All Rodger Brogdon wanted was a chance to compete.

The former Competition Eliminator standout from Tomball, Texas, not only has a chance. He’s got a very good chance.

He’s thankful to team owner Steve Kent and engine builder/power broker Victor Cagnazzi for the opportunity to draw his shorts up tight at the hit.

“I don't know about that, but it is going fast,” Brogdon said of his new mount. “We're doing real good, making a lot of progress. After every race we send the car back to Victor's shop and Tommy Utt works on it and every time we come out it seems to be a little bit quicker.”

Brogdon is in his third race since joining forces with Cagnazzi. Prior to their unification, he’d run the gamut of leasing engines and even tried building them in-house.

All Rodger Brogdon wanted was a chance to compete.

The former Competition Eliminator standout from Tomball, Texas, not only has a chance. He’s got a very good chance.

He’s thankful to team owner Steve Kent and engine builder/power broker Victor Cagnazzi for the opportunity to draw his shorts up tight at the hit.

“I don't know about that, but it is going fast,” Brogdon said of his new mount. “We're doing real good, making a lot of progress. After every race we send the car back to Victor's shop and Tommy Utt works on it and every time we come out it seems to be a little bit quicker.”

Brogdon is in his third race since joining forces with Cagnazzi. Prior to their unification, he’d run the gamut of leasing engines and even tried building them in-house.

Pro Stock had become less of a challenge and more of a frustration.

“It got real frustrating,” Brogdon admitted. “We didn't feel like the right effort was being put out for the money we were spending. The deal came up with Victor, it was a good fit for both of us, so we jumped on the opportunity.”

Brogdon made his Cagnazzi debut at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga. He knew exactly what to do with the opportunity.

Brogdon qualified 13th the first time out, which was quite an accomplishment for a driver who had spent much of the first two years of his Pro Stock career as a spectator on race day. One reason not many Comp drivers are willing to make the jump.

“Well, there are probably not many Comp drivers that wouldn't like to do this, but it’s an awful lot of money, a lot of time,” Brogdon said. “You have to have the right engine program, team owner, car people, truck driver. It's a whole team effort. Steve and I talked about it and we both didn't really like the way Comp Eliminator was going. We didn't like some of the rule changes, so we just decided to spend a little more and do this. Steve had seven or eight cars he was helping so it really didn't cost a whole bunch more to make this jump.”

Brogdon has learned that qualifying regularly also requires more work than a team just struggling to make the show.

“If you tested 10 times a year you probably not testing enough,” Brogdon explained. “Every opportunity we get to go test, we do it. The main difference between this and Competition Eliminator – over there you are looking for hundredths, over here you are looking for thousandths. You have to do a lot of things here you wouldn't normally do racing Competition Eliminator, because we're all looking for those thousandths.” 

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