Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA Mile-High Nationals from Bandimere Speedway

1. Top Fuel winner Clay Millican stomps on loud pedal, competition - After polishing off Tony Schumacher in the opening round, Top Fuel’s Clay Millican said Sunday marked only his second Round 1 victory in 10 races this year. And he was quick to mention that the other time he advanced, he won, at Joliet, Ill., in May. 

He said, “We’re going to step on that loud pedal three more times.”

And he did, taking the Parts Plus Dragster to the winners circle for his first – and last – triumph at Bandimere Speedway’s Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals.

The Tennessee anthem “Rocky Top” blared in th background, but this wasn’t Millican’s beloved Rocky Top, where he recorded his über-emotional first NHRA victory at his home-state track, Bristol Dragway. Nevertheless, it was on this mountain that the popular West Tennessee driver gave Rick Ware Racing its second victory of the season. 

Millican denied final-round opponent Doug Kalitta his long-sought 50th victory in registering his fifth.

Millican, son of grocery-store owners in Drummonds, Tenn., asked the crowd to give one last cheer to the Bandimeres, saying, “I grew up in a family business. You never have a day off. You never have a vacation.” And he saluted his crew, who he said doesn’t ever complain about “how much I screw up and how much I tear up. They just pat me on the back and say, ‘Go stomp on that loud pedal.’”

2. Funny Car winner Matt Hagan delivers for Dodge- For Matt Hagan, his final-round romp over Alexis DeJoria was a fitting end: a Dodge car in the winners circle at a Dodge-sponsored event that after 35 years represented the longest-running event sponsorship in all of motorsports. (Ironically, DeJoria was his final-round victim  when he earned his first Denver victory in 2021.)

The Funny Car points leader truly was the king of this mountain this one last time. Hagan cemented the No. 1 qualifier position with his victory Saturday evening in the $10,000-to-win Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge bonus race that gave him three more precious Countdown points. Then he claimed Tony Stewart Racing’s second straight victory at Bandimere Speedway. Top Fuel racer Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife, won here last July.

Hagan had some sentimental incentives to win Sunday. He lost his mother about six months ago, and this is her birthday weekend. Hagan was hoping to win, too, for crew hand Josh Munoz, who suffered a broken sternum and some broken ribs in a highway accident in Indianapolis recently. And of course, he wanted to impress boss Tony Stewart, who flew in Sunday for the Camping World Drag Racing Series race following his own Eldora Million / Kings Royal classics this weekend at his dirt track at Rossburg, Ohio.  

Hagan said one of the Dodge representatives teasingly told him if he didn’t win the Funny Car trophy he would be fired. Although it was a joke, Hagan wanted to make sure to get that 47th triumph that still leaves him fourth on the class’ all-time victories list. 

DeJoria said, “That was a hard loss right there. Going up against Hagan, it was a rematch from two years ago. I really wanted that trophy for the guys and myself and our whole team. It is the last trophy here at Bandimere, so I guess it is quite fitting for the Dodge team to get it, but that’s not why we came here. We came here to win, and we were gunning all weekend. We had some wild rides, but that Toyota 200th win is still on the table, and we are also a part of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge for the next race. This was our third final of the year.”

3. Pro Stock winner Troy Coughlin Jr. calls victory ‘humbling’ and ‘an honor’ - Like his uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr., Troy Coughlin Jr. can add a Pro Stock “Wally” trophy from Denver to the extensive collection at the family-run Jegs Mail Order headquarters at Delaware, Ohio.

But he has one trophy none of his racing uncles, siblings, or cousins ever can contribute. Coughlin – like Millican, Hagan, and Gaige Herrera – received a trophy John Bandimere had crafted especially for these four winners Sunday and nicknamed the “Johnny.” (The traditional “Wally” statue is named in honor of NHRA founder Wally Parks.)

He called this fourth Pro Stock victory in his 70th race “humbling” and just being at the event and soaking in its historical value “an honor.”

After nailing his second victory of 2023 over finalist and points leader Dallas Glenn, Gainesville victor Coughlin said,  “Man, that was a heck of a race. We’ve got a long way to go until November, but this Elite Motorsports team is not giving up, that’s  for certain. Mark Ingersoll and all of the boys in the lounge, everyone who works on this JEGS.com / White Castle machine, had this thing flying.”

3(a). Pro Stock Bike winner receives the first ‘Johnny’ trophy to go with his ‘Wally’ - Bike sensation Gaige Herrera closed out a successful run for the Vance & Hines team at Denver with his fourth victory in the class’ six appearances on the schedule. Champion brothers Matt and Andrew Hines also have won at Bandimere Speedway, not far from where they operated their race shop for many years, at Trinidad, Colo., before relocating to Brownsburg, Ind.

To Herrera, his performance was a rebound, after Steve Johnson and Hector Arana Jr. were able to break into the win column as he struggled a bit.

But he has the honor of receiving the first specially designed trophy dubbed the “Johnny” for John Bandimere Jr., who commissioned it.  

