EVENT RESULTS (SUN) EVENT NOTEBOOK (SUN) SPORTSMAN RESULTS

POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK

JOHN FORCE GETS MILE-HIGH VICTORY - There was a show of force in the nitro Funny Car class at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals.

And father knew best.

Legendary John Force defeated his daughter, Courtney, on a small holeshot in the finals to get his first win in over 13 months Sunday at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver.

John clocked a 3.965-second time at 319.45 mph to defeat Courtney’s 3.963-second time at 314.75 mph.

The difference was at the starting line as the 67-year-old John had an .038 reaction time compared to Courtney’s .056 light.

“This feels real good,” said the 16-time world champion John, who was driving the Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. “I was runner-up here the last two years to (Jack) Beckman and Robert (Hight) and at my age, I’m young and I will fight this thing until I drop, but I have new sponsors with Peak and Realtree and Chevrolet. Chevrolet was asking if something was wrong with their car and I told them ‘No guys, it’s not your car, it’s me. I screwed up. We went and tested and I had to figure out why. Courtney was there helping and Robert was there helping me and we got through it and we came on this hill and found a little bit of magic.”

This was John’s NHRA all-time record 144th career win and first since he defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. at the New England Nationals June 14, 2015.

Additionally, this is the 29th season in which John Force has won a tour event, which is a record for all motor racing disciplines and his 22nd win during the Western Swing which concludes this year at Sonoma, Calif. (July 29-31) and Seattle (Aug. 5-7). This also is John’s 13th win in a Chevrolet. That ties him with Ron Capps and Don Prudhomme for second place in all-time Chevy Funny Car wins behind Tony Pedregon (16).

On Sunday, John’s victory parade consisted of wins over Jeff Diehl, Matt Hagan, and reigning world champion Del Worsham before he edged Courtney in the finals.

“You have to look at the whippins we’ve been getting from Schumacher and Kalitta,” John said. “Everybody on our team has won but me, and I needed this real bad. I told Courtney you’re my baby and I love you and I know you want to do good for Traxxas, but I’m giving this everything I’ve got. This was a great day to come here on God’s mountain and look like we know what we are doing. I give credit to Mike Neff who heads my program in Funny Car and young John Schaffer who runs my Funny Car with a bunch of kids and John Force Racing is back in business. They had to put a sight on the front of my car, not because it was camouflage, just because for some reason this visual in this Chevrolet is screwing me up and it aint hurting Courtney or Robert a bit.”

John acknowledged he almost didn’t make it to the final round because he got too amped up.

“I had a little anxiety attack and Brittany had to pick me up off the trailer floor,” he said. “I just got too wound up and too much heat and not enough water.”

John extended his Mile-High Nationals record to seven wins. He has now captured Mile-High Nationals titles in 1994-96, 2001, 2003, 2011 and 2016, and his latest one was historic because it was live on FOX.

“That’s pretty cool,” John said. “(Tony) Schumacher hadn’t won (in a while before Sunday), but God he’s 30 years younger than me, he’s still climbing that deal with all of his championships. You look at me, I’ve already climbed that hill I’m at the peak like this (firesuit) says and I’m hanging on. It was good for me to get a win. I made a statement about how FOX was going to fix our sport, going to fix racing and it will when it is live. I’m already getting calls from people saying that this is awesome what you’re doing. All we have to do is protect these cars. I hurt a motor, but we contained the oil and didn’t slow the show down and I think Peter Clifford and his staff, everybody worked this thing hard and it seemed like it went OK. Even God moved the clouds past us. Right Shoe? (while addressing Tony Schumacher who was in the media room). H*** even your dad (Don) was hugging me today, life’s good.”

This was the 19th time John and Courtney have met in eliminations and John has won 12 times. In the finals, John and Courtney are even at 2-2, and before Sunday the last time the two met in a final round was Sonoma in 2014, which Courtney won.

“I completely forgot I was racing her,” John said. “I needed to get rid of that because that will slow me down. Yeah, I’ve won a lot of championships and I’m going to win some more races and I’m going to win some more championships, what I’m saying I know Father Time is going to get me, but the point is this I love doing this and I work out hard and I can do this game. I don’t have nowhere to go. I’m going to keep doing this, I’m going to build this sport. We will make drag racing and NHRA great again.” Tracy Renck

SCHUMACHER ENDS TOP FUEL WINLESS STREAK - It was a Top Fuel final round of fire and ice: red-hot Antron Brown, the three-time and most recent winner, and frosty-and-frustrated Tony Schumacher, who hadn't won in more than a calendar year.   

Schumacher's stone-cold stint in the U.S. Army Dragster melted Sunday at Bandimere Speedway as he won the Mopar Mile-High Nationals with a 3.802-second, 324.28-mph 1,000-foot pass.

Brown lost traction early in the Matco Tools/Toyota Dragster, as Schumacher sped away. Brown clocked a 5.199-second elapsed time at 144.75 mph uncharacteristic of the reigning champion who just two weeks ago regained the points lead with his victory at Chicago.

The $50,000 victory, the first for Schumacher since the 2015 Chicago race, was his third at the Morrison, Colo., venue he said he loves.

Even before his hauler parked on the grounds this past week, Schumacher said he was thrilled to be at Denver, despite the one-off set-ups every team has to perfect then ignore until next July. For Schumacher, the facility has been paradise.

"Denver is a place I can just be thankful for the absolute lack of bad memories I have there. It's zero," he said. "Even though we lost in the first round there two years ago, we were No. 1 qualifier for the first time that year and that sort of kicked off the momentum that carried us through the championship. Last year, we came back and qualified second and lost a close race to Steve Torrence in the final.

"There are no bad memories about Denver, from the Harley rides, to the fly fishing to the beautiful golf courses. And John Bandimere has built us a beautiful racetrack, tucked into a mountain. You just can't get enough of it, and I really enjoy it," Schumacher said. "It's a difficult race, because you have to make horsepower in a set of circumstances that doesn't really apply well to a Top Fuel dragster. But, at the end of the day on Sunday, there's a winner and you just have to be the guy who not necessarily sets a world record, but goes faster than everybody else. We've been fortunate enough to do that. We love going to Bandimere, we love going to Denver, and I just can't wait to get there."

Right now, after ending a 23-race drought, he might not want to leave.

Earning a spot in the Traxxas Shootout, the $100,000-to-win bonus race that will take place at Indianapolis in September, was a huge deal for Schumacher. And the emphasis was on the word "earning."

Schumacher makes several hundred speeches a year to youth groups, and his core message to them is that nobody gets rewards for trying hard or being nice or showing up – people have to earn achievements. He said had he not earned a berth in the bonus race by virtue of a victory he would have asked fans not to vote for him to fill the fan-favorite slot. He said he would have been hypocritical, said he couldn't with a clear conscience tell these youngsters what he does, then say to drag-racing fans, "I didn’t earn it, but I want a shot. Vote for me."

Now he doesn’t have to worry about that. His earnest Mike Green- and Neal Strausbaugh-led team solved some of their year-long problems Sunday.

"Thank God we figured it out," Schumacher said.

He admitted to a sagging sense of progress by this point in the season: "You start to lose a little faith when you make big changes to a car and you don’t see those win lights. It's a very difficult thing. But to win a championship, you don’t try to bring out an equal car with everyone else. You try to have smart people design smart cars that do things that other cars can't do. It's what we are great at, the adaptability we talk about so much with the Army car."

Schumacher advanced to his third final round of the season by eliminating Doug Kalitta, Steve Torrence, and Clay Millican.

"To win one of these trophies, you have to beat some bad dudes," he said. "I had to beat the baddest of all [in the final]: my teammate, who probably will go down as one of the greatest drivers to walk the face of the Earth. Antron is as good as it comes. He is a naturally talented driver."

Schumacher, who also won here in 2005 and 2008, shared the winners circle with John Force (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Brown said, "We got to the finals and we thought we could run a 3.80 or a 3.79, but the track just got a little hot and a little greasy for us and it couldn't handle what we tried to lay down. Our teammate Tony and the Army car just put down a great lap, and they deserve it."

For Brown, the competition seemed to be Man Versus Mountain.

"Coming to the mountain is always very hard and very challenging," Brown said after the final. "The mountain tried to kick our butt a little bit in qualifying but this whole Matco crew did what they always do and that's figure it out. And we always put our best foot forward to race competitively on race day. I couldn't be more proud to be on this team and doing what we are doing.

"We started off with the track giving us fits and we had a lot of confusion. We started off in one direction, then we went off in another direction and then we ended up coming back and going past the original direction. We ended up nailing that run on Saturday night to make us No. 2 and that really set our tone for today," Brown said. "The big thing is we made a great weekend out of a weekend that didn't start off very good."

And Schumacher made a great weekend out of a season that didn’t start off so hot. Susan Wade

AJ REGAINS PRO STOCK KING OF MOUNTAIN STATUS - Veteran Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson returned to his throne – at the Mile-High Nationals.

Johnson won the Mile-High Nationals for the seventh time in his career – all since 2007 – defeating Vincent Nobile in the finals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver.

Johnson clocked a 6.982-second elapsed time at 197.89 mph to defeat Vincent Nobile’s 7.037-second lap at 196.82 mph.

