Mike Bowers bounced around in the bottom half of the Top Fuel ladder in his NHRA professional debut, from 10th to 12th to 15th and finally to 16th place during qualifying for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. But the Plano, Texas, native -- who competed for about 15 years in the Top Alcohol Dragster class -- said he's excited with his performance.
 
Although fans might not be familiar with Bowers, they certainly are with his crew chief, Kevin Poynter, who emerged from the late Eric Medlen's Funny Car team to step into the Top Fuel crew chief ranks for J.R. Todd and Doug Herbert with outstanding results.

Mike Bowers bounced around in the bottom half of the Top Fuel ladder in his NHRA professional debut, from 10th to 12th to 15th and finally to 16th place during qualifying for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. But the Plano, Texas, native -- who competed for about 15 years in the Top Alcohol Dragster class -- said he's excited with his performance.
 
Although fans might not be familiar with Bowers, they certainly are with his crew chief, Kevin Poynter, who emerged from the late Eric Medlen's Funny Car team to step into the Top Fuel crew chief ranks for J.R. Todd and Doug Herbert with outstanding results.
 
Bowers, 41, earned his Top Fuel license this past spring and competed at the Dallas and Tulsa IHRA races to -- in his words "get our act together a little bit, knowing we can get down the track, not hurt stuff, and be competitive." He said he received his NHRA Top Fuel license less than three weeks ago.
 
He said Poynter "helped us put this program together, did it the right way" for the Swindahl car that has been front- and back-halved.
 
"We showed Friday night with a 4.01 that we have a tune-up and compete now. And we've been good on our equipment," he said. "We're basically a small team, but we've got good stuff -- just not a lot of it.
 
"It was a little stressful," Bowers said of his transition to a 7,000-horsepower dragster. "But everything's operating. We made it happen. Just to be here and be functioning and be competitive has been an accomplishment. Now that we know we have something to work from, we're excited."
 
Bowers pulled his Elite Motorsports Dragster out of the qualifying line for the fourth and final session, knowing that he was locked into the field in the final slot. Urs Erbacher, Scott Palmer, and Todd Simpson failed to qualify.
 
Bowers might not be thrilled to draw No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon for his first Top Fuel eliminations opponent. But, he said, "As long as you're getting down the track in a competitive fashion and you're only maybe a tenth (of a second) off of them, they're going to have to beat you.
 
"They know we're here."
 
Bowers has been active in all aspects of drag racing, handling public relations for racers Michael Brotherton and Billy Lynch, heading some hospitality efforts, and even announcing at San Antonio Raceway while a student at Southwest Texas State University at nearby San Marcos.

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