 

 

 

4. First round is tough on Top Fuel class - Four of the top five-ranked dragster drivers lost in the opening round.

No. 16 starter Rob Passey was thrilled about his part in making that happen. He defeated Brittany Force, who made a dramatic 337.33-mph run Saturday night in 3.724 seconds) to set the track speed record and grab the No. 1 qualifying spot. Her car dropped a cylinder or two early on, then she lost traction and shut the engine off at about 600 feet.

Afterward, Passey said, “I was checking the weather all week. And when it looked like Sunday was going to be the hottest, I got excited. I wouldn’t mind if it was 110 [degrees],” the part-time racer from Salt Lake City said. “We just motor our stuff down there, and if they bobble at all, we’re standin’ here, having fun.” He said he’s “just livin’ the day.” Shawn Langdon cut Passey’s day short in the quarterfinals.

For the first time in four meetings this season, Steve Torrence defeated Justin Ashley, the points leader and four-time 2023 winner.

Josh Hart started eliminations by using a better reaction time to knock out Leah Pruett, the event’s Honorary Starter and Dodge-branded driver who had been hoping for back-to-back triumphs at Bandimere Speedway. She and Hart registered identical elapsed times (3.905 seconds). His margin of victory was about six feet, or .0137 of a second.

Force’s Top Fuel teammate Austin Prock fell to Mike Salinas in his first race of the day.

5. John Force Won’t Let Bandimere Speedway Go Quietly Into Night - Funny Car icon John Force let his emotions spill over Friday night following his provisional No. 2 qualifying performance, calling it “Mount Rushmore.

“They built this in the side of a mountain. How do you do that?” Force said. “This is God’s gift. This is mythical s---. I love racing, and I love this hill – and I want ’em all to know it.”

Force has won eight times at Bandimere Speedway (1994-96, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2016, 2018) and compiled an elimination-round record here of 75-32. That mark is second only to his overall performance at Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway, where he has 76 round-wins. But he didn’t roll into Denver on top of his game initially.

He remembered that in early in his career, when he couldn’t afford a hotel, the late John Bandimere Sr. opened his home to him: “I was so poor I had to sleep at his house. I was a joke.”

Motioning to the grandstands, Force said, “I sat up there with my dad and Bandimere Senior in ’79. They’re gone now … but this place is important to us. I’m always excited to come race on the mountain. I’ve been coming to Bandimere Speedway a long time. I have a lot of history here. I’ve accomplished a lot, grown with the Bandimere family. It’s … an emotional weekend, saying goodbye to this place.”

Then Sunday, Force had more to say: “It ain’t over ‘til Bandimere says it’s over.” Realizing that drivers in all classes are expressing sadness that this is the Camping World Drag Racing Series’ last stop here, Force said, “They all care about this mountain. We’ve got to fix it.”

 

6. Drivers Bid Farewell To Thunder Mountain . . . - Alexis DeJoria looked a little bit ahead and a little bit backwards in this last trip to Denver. She said, “We will be grateful for all of the runs we got to run out here. Working with the Bandimeres just has been really awesome. I’m going to miss this racetrack. I’m going to miss going up and hiking Red Rocks every morning before the races. I’m going to miss all of these fans out here. Hopefully, they do end up building another track. Who knows if that is going to happen? But I’m really grateful for the time that we’ve had.”

Reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders said, “It’s hard to believe that this is the last time we will be heading to Bandimere Speedway. Visiting Denver has been a staple on our summer schedule since the mid-’90s when we were racing Jr. Dragsters. The tradition continued through my entire sportsman and professional career. The mountain is just flat-out special. The Bandimere family has not only done so much for the sport, but they have also been so great on a personal level, to my family and me. We wish them nothing but the best as they venture out on their next journey.”

But Enders always will remember Bandimere Speedway as the racetrack she never was able to solve. She had two cracks at it this weekend, one in Pro Stock and the other in Mountain Motor Pro Stock. But no matter the size of her engine, Enders once again was unable to walk away with a trophy from this track she loves so much. 

Top Fuel’s Buddy Hull said, “It's a blessing to be able to do what we're doing, and I mean that with all my heart. I'm thankful that we're able to pivot and get out here to make some respectable runs and help the Bandimere family close out a long legacy of providing an incredible facility to drivers and race fans. They've worked their butts off their entire lives to provide us with a sandbox to play with our fast toys.”
 
Hull’s on-track rival Justin Ashley said Bandimere Speedway “is so much fun. It's amazing. The facility itself is stunning. When you combine that with the fans that come here … it’s packed, and it's been packed all weekend. They are so engaged and excited about the racing and what the Bandimeres have done. It's really a good culture inside this whole facility.”

Backing him up is the fact that despite the usual hot summer temperatures, the place was jammed all three days – even though singer Taylor Swift was in town for a concert and baseball’s popular New York Yankees were in Denver for an interleague series with the Colorado Rockies.  