“We stunk the place up all weekend, we really did in qualifying, we had a lot of bad luck,” said Johnson, who is campaigning the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart this season. “I wouldn’t have given ourselves one percent chance to win this thing (Sunday). This team dug down deep and we got a little better every run and just hung right in there. Maybe we had a break or two, I don’t know, but the magic up here is just on our side for some reason. We’ve done that for Mopar all those years and now we get to do it for Marathon and Mopar is still with us also, so it feels twice as good.”

This was Johnson’s 27th career national event win and his first this season. Johnson, who has been in 10 consecutive final rounds at the Mile-High Nationals, has now won titles at Thunder Mountain in (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012-2014, 2016). Those titles at Bandimere tie him with the legendary Bob Glidden for all-time Pro Stock Mile-High Nationals victories. Glidden’s wins came in 1980, 1983, 1985-87, 1989 and 1993 at Bandimere.

Another significant note to Johnson’s win is that he is the first driver in 2016 other than Ken Black Racing teammates Jason Line (seven wins) and Greg Anderson (six wins) to reach the winner’s circle.

“It feels damn good,” said Johnson when asked about how he felt to snap the KB winning streak. “I can just put that very simple, and I’m sure I’m speaking for everybody else in the pits and a lot of fans. To break that juggernaut is big. Jason (Line) shot himself in the foot there in the semis or he may have been something to deal with there in the finals.”

Johnson, the 2012 Pro Stock world champ, also becomes the first Pro Stock driver to win at Bandimere Speedway since NHRA made wholesale changes in the Pro Stock class in the offseason, which the sanctioning body announced at the 2015 Mile-High Nationals.

On Sunday, Johnson’s victory march consisted of wins over Drew Skillman, Erica Enders-Stevens, Greg Anderson – on a holeshot - and Nobile.

With his victory Sunday, Johnson also became the first Pro Stock driver to win from the No. 10 qualifying spot since V. Gaines accomplished the feat in 2008 at Phoenix.

“We might of got a break or two along the way, and that’s mountain magic,” Johnson said.

As of Jan. 1, 2016, NHRA required all Pro Stock teams to equip their cars with electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems, making engines more relevant from a technology standpoint. In order to reduce and control costs for the race teams, an NHRA-controlled 10,500 rev limiter was added to the fuel injection systems.

Johnson won the last race by a carbureted NHRA Pro Stock car at the NHRA Finals Nov. 15, 2015 in Pomona, Calif. Ironically, Johnson also edged Nobile in that final round.

A year ago, Johnson was upset in the Mile-High Nationals final round by Larry Morgan.

The two drivers had a 1 minute 45-second staging duel, and then on a holeshot Morgan captured the surprising win over Johnson. Morgan clocked a 6.944-second time at 199.02 mph and edged Johnson’s 6.930-second effort at 199.23 mph.

The difference was at the starting line. Morgan had a .014 reaction time compared to Johnson’s .035 reaction time.

“That final last year with Larry was really fun and it brought a lot of Pro Stock fans to the table and they like to see stuff like that,” Johnson said. “Just like our streak (at the Mile-High Nationals) and breaking the KB streak, it’s good for the class and good for the fans and good for TV and good for NHRA.” Tracy Renck

HINES GRABS PIECE OF PRO STOCK BIKE HISTORY IN VICTORY OVER TEAMMATE - Six feet, six thousand dollars.

That's how much Eddie Krawiec came up short in Sunday's Pro Stock Motorcycle final round of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals near Denver in yet another showdown between the two Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidsons.

And it meant a share of NHRA history for winner Andrew Hines, who joined Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) in the winners circle.

Hines claimed his second straight victory and gave his Vance & Hines team its sixth triumph in the bike class' seven appearances so far this year on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.

Moreover, Hines earned his 45th overall victory, pulling him into a tie with the late Dave Schultz for the most victories overall in the class.

"Forty-five was the benchmark that Dave set, but we all know if he hadn't left us early, he would have kept on winning," Hines said, adding that "the next one [victory] will be the one I look to."

He has a chance to become the class' undisputed leader this coming weekend when the Western Swing continues at Sonoma, Calif.

After qualifying No. 1, Hines had declared Saturday that he has a "good motorcycle," but he was incorrect. He has a great one. His winning elapsed time of 7.134 seconds and his 188.33 clocking rewrote both the E.T. and speed records at the Morrison, Colo., facility.

Krawiec earned just $4,000 for his No. 2 qualifying effort that was only .016 of a second off Hines' pace. He came within six feet, within .0227 of a second, of denying Hines his historic victory. He ran 7.148, 187.21 against Hines, who tied his older brother Matt Hines' record of four victories at Bandimere Speedway.

Hines defeated Scotty Pollacheck, Cory Reed, and LE Tonglet on his way to his third 2016 victory.

"The engine stated in there all eight runs all weekend – never touched 'em, never worked on 'em. It was just a matter of making cleans runs. I don't think I've ever put eight straight runs together like that, ever in my career," the No. 1 qualifier said of his weekend domination. "My team has had my motorcycle really dialed in. This weekend it was such a joy to ride.

"It's a heck of a ride we're on right now. I'm taking it as it comes. This class is so brutal it can turn the opposite direction the next day," Hines, whose first race here was in 2002, said.

Krawiec dismissed Karen Stoffer, Chip Ellis, and Jerry Savoie to set up the meeting with his teammate in the first live-broadcast NHRA final on the FOX national network. Susan Wade

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

MOTHER NATURE RULES AGAIN – Once again, Mother Nature was an unwanted guest the the 2016 Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., near Denver Saturday.

It began to rain at 6:22 p.m. Mountain time and racing didn’t resume until 8:44 p.m.

This delay came on the heels of 3½ hours of rain delays Friday.

TOP FUEL

CONNIE KALITTA SITS OUT DENVER – Legendary team owner Connie Kalitta is sitting out the Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., something he has done in recent years.

Kalitta serves as the crew chief the Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragster driven by J.R. Todd. Todd arrived at Bandimere Speedway seventh in points on the strength of three runner-up finishes at Atlanta, Norwalk and Chicago.

Veteran crew chief Rob Flynn is serving as Todd’s primary tuner at Thunder Mountain. Flynn joined Kalitta Motorsports in 2016.

“This race is kind of hard on him (Connie),” Todd said. “This weekend Rob and Jim O(Oberhofer, Doug Kalitta’s crew chief) will be working together because the two cars are pretty much set up the same this weekend. In my opinion, the car has been trying to run good all season long, we’ve just been setting ourselves up bad in qualifying and getting bad draws early on race day. The last few races we have been qualifying better in the top half and have been setting ourselves up better on Sunday and that’s the name of the game. Hopefully we can keep that going and start finishing off those final rounds and not give them away. What I’ve been saying the last couple of weeks, we have been making deposits in the luck bank for when we need to win races in the Countdown. I take all these runner-up finishes for wins in the Countdown any day.”

Todd qualified the Kalitta Motorsports SealMaster dragster in the No. 6 position at 3.816 seconds at 316.38 mph.

DEBUT JITTERS – This wasn’t Bill Litton had in mind for his first career Top Fuel lap.

Litton, who joined forces with Chuck and Del Worsham to make his Top Fuel debut in the Worsham Racing family dragster at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals, had a tough first run.

Litton was to make a qualifying pass Saturday against Rob Passey. As the drivers were staging Litton left the starting line way, way early and his run was disqualified.

Litton overcame his jitters in the final qualifying session as he clocked a 4.606-second elapsed time at 196.36 mph to qualify No. 14.

Litton has one career Top Alcohol Dragster NHRA national event title at Dallas in 2015 in Dallas and he still drives Randy Meyer’s second TAD dragster. This is Litton’s first time competing at Bandimere Speedway.

Litton Financial, Litton’s financial planning company based in La Jolla, Calif., will be sponsoring the dragster for the Western Swing with appearances at  Denver, Sonoma, Calif. (July 29-31) and Seattle (Aug. 5-7).

HADDOCK SHOWS SOME GRIT – Terry Haddock has been racing nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters in the NHRA since 1998.

The part-time racer has had his struggles over the years, but despite dealing with a limited budget he’s never lost his determination to succeed.

This weekend at the Mile-High Nationals, despite having a depleted crew, Haddock made a solid qualifying run Saturday in Q3, clocking a 4.278 elasped time at 288.33 mph. Haddock, who was the 2008 IHRA Funny Car champion, didn’t make any qualifying runs Friday, and ended up No. 12 on the qualifying ladder.

“We’re short-handed and we just trying to make sure things are right before we drag it (the dragster) up there, and I do not want to tear up my sh**,” Haddock said. “We’re going to make the Western Swing and Denver is a cool place to race.”

MCMILLEN HAS EVENTFUL QUALIFYING – During Terry McMillen’s first qualifying session Friday night, his Amalie Motor Oil Xtermigator Top Fuel dragster didn’t cooperate after his burnout.

“I lifted after the burnout and when I lifted the throttle was stuck,” McMillen said. “Unfortunately the only way you can shut this thing off is take the fuel away from it, so when I did that it leaned it out and knocked the burst panels out of thing, but it didn’t hurt anything. It just wasn’t happy when the throttle stuck. It was just one of those fluke things that I’ve never had happen like that, at the end of the day our feelings were the only things that got hurt.”

McMillen, who opted not to make a second qualifying run Friday, rebounded on Saturday. He had a 4.284-second run in Q4 to qualify No. 13.

