Competition Eliminator Pied Piper Rodger Brogdon last won an NHRA national event in 2015, when he raced Pro Stock. On Friday, that stat became a thing of the past.

Brogdon driving a B/Altered Planetary Camaro, a former NHRA Pro Stocker, returned to the winner's circle on Friday at the Jegs SportsNationals outside of Columbus, Ohio. He made a clean sweep of the event, qualifying No. 1 and beating bellhousing specialist Brian Browell in the final round. In his third final of the season, Brogdon was able to seal the deal with a .001 reaction time and only -.391 under in the final. He had taken some permanent index hits over the course of eliminations. 

Brogdon said the key to success has been to leave the past in the past. This season has been an extreme lesson of Murphy's Law. 

"I just think about what's happening right now and what I need to concentrate on doing right now, and that helps me out at races," Brogdon said. "It helps me out in life. You can't worry about the things that's already passed. You never worry about things you can't change. I'm going to start a new streak today."

Brogdon had plenty to be concerned about during eliminations as calamity once again reared its ugly head, as it has at every event this season for the Rooftec-sponsored driver. It's gotten to the point where Brogdon doesn't anticipate mayhem; he expects it. 

"It's basically a 445-inch Pro Stock engine, and it gets the same maintenance as a [500-inch] Pro Stock engine does round by round," Brogdon explained. "You'll be surprised with the little things you can find wrong with it if you know what you're looking for when you're doing the maintenance on that engine."

Brogdon's road to the finals included a first-round win over David Billingsley. He stopped fellow Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus participant Greg Kamplain in the second round in a two-for-one victory. Beating Kamplain earned him a third-round bye run and a free trip to the semis. 

It also earned him another odd maintenance issue, which he believes ranks up there with his previous issue at the Laris Motorsports Insurance NHRA SportsNationals, where the car, sitting on the jackstands, not even running, broke a valve, taking him out of competition. 

This time, Brogdon heard a rattling in the back of the car as his crew towed him up the return road at National Trail Raceway. 

"We got ready to go this morning and we had an axle problem," Brogdon explained. "We had to take an axle out. I thought it was a rearend, but it ended up being an axle. The crew had to fix that, and right after we warmed it up, we had two broken valve springs - had to change that, and [NHRA officials] were hollering at us to, 'Come, come, come, hurry, hurry, hurry." 

"The guys got it all done in time and got me up there, and I was able to do my job, so it worked out well."

Brogdon then beat Robert Bailey to reach the final round. 

For his part, Browell stopped Mike Clute, John Frech, and Peter D'Agnolo and had a bye run into the final round.

At age 80, Irvin Johns became NHRA's oldest national event winner when he drove to the Super Stock title, stopping 2022 world champ Peter D'Agnolo in the final round. He previously held the record at age 79 following last year's victory in Chicago.

Other winners included Caleb McFarland (Stock), Jacob Smith (Super Comp), Harold Brewer (Super Gas), Damien Hazelton (Super Street), Bill Yates (Top Sportsman), and Anthony Bertozzi (Top Dragster).

COMPETITION ELIMINATOR
Rodger Brogdon, Tomball, Texas, '22 Camaro, B/AP, 7.360, 162.22  def. Brian Browell, Lafayette, Ind.,
'15 dragster, D/D, 7.219, 183.34.

SUPER STOCK
Irvin Johns, Memphis, Ind., '05 Cobalt, GT/FA, 9.360, 126.42  def. Peter D`Agnolo, Rochester, N.Y.,
'67 Camaro, SS/CS, 10.151, 100.23.

STOCK ELIMINATOR
Caleb McFarland, Flemingsburg, Ky., '01 Firebird, A/S, 10.396, 126.57  def. Mike Delahanty, Novi,
Mich., '64 Belvedere, A/SA, 10.160, 129.84.

SUPER COMP
Jacob Smith, Liberty Township, Ohio, '16 American, 8.893, 165.94  def. Rock Haas, Commerce, Mich.,
'10 Dragster, 8.880, 179.78.

SUPER GAS
Harold Brewer, Elizabeth, Ind., '67 Camaro, 9.881, 152.18  def. Patrick Martin, London, Ohio, '27
Roadster, 9.880, 161.32.

SUPER STREET
Damien Hazelton, Continental, Ohio, '92 Camaro, 10.910, 132.15  def. Rudy Matthews, Ohio City, Ohio,
'69 Camaro, 10.900, 142.03.

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP SPORTSMAN
Bill Yates, Newark, Ohio, '68 Profab, 6.786, 200.56  def. Lester Johnson, Cynthiana, Ky., '55 Belair, Broke.

RIGHT TRAILERS TOP DRAGSTER
Anthony Bertozzi, Ashland, Va., '02 Dragster, 7.150, 178.45  def. Blake Peavler, Olney, Ill., '14 American, 6.147, 226.13.