There’s no question that the 2014 NHRA season hasn’t produced the results Pro Stock driver Rodger Brogdon has wanted so far.

In the first five races, Brogdon has failed to get past the first round. Still, he remains upbeat heading into his hometown race – the O’Reilly Auto Parts SpringNationals Friday through Sunday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas near Houston.

BROGDON GIVING BACK TO HOMETOWN FANS

Rodger Brogdon will arrive at his hometown track this weekend with a few extra special guests. In fact, one lucky winner and her guests scored the trip of a lifetime to the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals thanks to the Tomball, Texas, native.

Numerous fans entered for a chance to win a VIP experience as an honorary crew person on Brogdon's race car through his Facebook page and/or by calling into The Rod Ryan Show, the No. 1 local radio station in Houston, throughout last week.

"The contest was my way of giving back to my community," Brogdon said. "It's all about giving back to those who support you. It's an honor and a blessing to be able to do something I love and call it a job. I love being a professional drag racer, and I want to share that experience with others. What better place to do that than at my hometown track."

When the contest ended on Monday, Bernadette Bock, of Deer Park, Texas, received the news that she was the lucky winner of the grand prize from the Brogdon Racing hometown contest. Bock and three of her closest friends will get the VIP treatment at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals this weekend.

Not only will Bock and her friends have exclusive access to Brogdon's pit, but they will be seated in a special VIP section at the race while sporting official ProtectTheHarvest.com Racing team jerseys.

"I'm excited to return home and to be able to give this opportunity to a local fan," Brogdon said. "Who knows, maybe being back in Houston will help turn my luck around this season. Either way, I hope Bernadette is ready to get the full experience of an NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock drag race." There’s no question that the 2014 NHRA season hasn’t produced the results Pro Stock driver Rodger Brogdon has wanted so far.

In the first five races, Brogdon has failed to get past the first round. Still, he remains upbeat heading into his hometown race – the O’Reilly Auto Parts SpringNationals Friday through Sunday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas near Houston.

“We tested (Monday and Tuesday) at a little eighth-mile track outside of Beaumont (Texas),” Brogdon said. “I made 12 runs up there and Steve (Kent) made 10 runs in his car, so hopefully we will be better. With our hometown fans here, I don’t know if we can try any harder. We are going to give it our best effort.”

Kent is the owner of Kent Services and Trucking, a south-central United States, multi-faceted corporation, that primarily specializes in service and support for the petroleum industry. Kent owns the Pro Stock team he and Brogdon compete for.

“It is just our overall package that needs working on,” Brogdon said. “We need more power. We are fighting a bunch of guys who have a lot of years head start on us. It is not going to be something we are going to catch up with in a year or so I don’t think. Nothing comes easy in this class. It may be the toughest it has ever been right now. The top 10 teams out there are pretty difficult to deal with and hard to outrun.”

Brogdon and Kent continue to run their own in-house engine program.
“It is a work in progress,” Brogdon said. “We are constantly buying different machinery to try and do more stuff in-house.”

A year ago, Brogdon won his first career NHRA Pro Stock race when he beat Erica Enders-Stevens June 16 in the finals of the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

Brogdon finished 10th in the points last season and Kent was 14th.

“We won Bristol and everything just seemed to line up that day,” Brogdon said. “We did everything right. We made the right decisions and the other guys faltered a little bit and we were able to take advantage of it. Since then, we had just a few opportunities to get past the first round and for one reason or another we just have not been able to do it. It is a test of your will, I will tell you that.”

Brogdon also realizes qualifying in the top half of the field is a must at NHRA national events.

“Every race last year was won by somebody who qualified in the top eight positions,” Brogdon said. “Every race this year has been won by a guy or girl who has qualified in the top eight. I can’t express how important that is. It is very, very important to qualify in the top half of the field. Until we get to that point where we can do that on a consistent basis we are going to continue to struggle. Anybody who qualifies in the bottom half of the field, not just us, well, their odds of winning are not very good at all.”

Brogdon’s best qualifying effort in 2014 is ninth twice at Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix. Kent’s best qualifying position was No. 11 in Las Vegas.

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