FUNNY CAR

WILK WRECKS AGAIN – Veteran Funny Car Tim Wilkerson began the 2016 on a roll. He won at Phoenix and Charlotte, and was tied for first in the point standings after his runner-up finish at Houston.

Then things went awry.

Wilkerson lost in the first round at Atlanta to Del Worsham and then had a freak accident in a semifinal loss to Jack Beckman at Topeka, Kan., May 22.

Almost immediately when Wilkerson left the starting line, his Funny Car took a hard right and the nose of his car hit the retaining wall in his lane. The car then spun around and coasted into the wall on the opposite side.

Fortunately, Wilkerson was unhurt and he explained what happened.

“Obviously, it had an oil line fall off of it on the starting line,” Wilkerson said immediately after the wreck. “It got into its own oil and started spinning like a cop car. I’m fine; I’ve been hit harder than that back when I was playing with my kids. I’m just disgusted that we did that to the new car. It’s our only car. Maybe, Murf McKinney can get it back together for Epping, or we can talk Brian Stewart into letting us borrow our old car.”

Unfortunately history repeated itself for Wilkerson during the Q4 Saturday night at Bandimere.

Wilkerson was in the left lane and John Force was in the right lane. As soon as Wilkerson stepped on the gas his Funny Car took a hard right and went into the left lane and clipped the right guardwall. Force was past Wilkerson before he turned and was not impacted by Wilkerson’s Funny Car and more importantly Wilkerson was unhurt.

“That’s the only car we’ve got,” Wilkerson said. “We’ll get back and look at it and I have no clue why that thing does that. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m telling you that’s ridiculous. As quick as you can get off the gas, but it just keeps on sliding and it’s kind of the same thing it did at Topeka. I really thought it just had something on the track in front of me there, but this track was spectacular, nothing going on there.”

After a tough outing Friday in qualifying, Wilkerson made a solid 4.042-second run at 316.45 mph in Q3. That left him qualified No. 10. He is scheduled to race Matt Hagan in the first round if he can get his Funny Car fixed in time for eliminations at 11 a.m. Sunday.

UNPLANNED TRIP TO SAND – Alexia DeJoria made a career-best run at Bandimere Speedway in Q4. DeJoria stopped the clock at 3.975 seconds at 318.69 mph.

That was the good news. The bad news was DeJoria couldn’t get her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry stopped in the shutdown area. One parachute came out, but the other one didn’t and she kept going up the hill until her Funny Car came to a stop in the sand/gravel before it reached the safety nets.

“I just trying to keep it under control and keep it from going over the wall, over to the center line, and keep it out of Chad (Head’s) way. I run over to the chutes and maybe got them a little bit late or something,” DeJoria said. “They don’t blossom as well out here (this far above sea level). That’s pretty much it. Too bad we ran a really good number, our best one of the weekend and now look at her. I’ve been in the sand before and it doesn’t scare me, but it pisses me off.”

Tommy DeLago, DeJoria’s crew chief, was trying to keep things in perspective.

“It’s really unfortunate and it will be a lot of work for the guys (Saturday night), but we’re up to the challenge,” DeLago said.

VENABLES WEIGHS IN ON RULE CHANGE – NHRA announced the angle of the headers on Funny Cars would become standardized starting with the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

In a memo issued to teams on July 12, NHRA's tech department said, "Effective immediately the minimum header angle will be 32 degrees. Additionally, there will be a maximum header pipe O.D. of 2.75 inches as well as the I.D. must remain constant beginning 8 inches below the header flange to the exit of the header (i.e. stepdown headers not permitted).”

Prior to qualifying July 23 at the Mile-High Nationals world championship crew chief Dickie Venables weighed in on how the ruling impacted his team. Venables is the crew chief for the Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car driven by Matt Hagan.

“The rule change did not affect our headers at all,” Venables said. “Basically it didn’t impact us at all because we were able to run the same thing we’ve been running. That’s kind of the max, we can’t go anymore. We just happen to be right there where they set the rule, so we were fortunate not to have to change anything and it shouldn’t affect us at all. We’ve been running this way for quite a while. There may have been some people who had to change, but I think they (NHRA) just kind of went and took a poll and said OK guys, we’re OK with it, but you can’t go anymore.”

Venables then took a moment to explain how the header process works.

“When you first put them on you have to makes adjustments,” Venables said. “Some of these guys put them on and say ‘oh wow we can’t drive it, the front end is in the air.’ Well, you have to make adjustments. We’ve had to change the balance of our car. I moved fire bottles from the rear to the front to change the balance of the car. The headers are not something you can just bolt on and go try and I think that is what some of these people are doing. The headers are kind of getting a bad rap because guys are saying you can’t drive, but just like anything else on the car you have to make adjustments to make it work.”

Venables acknowledged the header rule change is just one of many implemented by NHRA to the innovative abilities of crew chiefs.

“NHRA has it now where they don’t see anything as far as performance made better because they don’t want the cars to go faster,” Venables said. “But, being a crew chief, after 30 years of doing this, me personally I know that what drives us as a crew chief is to make something better and make it make more power. Make more downforce, less drag in it. You’re kind of reluctant to try anything now because they really don’t want you to do much.”

On May 20, 2016, Hagan had an historic run during qualifying at the Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park.

Hagan set both ends of the national record with a 3.862-second time at 335.57 mph.

That speed was the fastest of any Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster in NHRA history on the current 1,000-foot track, and the fastest a Funny Car has ever gone at the end of a quarter-mile.

NHRA has been competing at 1,000 feet for nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel since the 2008 Mile-High Nationals in Denver.

According to Venables, after Topeka NHRA changed the rev limiters on nitro Funny Cars. Up until Topeka, the rev limiter was 8250 RPM and after Topeka it was reduced to 8150 RPM.

“It’s more and more that way,” said Vebables when asked of his crew chief job is now like following a template. “Our hands are tied. They (NHRA) makes it real clear that if you want to change the design of anything you have to run it by them first. I understand. They need to keep the speeds down. But as crew chief you have to adapt because like I’ve said over the years it has always been about finding an edge and be able to go out and win three or four races in a row because you worked harder to come up with something better. Now, the headers are the biggest gain we’ve seen probably in 15 years. A lot of people think that the headers have been the same over the years, but we have been playing with that for years.”

Venables also believes NHRA likes the present state of the Funny Car class.

“I think they are not unhappy where the cars are at,” Venables said. “What they want to see right now, they don’t like to the Funny Cars run a faster speed than the dragsters so I think they are going to continue work with the Funny Cars and the dragsters, whether they slow us down some more or maybe give the dragsters a little more timing, rev limiter, which they are probably not going to do, they’ll probably just slow us down more. I think they are happy with where it is at, they (NHRA) just don’t want to see it escalate.”

POINTS LEADER CAPPS TALKS HEADERS – Since 1997, Ron Capps has been competing in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class. The veteran driver has yet to win a coveted world championship, finishing second four times (1998, 2000, 2005, 2012).

This season, Capps is having a career-year in his Don Schumacher Racing NAPA Dodge. He has four wins and two runner-up finishes and is leading the point standings by 126 points over second-place Jack Beckham.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve been running so good,” Capps said about the timing of NHRA’s header rule change starting at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals. “It would not be as frustrating normally to me, but we have been on such a good roll here, it’s a little more frustrating because I felt like it was aimed at some of us a little more than others.”

Capps also was upset that safety was used as a motive to help bring about the rule change.

“The part that disappointed me was hearing that some of the other teams complained that it was a safety issue, not even for their driver, but for other drivers,” Capps said. “I’m all for safety, but to use a safety card on other drivers, that if they can’t handle the car, then you don’t run the headers if you’re a low-buck team or do things to make the car more drivable. Us running good and winning all these races lately, the headers have helped believe me, but we haven’t changed anything else other than the headers and worked on our clutch package. (Rahn) Tobler (Capps’ crew chief) has worked real hard and I hated to see like it was like we bolted a set of headers on and that’s why we’ve been winning. You have to remember John Medlen is the one to be credited with him and (Jimmy) Prock. Medlen is ithe one who designed those headers last year that Jack (Beckman) ran. Then we got them in Indy and everybody else figured out what they were and they started making their own. Medlen made these (the headers on Capps’ car now). We didn’t get them until Epping (N.H., June 3-5) and our teammates had them before we did.”

Capps acknowledged he has problems controlling his Funny Car at times last season, but it’s something he and his team addressed in the offseason.

“The header thing is a little frustrating, but I’ve said it before last year in St. Louis I hit everything in that place. I hit pylons. We lost the semis I was ahead of (Matt) Hagan and I crossed the center line. I shot the gap instead of going through the sand and I got yelled at by Graham Light and I almost ran a guy over. It was one of the worst weekends I’ve ever had. I got together with Rahn Tobler, it was a great car, but I couldn’t control it. So he and I and our team made it so I could control the car instead of changing things. We haven’t changed. It’s the same car, but I’m just able to drive it because they work hard on making it drivable. They (NHRA) can make whatever rule they want and I have the utmost confidence in Tobler that he can adapt anything they change.”

Capps could get much going in any of the four qualifying sessions at Bandimere and qualified No. 11 at 4.062 seconds at 309.84 mph. Capps faces his DSR teammate Jack Beckman in round one.