Jim Oberhofer, Clay Millican’s crew chief for the Parts Plus Dragster, got rousing approval of the crowd Saturday when he said, “Let’s raise some money and give it to the Bandimeres so they can keep racing here. This place is awesome.” 

And John Force sort of seconded that Sunday, saying that he was encouraged by racers from all classes saying how much they love the venue. Force said, “We’ve got to fix it.”

 

 

7. … While Bandimere Family Promises New Facility - The Bandimere family has operated the dragstrip on Thunder Mountain – snuggled into the mountain in the Denver suburb of Morrison, Colo. – since 1958. They have committed to selling the property (and said if that falls through they have a back-up offer). In a Denver Post article published Wednesday, John Bandimere Jr. said the happy news is that the family is scouting new property and spearheading a plan to build a new, expansive dragstrip nearby that likely will involve a non-family member.

The ambitious aim, he said, is to welcome the NHRA back to the Denver market as early as 2025. Bandimere Jr. said Wednesday that the current racetrack won’t become the site of a housing development, but rather some sort of automotive-related endeavor.

Just before delivering the Saturday-afternoon invocation, Bandimere Jr. said, “The truth is this place doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to God. He’s made it so it’s been so fun.”

That didn’t bring John Force much solace. The PEAK Chevy Camaro owner-driver said, “I know the world’s changing and everybody needs room and they’re building houses. But this thing is something special. I’m mad about it. Not mad at the Bandimere family. I know they love it.”

Bandimere Jr. said at the end of the official presentations that he and his team are searching for a new location to build a replacement track after they sell this property. He said when that happens, “We’ll invite all of you.”

8. Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge: Looking back and ahead - After zipping to his fifth straight $10,000 Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory Saturday and running his Countdown bonus-point total to 15 from the qualifying-session specialty race, Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley won’t participate at Seattle.  Competing at Seattle in the bonus event will be Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Clay Millican, and Steve Torrence.

In the Funny Car class, Alexis DeJoria, Ron Capps, Denver #2Fast2Tasty winner Matt Hagan, and J.R. Todd will go for the points and cash at next weekend’s Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

In the Pro Stock category Saturday, Troy Coughlin Jr. launched with a perfect light in his winning run to defeat Aaron Stanfield (who, ironically, cut a perfect light against Matt Hartford for the right to face Coughlin in the final).  A pair of KB Titan Racing drivers, Camrie Caruso and Dallas Glenn, and a duo from Elite Motorsports, Coughlin and Erica Enders, will compose the Seattle foursome.

No. 1 qualifier Hector Arana Jr. red-lit away his chance to rule the day, allowing Matt Smith to win the Challenge Saturday. But he earned a return berth Sunday, reaching the semifinals. Also qualifying for the Seattle Mission Challenge field were Gaige Herrera, Angie Smith, and Chase Van Sant.   

 

 

 

9. Antron Brown Makes Friday Top Fuel Pass Fit For A King - Antron Brown’s Friday-night pass that made him the Top Fuel class’ tentative No. 1 qualifier was fit for a king. The King of Speed – Kenny Bernstein – warmed up Brown’s Matco Tool Toyota Dragster in the pits earlier in the day.

 

“That was some pressure right there, having ‘the King’ come back out and sit in our car,” Brown said after covering the Morrison, Colo., 1,000-foot course in 3.783 seconds at a class-best 327.90-mph speed. “I’m glad we did a representative run for Kenny. He did that all the time.”

And according to Brown, Bernstein hasn’t missed beat since his retirement: “When he warmed that car up – people don’t realize – he went through all the motions without even thinking about it: put it in reverse, forward, smooth, not grinding the gears, trimming the fuel pump like he was there just yesterday.”

Brown called his visit with Bernstein “truly special” and said his run Friday evening was ‘something we can give back to Kenny for all he’s done for our sport. He’s definitely our hero at AB Motorsports.”

10. Don’t mess with Texas – or Texas resident Alexis DeJoria - During the first round of Funny Car eliminations, Ron Capps defeated Terry Haddock. But Haddock put up a noble challenge, especially considering his crew and volunteer helpers from other teams worked until about 2:30 Sunday morning to prepare the car. Haddock’s final qualifying run ended with a massive engine explosion that blew out the side of his car body. 

McKailen Haddock, the driver’s son, was praising his team for all of its hard work. And apparently he and interviewer Hannah Rickards were standing in the way of Alexis DeJoria as she was ready to perform her burnout. Someone from DeJoria’s crew shoved Haddock off to the side of the track.

Following her successful run, DeJoria said, “I was getting a little heated on the starting line. Car started up, and my crew chief went out to pull me out to do my burnout. Haddock’s team was still out there, giving an interview. And, man, I got kind of pissed. I get road rage when I’m in that car.”

McKailen Haddock, one of the politest and most respectful young men in the drag-racing community, later took blame for the problem.

“I had asked Hannah for the interview to shout out the guys and just wasn’t quick enough answering before the next pair,” he said. “All good!”