's six-race playoffs. “That’s our main focus right now. We want to get that weight off our shoulders. We’re almost there, we’re close, and we'd like to get it done in Denver and move on to the next goal.”
Prior to the race, Langdon and his entire crew will visit the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in nearby Colorado Springs for a private tour of the facility, followed by a meet and greet session with the servicemen and women that work at NORAD and Peterson Air Force Base.
“We’re really looking forward to going to NORAD,” Langdon said. “It's something cool that most people don’t get to do. To be able to do something like that and sign autographs for the guys and girls over there will be a lot of fun. Hopefully, they're as excited to see us as we are to tour Cheyenne Mountain.”
TWO-TIME DENVER CHAMP CORY MAC HEADS TO THE MOUNTAIN - Cory McClenathan and the FRAM Top Fuel dragster team are heading to “the mountain” to see if they can reach the top and win their third national event at the MOPAR Mile-High NHRA Nationals and their fourth of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.Cory Mac was the MOPAR Mile-High champ in 1997 and 1998, runner-up in 2002, and No. 1 qualifier in 1997, 1998 and 2008. He and the FRAM team have hopes their success at Bandimere Raceway will continue this weekend.
“We won there a couple of times in the past and it's always been a great race for us,” said McClenathan, who's won three times this season in five final rounds and stands third in the rankings. “For some reason we get up there on the hill and we still run good. There's ways to do that and I think (crew chiefs) Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler and the FRAM boys have a leg up on that. We've tested some things for the altitude, so I'm excited to get to Denver and see what this FRAM car will run.
“I love the Denver race,” added McClenathan, who has already clinched a berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs. “The Bandimeres are great people. I've known them since they had just one little tiny tower and they built the empire that they have there now. They're very good Christian people and very solid. I'm looking forward to seeing them and racing on Sunday at 12 noon.”
Only three drivers have won all the races so far in Top Fuel: points leader Larry Dixon (8), followed by Tony Schumacher (4) and McClenathan (3). McClenathan has yet to defeat Dixon in their three match-ups this season and he's hungry to do it and gain some rounds on him. “He's the guy,” said McClenathan. “And if you can't start breathing down his neck before the Countdown then you have to do something different. We need to switch it up.”
TASCA UP FOR CHALLENGES OF DENVER - Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team may have left Sonoma early by just a few inches, but they plan to take those inches and get at least one more round win this weekend in Denver. Tasca and the team returned to the strong performance they exhibited earlier this season with a semifinal appearance in Somona, providing a needed boost to the team heading into this weekend’s NHRA event in Denver. Just by qualifying this weekend, Tasca will assure himself a berth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.
“In the last two months, we’ve had one win, two semifinal appearances and two first-round losses, but those first-round losses have asterisks by them because we had some mechanical issues in those two races,” said Tasca. “We diagnosed the issue and got our stuff pulled together. We were back in the semifinals and probably one of the top cars to beat this past weekend. With what we accomplished in Sonoma, I’m very confident heading into Denver.”
Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team look forward to the high-altitude challenges Denver presents to their Mustang’s tune-up. Tasca believes that a little bit of skill and a little bit of luck will go far in Denver.
“Denver is one of those races where you can go in with confidence but you also go in with your fingers crossed because you are in a type of air that you don’t see the entire season,” said Tasca. “Denver is 9,000 feet above sea level, and we have a new combination in the BOSS 500 engine. Chris Cunningham, Marc Denner and I have spent a lot of time talking about our strategy and brainstorming ideas on what to do with this set-up at that altitude. We have a team that can put a plan together and put ourselves in a position to win.”
Tasca will rely on crew chief Chris Cunningham for the proper tune-up heading into this weekend’s NHRA event in Denver. Cunningham has more than 25 years experience working on a Funny Car and Tasca will yield to his expertise in the mile-high city.
“For the last three months, Chris has been thinking about Denver,” said Tasca. “Denver is not something you just roll in and take your stock pistons and rods off the rack and stick them in the motor. Denver is a total tune-up change - rods, pistons, compression, fuel, fuel volume, ignition and clutch. We’ve got to make the right decisions and Chris has certainly done a lot of prep work to get ready for Denver. I’m very confident that he’ll make the right decisions.”
WORSHAM IS FOCUSED ON SOLID DENVER PERFORMANCE - “The Al-Anabi Toyota team didn’t get the result we wanted last weekend in Sonoma, but we are still improving our race team as we get closer to the Countdown,” Worsham said. “We increased our lead on 10th place in the points, so Sonoma was positive for the points. We only have two races left before the Countdown begins, so we are looking good to make it, but we have to stay focused and get our Al-Anabi Toyota back to winning rounds. We have eight rounds left before the Countdown so the more we win, the better we’ll be when we get to Indy (U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, first race of the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs).“We are looking forward to racing at Bandimere Speedway this weekend. The Bandimere family has been a big part of NHRA for a long time, and I always like racing there. Everyone on the Al-Anabi team is just as focused as we have been, and we’ll be ready to go when we roll into Denver.”
STANFIELD HOPING TO LOCK IN AT DENVER – A coveted spot in the Countdown to 1 is so close Greg Stanfield can taste it. With another good outing in the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Stanfield and Kenny Koretsky’s Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP Pro Stock team could be guaranteed a berth in NHRA’s Countdown to 1 championship playoffs.