PRO STOCK

LAUGHLIN SHOCKS WITH BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE - With every driver in the Pro Stock class taking aim at the dominating KB/Summit Racing trio of Jason Line, Greg Anderson, and Bo Butner, West Texan Chris McGaha said, "I want to be the guy who finally beats the KB Racing cars. I want to be the guy who kicks the leg out and watches the chair fall. I want to be that guy."

But another Texan, young Alex Laughlin, of Granbury, near Fort Worth, got to be that guy Saturday.

The Gas Monkey Energy Chevy Camaro driver, gathering force like a Panhandle twister in his first full season, made his move in the final session of qualifying for the NHRA's Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Running side by side with resurgent Erica Enders in the class' last pairing of the day, Laughlin knocked her off the top spot with a 6.926-second elapsed time at 199.02 mph on the suburban Denver quarter-mile course.

She countered with a 6.933, but it wasn't enough for her 19th career No. 1 start. Laughlin earned his first, also holding off No. 3 Shane Gray, his Pro Stock mentor, who was only four-thousandths of a second behind Enders.

Maybe it’s that Lone Star State swagger, but Laughlin was no meek newcomer Saturday. He said that "honestly, yes," he knew he would put up No. 1 numbers on that last qualifying run.

"I even contemplated after the burnout putting my hand out and putting the No. 1 sign up in the air," the normally polite, well-mannered young man said. "But I didn’t want to seem too proud or cocky. Man, we've just had the best car this weekend. We tested her last week, and that made all the difference in the world. Our guys have worked so hard for this. We'll see what happens from here."

One thing that will happen that he is certain about is that he'll reach at least the quarterfinals Sunday. He has a bye in the field that's short a car.

He said late Saturday, "I'm not even worried about tomorrow right now."

Back in April, as Laughlin prepared to race in his home state, at Houston, he said, "It seems like our goals keep changing. First it was to win a round, but now that we’ve done that, ultimately I would love to end up getting a No. 1 qualifier and winning a race. That would be incredible."

It would be quite a story if he could parlay this triumph over the class' toughest competitors, including Anderson, Line, and Butner, who are 4-5-6 in the order. Those three have hogged not only every victory but every runner-up finish, except for McGaha's at Phoenix and Allen Johnson's at Epping, N.H.

Can he deny the KB/Summit team a 14th consecutive runaway victory?

Laughlin wasn't making any predictions Saturday, although he was brimming with confidence, now that his car has stopped behaving what he called "super-consistently inconsistent."

He said, "There's just something about our car – knock wood. It's been flawless lately."

Laughlin said he's looking beyond even a victory. Early on in the season, he said, "One of our primary goals is to make it to the Countdown. Being in the Countdown is definitely our No. 1 goal."

He and Enders are fighting for the 10th and final berth for the six-race playoff that starts in September in the NHRA's return to Charlotte. Right now he has it and she wants it. Enders, the two-time and current champion, entered this race just eight points behind Laughlin.

Laughlin said, "We're just plugging away. We have some more stuff in the shop we can still bring out to the track."

The Gray Motorsports team and currently sidelined Pro Stock veteran Larry Morgan have supplied advice this season for Laughlin, who competed at seven races in 2015.

"I think I would have just been completely lost if I would have just jumped right into these EFI engines," Laughlin said. "Getting in the car last year definitely helped me. Gray Motorsports has been a huge help. Those guys definitely know what they’re doing. Even in January, we didn’t really know where we were going to be. To be where we are now, we definitely can't complain."

He certainly wasn't complaining Saturday evening, not even after waiting out yet another rain delay.

Moreover, he led Friday's first session with a 6.990, then lurked in third place provisionally by the end of the opening day and again after Q3 Saturday.

Erica Enders, meanwhile, in the Elite Motorsports/Mopar Dodge Dart, is hoping to capitalize, too, on a milestone.

"This race marks the 10-year anniversary of my first race with Mopar, back in 2006," Enders said. "Pretty cool deal." At that time she was a teammate to her now-husband Richie Stevens, as well as to Shaun Carlson and Gene Wilson.

The group of No. 1 qualifiers included Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Courtney Force (Funny Car), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

"The Hemis have run well on the mountain for years and years and years. I've raced up on the mountain for the last 12, 13 years, so hopefully my experience comes into play. Hopefully, this can be a turnaround weekend for us."

Enders described what it is like for a Pro Stock driver in Denver's thin air.

"It's very different as a driver," she  said. "Pro Stock being a naturally aspirated class, we're the ones who are most affected by the thin air. We're the ones who probably run the slowest, according to class. From a driver's standpoint, the clutch feels completely different, your shift points come at a completely different time, and the way the motor accelerates is very different. Driving with your ear is completely out of the question."

 What's not out of the question is some gritty performances Sunday as she and Laughlin continue to duke it out for points and a precious spot in the playoffs. - Susan Wade

NEWFOUND FAME – On Friday night Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin made history.

The Granbury, Texas driver became the first Pro Stock driver at Bandimere Speedway to clock a 6-second lap in an EFI Pro Stock car as he recorded a 6.990-second time at 197.59 mph. Laughlin improved on that time in Q3 with a 6.976-second run.

“We ran in testing up here (at Bandimere) and our fastest lap was a 6.98 so we knew it was possible for sure,” said Laughlin, who drives the Gas Monkey Garage-sponsored Camaro. “The conditions weren’t quite as good in qualifying (July 22), but to put the 99 up, we’re definitely happy about that. I didn’t think it was going to stick for all of Q1. All in all, I can’t complain it’s still the best we’ve ever qualified.”

On Saturday, Laughlin’s best lap ended up being 6.926-second at XXX mph, to take his first career No. 1 qualifying spot.

“Words don’t describe how I feel right now,” said Laughlin, whose engines are provided by Gray Motorsports.

Saturday morning, there was a line of fans waiting to get Laughlin’s autograph, but he wasn’t letting it go to his head.

“No way,” Laughlin said when asked if he felt like a celebrity.

Laughlin, made his NHRA Pro Stock debut in 2015, competing in seven races. He’s competing in his first full season in 2016 and he arrived at Bandimere Speedway 10th in the points.

GRAY HAPPY TO HAVE CONNOLLY IN FOLD – Dave Connolly joined the Gray Motorsports Pro Stock team with driver Shane Gray at the Southern Nationals (May 13-15).

Connolly’s arrival fueled Gray to seventh in the point standings from 11th.

“It’s good,” Gray said about having Connolly in the fold. “We have fun over here now and win, lose or draw we’re going to have a good time. We’re just going to go out and race our race and the cars are running pretty good. I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We just need to go race and have fun.”

Gray qualified No. 3 at 6.937 seconds at 197.51 mph.

“My guys gave me a nice Hot Rod that time,” Gray said.

SUMMIT RACING TEAM WAKES UP – Prior to Q4, Bo Butner (No. 8), Greg Anderson (No. 9) and Jason Line (No. 10) were further down in the field than they have been all season.

Line and Anderson, who have combined to win all the 13 races this season, woke up in Q4.

Line clocked a 6.939-second time, Butner (6.940) and Anderson (6.951) to qualify No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

GOT HIS FIRST GREEN HAT OF 2016 – At the Masters Tournament, golfers play for the privilege of wearing the green jacket.

NHRA drag racers want to end qualifying with a green baseball-style cap.

Eddie Krawiec had gotten four of them in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class' previous six races. And Andrew Hines, his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate, hadn’t gotten any this year.

"Eddie has been stealing all the No. 1 qualifiers lately," Hines complained, only half-teasingly.

But Hines fixed that Saturday at Bandimere Speedway.

"It's nice to get one back for my side of the team," Hines said.

He relied on his Friday performance – a 7.161-second track-record run at 185.26 mph on the suburban Denver quarter-mile course – to set the standard for this 37th edition of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

This coincidentally was the career 37th top-qualifying position for Hines, who grew up a couple of hours away down Interstate 25 in Trinidad, Colo. He hopes to equal his older brother Matt's success at Denver with a fourth victory Sunday.

Andrew Hines is eyeing his second consecutive victory and third of the season, after winning in April at Charlotte and July 10 at Chicago. He'll start Sunday's eliminations against No. 16 Scotty Pollacheck.

Saturday's group of No. 1 qualifiers at the Western Swing kickoff included Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Courtney Force (Funny Car), and Erica Enders (Pro Stock).

"I have a good motorcycle. The key to that was the preparation coming into this event. It was started months ago, knowing that we wanted to come to Denver and regain our championship ways on the mountain. The preparation to come here is a long ordeal," Hines said. "We've had a lot of great success here, and my guys have given me such a flawless motorcycle that the least I can do is get to the startling line and try to put together an effort that's representative of how good our team is."

He said "a little bit of testing in the heat" Saturday assured him his bike has a strong tune-up, and he said he's ready to "reap the benefits." He said, "I thrive in the heat myself. So bring it on and we'll rumble up here on the mountain and see what happens."

Friday Hines said proudly that his No. 1 pass was "pretty good." He was right, as the closest anyone came to it was Krawiec, with his 7.177-second clocking that gave him a brief Q1 lead Friday. Star Racing's Angelle Sampey will start from the No. 3 gate. Her elapsed time was a mere one-thousandth slower than Krawiec's.

In his 15 years of racing at this venue, Hines is an accurate judge of what it’s like to race a Pro Stock Bike in these unique conditions.

"Everything takes place at different timing versus a sea-level track. We artificially rev the engines so much faster that things actually happen a little bit quicker and a little bit different. In high gear, it’s so much slower. You’re just waiting for the finish line to get there. It's kind of like you're along for the ride the last 7-800 feet of the track. Running up here is like nowhere else," he said.

Missing the field were Melissa Surber, Michael Phillips, Jim Underdahl, Steve Johnson, hometown hero Mike Berry, Lance Bonham, and newcomer Kristen Ashby. - Susan Wade

ARANA JR. LOOKS TO REVERSE FORTUNES – Since joining NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class in 2011, Hector Arana Jr., has been turning heads.

The Milltown, Ind., driver won the Auto Club Road to the Future Award and finished second in the point standings. Arana Jr. has 11 career national event wins and has finished no worse than fifth in the points in his five-year career.

This season things have not gone well for Arana Jr. He arrived at Bandimere 12th in the points with a 1-5 season round record and he had a DNQ at Charlotte, N.C., earlier in the season. Hector Arana Sr., Junior’s father, was fifth in the points before the Mile-High Nationals.

“We’re getting everything lined up and we’re doing our testing now and we’re working on some new combinations that hopefully starting this race we should be good to go, and more consistent,” Arana Jr. said. “Over the winter for us has been cranks, trying to get a good crank. You order 10 cranks and you might get one good crank out of the batch. It’s a problem everybody is having and it’s just one of those things you have to deal with and hopefully we’re slowly finding a few good ones and by the time we get to the Countdown we should have a good inventory.”

Arana Jr.’s best lap in qualifying was 7.237 seconds at 183.44 mph which qualified him No. 10. Hector Sr. qualified No. 14 at 7.285 seconds at 184.47 mph.

“This class is really fast right now, it’s really tough,” Arana Jr. said. “It’s really exciting, it’s good for the class and it’s good for the fans and you just have to be on your ‘A’ game.”

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE – Back in 1996, Angelle Sampey made her NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle debut.

Sampey advanced all the way to the semifinals in her first race and that set in motion her decorated career. She won three world championships (2000-2002).

“I’m trying to get everybody to believe I was 15 then,” Sampey said with a laugh. “It’s been a long time coming to be her again. When I retired in 2009, I genuinely was saying and I meant every word of it that I would never come back to racing again. I was enjoying being a mom and living in the slow lane at home so much that I just never thought I would come back here. I’m so that George and Jackie (Bryce) talked me into it because I had forgotten how much I love this. I’m having a blast and it’s so much better this time around because I’m much more relaxed and I’m having fun and I have my little girl (Ava Jane) watching.”

Sampey is back racing fulltime this season for Star Racing and she claimed her 42nd career victory when she won at Englishtown, N.J., June 12. She arrived at the Mile-High Nationals third in the season point standings.

“She (Ava Jane) makes it better than anything I could possibly imagined,” Sampey said. “Winning for her means more than every win I have ever gotten, so that win in Englishtown felt like the first one ever. Ava Jane is 5 years old now and she’s starting to show a big interest in drag racing. I don’t know if I want her to race, I just want to show her what she’s capable of doing with her life. I want to use my career to show her she can do anything she wants to do.”

Sampey qualified No. 3 at 7.178 seconds at 184.32 mph.

TONGLET REALISTIC ABOUT HIS APPROACH – LE Tonglet has been to the pinnacle of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class as he won the 2010 world championship.

Despite that success, Tonglet’s family has never had a fully-funded race team.

“This is just basically a hobby for us,” Tonglet said. “That’s all it is. We all work 40 to 50 hours a week and then we come here and do this for fun.”

A year ago, Gary Tonglet, LE’s father and crew chief, had a stroke on the way to the Mile-High Nationals.

“He had a stroke last year and that made us skip Sonoma and he has made a complete turnaround,” LE said. “He got lucky.”

LE said his team will race at Sonoma (July 29-31), but he is unsure whether his team will compete at the next stop on the PSM circuit (Aug. 18-21).

Tonglet qualified No. 4 at Bandimere at 7.204 seconds.

CHASING GEMLINS – After a two-year absence, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Karen Stoffer had a strong 2015 season.

Stoffer, of Minden, Nev., finished seventh in the point standings on the strength of two wins.

So far this season, Stoffer hasn’t been able to build on her 2015 momentum. Stoffer arrived at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals 11th in the point standings and has 3-4 elimination round record. She also has failed to qualify at two of the six events this season – Gainesville, Fla., and Norwalk, Ohio.

“If you look at our season so far, it’s riddled with trouble everywhere,” Stoffer said. “We’ve been issues trying to figure out and I keep telling the fans and the racers that last year we put a beautiful happy bike away for the season and we pulled her out this year and she was just not happy. She has been giving us fits. There have been issues with some of the chassis and some of the clutch, but it’s not engine related, it’s everything else.”

Stoffer, who made her NHRA PSM debut in 1996 at the Mile-High Nationals, is running a Suzuki once again this season.

“Vance & Hines is giving us great engines and we’ve just had a little bit of mechanical issues going on internal in the clutch and we think we may have figured it out,” Stoffer said. “We’re just beating our head against the wall, we’ve changed and fixed and moved around and looked at everything. It’s definitely not the bike we put away in the 2015 season.”

Although this season has been rough for Stoffer she remains upbeat.

“It has been a tough, different season, but ultimately I’m just glad to be out here.”

Stoffer did show improvement Saturday and qualified No. 15 with a 7.288-second elapsed time at 183.77 mph. Stoffer won the Mile-High Nationals in 2011 and was a runner-up in 2010.

SPORTSMAN

WARR SUFFERS WRECK – Moments after Top Sportsman driver Bryan Warr lost in the second round of eliminations Saturday at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals, he crashed his 2004 Corvette.

Warr, who was in the right lane, clocked a 7.852-second time at 175.75 mph and then approximately 200 feet after the quarter-mile finish line, Warr’s Corvette took a hard left and went rocketing across the other lane and hit the left lane guardwall at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

When NHRA service officials arrived, Warr of Riverton, Utah, was conscious and responding to commands, but was experiencing pain when he was removed from his Corvette and he was transported by ambulance to St. Anthony’s Hospital in nearby Lakewood as a precaution for evaluation.

Robert Cornine won the race against Warr with a 7.334-second time at 192.06 mph. Cornine was well past Warr in the shutdown area before Warr’s Corvette took a hard left.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

MOTHER NATURE RULES – According to the July 22 weather forecast it was only supposed to be a 20 percent chance of rain at the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., near Denver.

That didn’t come true.

It rained off and on Friday with lengthy delays. The first rain delay began at 1:53 p.m. Mountain Time and last 64 minutes.

Nitro Funny Car qualifying went live on Fox FS1 national channel at 6 p.m., only to have racing halted again by rain showers at 6:13 p.m. Nitro Funny Cars didn’t get to complete the first qualifying session as the rain delay lasted until 8:38 p.m. when Matt Hagan and Courtney Force made their first qualifying runs with a 72-degree track temperature.

This was the second year in a row rain hampered the first day of the Mile-High Nationals. In 2015, combined, there were 4 hours and 10 minutes of rain delays. Racing finally resumed at 6:50 p.m., and there were no more rain delays.
 

TOP FUEL

INTENSE TORRENCE CONTINUES BANDIMERE SUCCESS – Sitting out the recent race at Norwalk, Ohio, in the aftermath of a medical procedure wasn’t something Top Fuel owner-driver Steve Torrence took lightly. If his rivals thought he was scary-serious before, they ought to be really frightened now.

"We're a lot more focused and intense – I know I am – after missing Norwalk. It's kind of changed the dynamic of how I've approached this [championship chase]," Torrence said after powering to the top of the provisional lineup Friday at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver.

The Capco Contractors/Rio Ammunition Dragster driver set the track elapsed-time record at 3.776 seconds on the 1,000-foot Bandimere Speedway course. (His 325.14-mph best speed of the day left Brittany Force still clinging to her year-old track mark of 326.95.)

And Torrence, a scrappy privateer who has a loose alliance with John Force Racing through tuning consultant Alan Johnson, means business.

"We're going to do everything we can to continue to march forward and stand our ground," he said. "We're a solid contender for this Mello Yello championship, and we've got a point to prove."

Torrence took the day's maximum qualifying bonus points (six) by being quickest in both sessions. He started by topping the field with a 3.787-second E.T. (at 323.43 mph) that toppled Larry Dixon's 2015 time record by four-thousandths of a second.

Actually, Torrence – last year's winner here – said even before he made a run Friday that he had confidence in crew chief Richard Hogan, car chief Bobby Lagana, and his entire team.

He said Hogan "has developed a tune-up that has a great deal of power but doesn’t sacrifice the engine, which is one of the things a lot of teams have had to deal with.

“We’re not just running it hard – we’re running it hard and not tearing up the engine,” Torrence said. "There are a couple things we’ve found that have been an advantage, and I don’t think I’m bragging when I say that we’ve had one of the best cars [at Bandimere Speedway] the last few years.  We have a good baseline, and we’re not going to deviate from that.  We’re just going to try to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Torrence has been a top-four qualifier in his last three Mile-High Nationals appearances and led the field in 2013.

Friday night he repeated his praise for the crew: "It seems that Richard, Bobby, and my whole team has a really good handle on the mountain. They've adapted very well and been able to build on it for the last few years. We'll try to keep the momentum going. It's really cool to come here and have the confidence going into the weekend that you've been successful here the last few years. Confidence is at an all-time high.