Stanfield is sixth with 763 points going into the penultimate event in the 17-race regular season. He is one slender point ahead of Ron Krisher after upsetting Krisher last Sunday at Sonoma, Calif. The top 10 will advance to the six-race title showdown.
“We’re getting close,” said Koretsky, a former Pro Stock and Top Fuel driver. “I hope we run well this weekend and get it done.”
The same thoughts are echoed by Stanfield and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia.
“We should do it,” Guarnaccia said. “We want to run better when we get into the playoffs, and we are concentrating on that, too. Greg went home (to Bossier City, La.) and was working on motors in the engine shop Monday morning.
“We have to make some adjustments because the track is more than a mile high and there isn’t as much oxygen in the air. We also expect to see a hot track. We think Greg is one of the best drivers out there right now and we definitely want to keep winning rounds.”
ANDERSON HAS HIGH HOPES IN DENVER - With two wins in their previous nine visits to the Centennial State, Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Pro Stock team are well-versed in what it takes to succeed “on the mountain”. Therefore, despite having one element missing from their normal pre-race preparations due to the changes in this year’s schedule, they come into the event quietly confident about their chances.“The conditions in Denver are unlike any other on the circuit, requiring a completely different tune-up, especially in Pro Stock,” said Anderson. “Having not tested at Bandimere Speedway before the event for the first time in many years, we’re a little nervous, but it just wasn’t feasible for us to do so this season. Besides, as well as our Summit Racing Pontiacs have been running and with the extensive notes we have from previous races here, we should still be in good shape.”
The placement of this race at the end of the NHRA’s traditional Western Swing has only served to increase the challenge for the racers, as they will have less than five days to make the 1,300-mile trip from California to Colorado and complete the necessary changes to their race car. Faced with a 30% reduction in horsepower, the “factory hot rods” will require extensive modifications to their normal set-up in order to compensate.
“To get ready for this race, you basically pick up the gas cap and slide a new race car underneath it,” said Anderson. “There’s not anything that stays the same of the parts that we’re capable of changing, other than the front and rear tires, because if you don’t dramatically alter the race car, you’re going to get crushed. Fortunately, this KB Racing team has learned a lot about racing at Bandimere Speedway over the years, so we’re familiar with the drill and know what areas to work on.
“Fortunately, both Jason’s (teammate Line) and my Summit Racing Pontiacs have been working really well over the last few weeks under a wide variety of conditions, which is why I’m not nervous about not having tested in Denver. With just a couple races to go before we lock horns for the championship, things are really looking up for us. We know we still have work to do, but now believe we have a realistic chance to win every race we enter, which wasn’t necessarily the case not that long ago. Our game plan for Denver is simple - we’re going to go there, give it all we’ve got, and do whatever we can to leave there with the trophy.”
ANGIE SMITH MUST GO ROUNDS IN DENVER - There’s no getting around it. Angie Smith needs to win rounds during the final two regular-season Pro Stock Motorcycle races if she hopes to finish in the top 10 and advance to the playoffs.The numbers tell the story. Smith has accumulated 346 points on the Karl and Kim Klement-owned Coffman Tank Trucks V-Twin and is in 12th place. Shawn Gann is 11th with 386 and Karen Stoffer holds the coveted 10th position with 411. Each round win is worth 20 points.
Smith is taking the positive approach to Denver.
“I’m going with an ‘I’m going to win this race’ attitude,” she said. “That’s what I must do. We know we have to win rounds this weekend and we know we have a team that can do it.”
Matt Smith, her husband and engine builder, will supply tuning expertise, too. He won back-to-back races (2007-08) in Bandimere Speedway’s thin air. “He has a good tune-up for that track and our times should be very good,” Angie said. “He also was the No. 1 qualifier in 2007 ... I’m riding the bike he rode then.”
After a slow start this season, Angie has been within striking distance of the top 10 and her goal of making the playoffs. “Anything can happen at the next two races,” she said. “We have to do the best we can to try to make sure it’s all good.”
ARANA LOOKING FOR A WALLY IN DENVER - For defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana, winning at the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals is all about the tuneup.“We only have one race a year at this altitude,” Arana said. “We have to look at the weather there carefully and go over all the data we have from previous years so we can find the right set-up. It’s tricky to tune to the conditions and you are always leery how to go about it. Your mind can go in a hundred directions.
“You want to play it safe because you want to make all the runs and not hurt the motor, but we're drag racers, we don't like to play it safe. We like to go as fast as we can.”
Arana has been making the right calls all year long. He already has locked up a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, the NHRA’s playoffs, and he leads the points by 141 markers over second place Matt Smith, an amount that equals seven rounds of action with just eight rounds left before the Countdown starts.
“We’ve got to try all kinds of scenarios so we can learn more things and stay sharp,” Arana said. “The points reset so the lead we have now will go away. Then we start over and we need to be ready to fight.”
In the meantime, Arana said he always enjoys racing at Bandimere Speedway.
“The fans in Colorado are awesome,” Arana said. “They love the motorcycles and the view is perfect at the top of the hill. I really like to race there, even as different as it is for the tune-up.”
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