"We’ve got a good group," Torrence said.  "All these guys have been here at least two years, so everybody is on the same page. That’s huge for me as a driver, because

I know every time I go up there that my guys have put a bad hot rod underneath my butt. I just try to go out there and not screw it up."

This first leg of the three-race Western Swing that will continue through Sonoma in Northern California and finish at Seattle is unique.  

"You change everything for this race," Torrence said. "Basically, what you do is run this tune-up, take it out, and don’t run it again until next year."

Said Torrence of the Western Swing, "It's tough on people, and it’s tough on parts. It’ll beat you up and you can lose focus but, for me, I think racing every week keeps me in my routine and helps me stay sharp. We know we have a car that can win every week. Unfortunately, that’s true for about a dozen other teams.  Coming out of

Seattle, you’ll kind of know who’s going to make a run in the Countdown.

"The challenge is why we do it, to prove ourselves against the best in the business," Torrence said.  "We’ve had more cars in Top Fuel [in the past], but I don't think we’ve had this many championship-caliber cars."

He said the team makes "a huge amount of changes. And these guys will have to revert everything to the way we normally run it when we leave here Monday."

But Monday is Monday, and Torrence, who’s third in the standings, just wants to get through Saturday atop the leaderboard as he seeks his third victory of the season. (He won at Pomona, Calif., and Englishtown, N.J)

"I don’t know what we're going to do tomorrow," he said. "The track is unbelievable. It always is here at Bandimere. It's fun to come here and race because it is a crapshoot. It's a wonderful facility, a great family that runs this racetrack and takes care of us. They always have the best racetrack. But I hope it’s not good enough to go faster than that tomorrow." – Susan Wade

GREEK COMES TO BANDIMERE - Chris Karamesines racing career began in 1950. The world has changed dramatically since then, but one thing has remained – “The Greek” as Karamesines is known, is still racing a Top Fuel dragster at the age of 84.

Karamesines usually runs a limited schedule on the East Coast, but he decided to make a rare appearance at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver.

“The last time I raced here was 1990,” Karamesines said. “I just wanted to see some of my friends who are up here. We thought we would come one more time to see everything again. I love it here. It’s a long ways to come, but it should be fun.”

Karamesines has competed in six of the 13 events this season and he said his next event will be the Lucas Oil Nationals Aug. 18-21 at Brainerd, Minn.

“The fans, the people, I know a lot of people all over and I enjoy meeting them and talking to them and they have fun watching me race and I fun doing it.”

The Greek didn’t make any qualifying runs Friday.

TOUGH START TO WEEKEND – Terry McMillen is always smiling and ever optimistic, but his first qualifying run didn’t go as planned.

McMillen made his burnout and then his throttle stuck and banged the blower off the motor.

PALMER READY FOR SWING – Scott Palmer is the owner/driver of his Top Fuel dragster. He competes on a part-time basis on the NHRA circuit when he isn’t doing boat racing.

“I got involved with boat racing last year and boat racing has been good to us,” Palmer said. “It’s a great sport that most people don’t even go see. Most people out here in the car world don’t go to boat races. We’ve actually had a lot of NHRA fans come to boat races and we’ve had a lot of boat racers that have never been to NHRA races come to NHRA races.”

Palmer does have a TV screen is his pits showing boat races.

Palmer runs his boat team with driver Scott Compton and his Top Fuel Hydro boat is sponsored by Lucas Oil Racing TV.

This season in NHRA Palmer has competed in 8 of the 13 events so far. He has one round win at Houston and is 12th in the points.

“It’s pretty wild when we go home and watch it (the races) on TV and see you the Top 10 and they always show the 11th and 12th people in the points and we’re 12, which is kind of odd to see  that. The Capco guys, the Lagana brothers (Bobby Jr. and Dom) they helped us out. Over the winter, we stripped the car and started over. There’s not one thing on it that’s the same as it was for the last few years.”

Although Top Fuel qualifying fields have been down at NHRA national events this year, Palmer doesn’t see that as a plus for him.

“If you’re just going for qualifying money, I guess it helps, but the qualifying money out here doesn’t pay for you getting to this race track and home. If you’re just doing it for qualifying money, no, it doesn’t help. Our goal over the winter was to not have to count cars. A small team that doesn’t run a lot, you get the deal of people telling you there are only 15 cars going to this race, you ought to bring your car out. I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be one of the 15 and everybody can call someone else when there’s a short field. I want to be able to go to the U.S. Nationals and think I have a legitimate chance of getting in the show. There’s not one person out here that has one of these (a Top Fuel dragster) that doesn’t want to win, but you have to be careful or you will put yourself out of business.”

Palmer is optimistic about competing at Bandimere Speedway this weekend.

“To me the equalizer is we’re on the side of this mountain and the asphalt is so hot and you come off that cool pad and they (the bigger-funded teams) want lane choice so they’re going for low ET every run. They’re not going to back it down. Those guys will run low 80s here. They’ll haul a** here. We’re going to try and run 90s here. If we can run in the 90s this weekend and get qualified then we will go to the starting line Sunday knowing we will have a chance. If you’re trying to run an 82 or 84 something here, when you come off that cool path, there’s a 50 percent chance at least that you’re going to smoke the tires and our goal is to not smoke the tires. We want to go down the race track.”

Palmer had to shut off his dragster at the starting line just before he staged because Terry McMillen blew the blower on his motor on the burnout. Palmer didn’t make a first qualifying pass.

SOLID DSR SHOWING – After Friday’s qualify session finally ended at 11:02 Mountain Time, the Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel dragsters had a decent showing.

Shawn Langdon was third, Tony Schumacher was No. 5, Leah Pritchett was No. 6 and Antron Brown was No. 9.

IN TOP HALF – The two Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragsters were in the top half of the field as Doug Kalitta was No. 7 and J.R. Todd was No. 8.

 
FUNNY CAR

JOHN FORCE MAKES HISTORY – John Force has had a legendary career as an NHRA nitro Funny Car driver.

Force added another line to his ultra-impressive resume.

Friday before the rain came, Force clocked the first 3-second nitro Funny Car pass at Bandimere Speedway.

Force made a 3.959-second run at 317.79 mph. He held the previous record at Bandimere at 4.015 seconds, which he clocked in 2015.

“The rest of them are coming,” Force said following his record lap. “Courtney (Force), Robert (Hight) and all these great racers we race, but it feels great. Did the fans even see the car? Not because it’s so fast, just because it’s camouflage. That’s a Realtree program with Peak and I finally read the manual and I know how to drive it if I quit crashing this thing. We’re going to be OK. We tested at Indy, thank you NHRA and the track for allowing that, and we’re doing good.”

The Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car is what Force is driving this weekend.

NHRA made the move to 1,000-foot racing at the 2008 Mile-High Nationals for Funny Car and Top Fuel dragsters following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta June 21 during qualifying at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

“I was the first to run 300 mph even before the Top Fuel dragsters,” Force said, “We built a real good supercharger and we have a really good car. The new Chevrolet Camaro has good aero. We are trying a few things like the new headers and we are carrying weight out front to try and make it steer. I am excited about this run. These great numbers started here last year. We crashed the new Chevy company car in Topeka on the second run. We went back and fixed it then we went testing last week after Chicago. I think we are on the right track with this Camaro. I have a young team. We are having a lot of fun.”

The animated Force didn’t have much to talk about when it came to his historic 300 mph run at Bandimere.

“I could make up a big old story but we did it and when I got out of the car,” Force said. “The dragster had never run over 300 mph. we just hit it and got it. That was something and it was great for the media to out run our big brothers (Top Fuel).”

The testing at Chicago did help Force get on track – literally.

“We kind of out of the box hit the balance on the car.” Force said. “The balance is very critical. We never had the front end up. It made weight at the scales. It is safe. It makes us feel good. We have really struggled hard. I know how to motivate but it beats the morale up of these young kids. They all feel like they are letting me down. I tell them I am part of the problem. I got the new Camaro and it was an adjustment to see out of it. It is panoramic now.”

It’s no secret the Force isn’t getting younger, but the 67-year-old isn’t ready to quit driving.

“Time will tell,” he said. “When I can’t see I’ll stop but my vision is good. My reflexes are good. I train continually and I work out in the gym. I really still love it. I love to drive these cars. Of all the work that I do that might be painful I still love racing. The crowds are still out there and they love the look of this Realtree Funny Car.”

Force ended No. 2 in the qualifying ladder as he followed up with a 3.935-second run at 320.43 mph.

NEW RECORDS PART 2 – John Force’s record run at Bandimere didn’t last long. Courtney Force. John’s daughter, established a new record with a 3.917-second run during the second qualifying session, which qualified her No. 1. Robert Hight, the third JFR Funny Car, qualified No. 4.022 seconds at 306.53 mph.

DAUGHTER WINS TUG-O-WAR WITH DAD – Alexis DeJoria had the best seat Friday at Bandimere Speedway for watching the NHRA's quickest Funny Cars at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. She ran first in the left lane and later in the right lane in the day's two rain-plagued sessions. But from both perspectives, she saw the father-daughter Force team steal the headlines.

Courtney Force opened the Western Swing by upstaging her 16-time champion dad John Force in the night session. She blasted her Traxxas Chevy Camaro to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position, covering the 1,000-foot suburban Denver course in a record 3.917 seconds at 318.39 mph.

That eclipsed John Force's 3.959-second E.T. – the first ever at Morrison, Colo. – which led the opening session. He improved his performance in his second chance Friday, driving his Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant camouflage Camaro to a 3.935, 320.43.

He's aiming for his seventh victory at this facility; she's looking for her first.

"We were definitely hoping to run in the threes. It was definitely worth the wait, I'll say that," Courtney Force said after proving to be one of just three drivers to dip below a four-second E.T.

Del Worsham, in the DHL Toyota Camry, followed the Forces in the tentative third slot in the order with a 3.963-second pass at a track-speed-record 322.34 mph.

Courtney Force, who as a rookie in 2012 advanced to her second-ever final round and was runner-up here, said she wasn't entirely sure what the day or this weekend might bring.

"It's totally different set-ups this weekend, so I wasn't sure what to expect, being at high altitude [and] thin air," she said. "Everything changes with the crew chiefs, the car, the motor, everything."

Neither can she predict whether she'll hang onto the top spot after two more qualifying sessions Saturday.

"I hope we can hold onto it, but I'm sure there are going to be a lot of guys gunning for it," Force said. "You never know. I know a lot of these guys can run the threes even in the heat. But it's different at this track, so you never know what they're going to bring to the table. My dad was able to run a three on both runs. I'm sure they'll improve, and I'm sure plenty of other guys will, as well."

Force – both of Forces, but Courtney especially – was flirting with the 3.8-second range, and she said becoming the first to hit that milestone "would be awesome."

She said, "We'll certainly try. We've got nothing to lose at this point."

She said she's equally excited to be showing off on the weekend's live FOX-TV broadcast her unique paint scheme for the Traxxas Camaro.

“We've had probably the most consistent race car to date, and that excites me as a driver. We've already picked up a win [at Houston] and looking for at least one more along the Western Swing. After the excitement we had over the new body and color scheme we ran in Chicago only, I am so thrilled to unveil yet another new paint scheme for the Western Swing! I love being able to have something different and unique on the track that really represents the Traxxas brand. I hope the fans love this one as much as I do."

Courtney Force is third in the standings. She shared Friday top-qualifying honors with Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

John Force was the one to erase his own 4.015-second track-record time from last July, but he also saw his two-year-old 318.39-mph speed record fall. It'll serve as incentive Saturday to shoot for his third straight top-qualifying position. His most recent Denver victory came in 2011 against fellow finalist Matt Hagan. Since 2010,

John Force has been in four final rounds here.

He's the only Funny Car driver to sweep the Western Swing. He has 21 overall event victories in Western Swing competition. (The next closest active Funny Car competitor with multiple wins is Ron Capps with seven. Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta also have seven Western Swing wins in Top Fuel. Greg Anderson is the active leader in Pro stock with nine victories.)

Only 12 Funny Cars made passes in the opening session. Todd Simpson made it 13 in the night round. John Hale, James Campbell, and Jeff Diehl have not made attempts. - Susan Wade

WORSHAM ENTERS RECORD BOOKS – Reigning nito Funny Car world champion Del Worsham did finish third on the qualifying ladder with his 3.963-second run. The key in that run was he clocked a 322.34 mph, which was a new 1000-foot mph record Bandimere in the nitro Funny Car class.

Worsham is No. 3 on the qualifying ladder.

SILVER LINING – At 6 p.m. Mountain Time Friday, the Mile-High Nationals went live on FOX’s FS1 national channel.

Just 13 minutes later into nitro Funny Car’s first qualifying session, the racing was halted by Mother Nature.

A handful of Funny Cars made qualifying laps before the rain delay, but points leader Ron Capps didn’t get to make a lap in his Don Schumacher Racing NAPA Dodge.

The veteran driver, however, did see the rain delay as a positive.

“There’s a good and a bad side,” Capps said. “The good side is they came and interviewed me sitting in the car on live TV and how many bars and restaurants had their TVs on and people were having dinner and people all over the country and all over the world were watching drag racing and that’s maybe coverage we wouldn’t have gotten. It’s like watching a football game and getting to know a player better by them being interviewed while they’re waiting. Sometimes you get to know the sport better by sitting around and waiting and doing interviews of personalities.”

The live coverage also helps Capps with social media.

“I don’t have to worry about tweeting something in between runs and having people mad that I gave something they’re going to watch three hours later. I understand because I’m a big UFC fan and when I’m at a race or somewhere I can’t watch it live I’m following it on Twitter, but I don’t go to the internet if I know I don’t want to watch it until I get home. If one of my friends text me something I get so mad at them for ruining it for me. I want to get home and watch it, so I know how fans feel.”

Capps had a rough first day at the Mile-High Nationals, only managing a best run of 6.514 seconds, which left him No. 12 on the ladder.

WHEELS UP TWICE – Following the lengthy rain delay, Jack Beckman made his first qualifying run Friday. Beckman appeared to be on a good lap, but had to shut off his Don Schumacher Racing Infinite Hero Dodge when his car began to lift the front wheels.

“I had about 1,500 runs in a Funny Car and I never had that happen until we were at preseason testing at Phoenix,” Beckman said. “We were on one of those monster runs and it hiked the thing up and that’s what bent our good chassis and I don’t want to do that anymore. Denver everything is different anyway. You have to change so much stuff with these cars with these tune-ups just to get them to run. Our idle is much higher up there on the starting line, the car sounds different and it feels different. I felt like we were on a pretty good lap, but it was not going to go very far with the front end in the air.”

Beckman clocked a 4.175-second run on the eventful lap. Things didn’t get any better for Beckman in Q2 as he lifted the front wheels again and had to shut his Dodge off.

FOND MEMORIES – Some NHRA drivers are competing at the Mile-High Nationals for the first time in their careers.

Tommy Johnson Jr. is not one of those drivers.

Johnson Jr. has been competing at Bandimere Speedway since 1982.

“I raced a motorcycle in the bracket finals at Bandimere in ’82,” Johnson Jr. said. “Then I was running Pro ET in bracket finals in a car and then I started competing in Division 5 races in Super Gas and then moved to an alcohol Funny Car. I’ve been coming to Bandimere forever.”

Johnson Jr. is a native of Ottumwa, Iowa, and he’s in his third season driving the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger for Don Schumacher Racing. He has competed at countless races at Bandimere Speedway, but he was able to narrow down his most memorable moment.

“In 1991 I got to my first Top Fuel final in our family car and it was against Joe Amato,” Johnson Jr. said. “I was able to beat Don Prudhomme in the semis and I actually think that was the race that put me on the map as far as who is this guy racing Top Fuel? How did he get to the final? It’s one of those events that kind of equalizes everybody and gives an opportunity to somebody who maybe isn’t part of a big-funded team. Back in 1991, that was a memorable weekend for me to make it to the final round and that was back when Amato ruled the mountain. You’re never happy, you always want to win, but at that time that runner-up wasn’t too bad.”

Amato is still the king of Bandimere Speedway in Top Fuel with six career wins.

Although Johnson Jr. has yet to win a Pro Class at Bandimere, he still loves the track, which is 5,860-feet above sea level.

“The first pass you make up here is always such a drastic difference,” Johnson Jr. said. “Even though in the past couple of years, these crew chiefs have really figured out how to make the cars run really well here, the first run of the weekend is always like ‘wow it’s really slow,’ it is a noticeable difference. I think it actually makes you better. Anytime you can go quicker and then slow down you’re a better driver. I like this race. Being that I’ve raced up here (Bandimere Speedway) forever, I’ve been accustom to it and I’ve always enjoyed it. I look forward to it. A lot of guys hate this race, and I think mental attitude has a lot to do with success. When you come in with a positive attitude and looking forward to something, I’m sure you’re going to do better.”

Johnson Jr. qualified No. 7 on Friday with a best time of 4.136 seconds at 291.63 mph.
 

PRO STOCK

RECORD RUN – Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin made a huge statement in his first qualifying run Friday in his Gas Monkey Garage-sponsored Camaro.

Laughlin became the first Pro Stock driver at Bandimere Speedway to clock a 6-second lap in an EFI Pro Stock car as he recorded a 6.990-second time at 197.59 mph.

That left him No. 1 after the first qualifying session. Laughlin had a faster 6.976-second run at 198.93 mphin Q2 and finished third on the qualifying ladder.

UNFAMILIAR TERRORITY – For the first time this season in the Q1 session at Bandimere Speedway, neither Greg Anderson or Jason Line picked up bonus points. The trend continued in Q2 as Anderson and Line weren’t in the top three.

Anderson ended up No. 9 in the field with a best run of 6.990 seconds at 196.90 mph and Line was No. 11 at 7.028 seconds at 196.82 mph.

Bo Butner, Anderson and Line’s KB Racing teammate is No. 8 in the ladder at 6.989 seconds at 197.62.

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN IN DOUBT – Allen Johnson has, without question, been the “King of the Mountain” at the Mile-High Nationals in Pro Stock the last 20 years.

Johnson has won six times (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012-2014) and he has been in the final round 10 times.

Only the legendary Bob Glidden has more Pro Stock wins at the Mile Nationals than Johnson. Glidden’s wins came in 1980, 1983, 1985-87, 1989 and 1993 at Bandimere.

Roy Johnson, Allen’s father, who builds the engines for his son, isn’t upbeat about his son getting victory No. 7 on the mountain this weekend.

The elder Johnson’s feelings are because of the wholesale changes NHRA made in the Pro Stock class, which the sanctioning body announced at the 2015 Mile-High Nationals.

As of Jan. 1, 2016, NHRA required all Pro Stock teams to equip their cars with electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems, making engines more relevant from a technology standpoint. In order to reduce and control costs for the race teams, an NHRA-controlled 10,500 rev limiter was added to the fuel injection systems.

This year Johnson is campaigning the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart.

“I don’t have much optimism at all,” said Roy about his son’s chances at Bandimere. “I just hope we qualify well enough so we can be a threat on Sunday. This fuel-injection sucks for me. I’m not totally disagreeing with the fuel injection, but the way they brought it on us, an old man like me just don’t have much time to learn. It’s definitely like starting over. We will just see what happens. We’ve had 10 or 12 years here (at Bandimere) where we’ve been right up in the thick of it, so all I can do is be excited about what we did do.”

Ken Black teammates – Jason Line (7) and Greg Anderson (6) have combined to win all the NHRA national events this season.

Johnson qualified No. 7 at 6.988 seconds at 197.25 mph.

CONNOLLY HAPPY TO BE TUNING IN PRO STOCK – This season has definitely a roller-coaster ride for Dave Connolly.

Connolly spent the entire 2015 season driving Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s C&J Energy’s Top Fuel dragster and was driving it through the first four races this season before Bob Vandergriff Jr. abruptly retired April 11 and closed down his team operation. Connolly was a teammate this season at BVR with Leah Pritchett.

Connolly wasn’t out of work long. He joined the Gray Motorsports Pro Stock team with driver Shane Gray at the Southern Nationals (May 13-15).

“It’s going great, I mean obviously there’s still a lot to learn, but when you have good guys around it definitely makes your job a lot easier. Gray had a lot of great people in place already and I’m just trying to help where I can and get the car working a little better. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when everyone is pulling on the rope the same direction.”

Since Connolly came onboard, Gray has moved up from No. 11 to No. 7 in the points standings. Gray had semifinal-round finishes at Topeka, Kan., Epping, N.H., Norwalk, Ohio and Chicago. Chicago, which was the last race on the circuit, Gray also qualified No. 1.

Connolly, who has raced in a number of different classes, including Pro Stock, is adjust to the electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems.

“I probably knew enough to get myself in trouble,” Connolly said about EFI. “I’m kind of just learning as I go. I guess the perception is there is always some magic and there’s really not. You just have to be smart enough to realize what works and what doesn’t work and keep working hard at it. We’ve been testing quite a few times since I’ve been onboard, and that’s what it takes. It takes laps and you’re going a lot more about what to do wrong than you’re right, when you go testing. We’ve managed to get a lot closer to those guys for sure, and everyone on the team has contributed to that.”

While not behind the wheel right now, Connolly is able to keep things in perspective.

“I was very fortunate to get the opportunity I have had over the years,” Connolly said. “I’ve raced at the Sportsman level with the proper equipment and I have got to race Pro Stock with a lot of the legends, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins for one, and I got an opportunity to run a Top Fuel car and don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of it. It’s a different adrenaline rush and I have a newfound respect for those guys. But, I’m still a hands-on guy, I’ve always been very involved in the technical aspect of these cars and I have no problem standing there wearing a headset rather than a helmet.”

Gray had the second fastest pass in Q1 at 6.992-seconds at 197.80 mph and followed that up with a 6.982-second run at 198.12 mph, which left him No. 5 on the ladder.

SKILLMAN ADJUSTING TO NEW TEAM – Back on June 1, Drew Skillman turned plenty of heads when switched teams from Elite Motorsports to Gray Motorsports.

Skillman’s first race with Gray Motorsports in his family-owned Camaro was Epping, N.H. (June 9-12). His best finish since joining Gray Motorsports was a semifinal finish at Bristol, Tenn. (June 17-19).

Skillman arrived at Bandimere Speedway fifth in the point standings.

“It’s been really good,” Skillman said. “It’s been a good relationship and we’ve been working together, which is nice. We just try one thing at a time and he (Shane Gray) has been doing really well and now we’re kind of all on the same page, so we all should be very similar in performance now and we’re going to move forward this year and try and win a championship. At least try and beat the KB group (Greg Anderson, Jason Line and Bo Butner) anyways.”

Since joining Gray, Skillman’s motors have been supplied by Gray Motorsports. His crew chief is Tomi Laine.

“The progress has been really good,” Skillman said. “We’re are all working together and it has been a really good deal for everyone involved.”

Skillman had a 6.996-second run in Q1 and then in Q2 he was 6.964 seconds, leaving him second on the ladder.

HARTFORD MAKING THE SWING – Part-time Pro Stock driver Matt Hartford arrived at Bandimere 17th in the point standings after competing in four races – Pomona, Calif., Phoenix, Gainesville, Fla., and Las Vegas.

The Phoenix-based driver, however, is ready to get things rolling starting at Bandimere.

“We’re going to run Denver, Sonoma and Seattle for sure, and then we’ll decide what we’re going to do after that,” Hartford said. “Things have gone good. WJ (Warren Johnson) and Kurt (Johnson) and Randy (Chambers) are working seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours days (at their shop in Sugar Hill, Ga.), and this will be the first race with some of their newer stuff and I hope that we run well.”

The high-altitude at the Morrison, Colo., track is fresh on Hartford’s mind.

“Denver is always a field leveler, it always makes the cars run closer together as a pack. Any time you go to altitude that seems to happen. However, the fuel-injection is definitely a learning curve up here because this will be the first time we’ve ever ran fuel injection at 9 to 10,000-feet of air. Sea level everybody has a really good handle on their EFI tune-ups, Denver has yet to be seen. This is kind of like the first race again for everybody just seeing how their stuff will run at altitude.”

Hartford had a 7.025-second lap in Q1 and he didn’t improve in Q2, and was 10th on the ladder.
 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

RECORD RUN FOR HINES – Andrew Hines had no peers Friday night at Bandimere Speedway.

The pilot of the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson clocked a 7.161-second run at 185.26 mph, which broke the track record and left him qualified No. 1.

“That run was pretty good,” Hines said. “We made a nice clean run. I sure hope it holds up for (Saturday).”

Hines broke the Bandimere track record of 7.169 seconds set by his Harley teammates Eddie Krawiec last year at the Mile-High Nationals.

The Vance & Hines team has plenty of success at Bandimere. Matt Hines has won four times at the Mile-High Nationals (1996-97, 1998, 2002), Andrew (2006, 2010 and 2014) and Krawiec (2009, 2012, 2015) three each.

Krawiec qualified No. 2 at 7.177 seconds.

TOUGH TRANSITION – Although Matt Smith has two career victories at the Mile-High Nationals (2007, 2008), competing in the thin air isn’t easy for the two-time world champion.

“This is a totally different place,” Smith said. “We call this our road course, like NASCAR has a couple a year and we have this one. This is totally different and you just come up here and try and get through the weekend and not hurt stuff. NHRA needs to make this race our last race of the (Western) Swing because you hurt your motors up here a lot of times. It would be nice to run Sonoma and Seattle and then come here (Denver) last. We can’t run our good motors here because we can’t take a chance on hurting them and then we would be done for Sonoma next week (July 29-31).”

The three-race Western Swing concludes at Seattle (Aug. 5-7).

Smith is competing in his Matt Smith Racing Victory Gunner motorcycle and his wife, Angie also is riding a Victory Gunner.

“I think we’ve done a good job of bringing a new manufacturer in here,” Smith said. “I qualified No. 1 at the last race (Chicago) and I finished No. 4 in the world last year the first year out with them. We’re in the Top 10 in points and we’ve struggled a little bit this year with a bunch of non-shifting stuff with the transmission and electrical problems. If we don’t have those problems, then we’re fast and we’ve showed that. Hopefully we get all those problems fixed. We keep replacing and putting new parts in and new parts are failing us. If we find a batch that is good and doesn’t fail us, then we will probably be pretty good.”

Matt, who won PSM world championships in 2007 and 2013, arrived at the Mile-High Nationals ninth in the point standings. Angie is 18th.

Matt had a best run of 7.209 seconds Friday which qualified him No. 4. Angie’s top lap was 7.290 seconds, which left her 13th.

GANN SPORTS FLASH – Veteran racer Shawn Gann has made a name for himself by wearing flamboyant firesuits,

In 2015, Gann was sporting a Flash Gordon firesuit and he was once again sporting Flash at the 2016 Mile-High Nationals.

“It will not be long before I change firesuits,” Gann said. “Usually I have to wait a year for them and I’m hoping to unveil a new one at Vegas (Oct. 27-30). I’m deciding between two Justice League characters for who will be my next firesuit. I’m going to end up with firesuits for all the Justice League characters.”

Gann’s 7.285-second lap at 184.88 mph in the first qualifying session left him No. 8 on the ladder. He didn’t improve in Q2 and dropped to No. 11 with that ET.

Gann is piloting the Clonex-sponsored Buell. Since 1988, Clonex Rooting Gel has led the way in plant propagation with billions of clones successfully rooted.

Gann has five career Pro Stock Motorcycle national event wins, his last two at Denver in 2004 and 2013. At the 2013 Mile-High Nationals, Gann upset Hector Arana Jr. in the finals.