Emotions were running high for the Bandimere family as it said goodbye to the final Mile-High Nationals Sunday at the speedway that has borne its name for 65 years.

Back on April 21, NHRA and the Bandimere family jointly announced the 2023 Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway would be the last NHRA national event at the historic track. 
First opened in 1958, the Bandimere family has agreed to sell the current property and land, with the 2023 racing season marking the end of drag racing at the facility.

“It’s bittersweet,” said John Bandimere Jr., the track president. “At chapel (Sunday morning), it was really emotional. The thing is, I keep thinking to myself, if you could just take this place and pick it up where it is and put around 300 or 400 acres around it for parking would be awesome, but you can’t do that. It is now a matter of just asking the Lord to find us another location if that is what he wants us to do, and that’s what we are working on.”

The 2023 NHRA season has been one of extremes for veteran Top Fuel driver Clay Millican.

He had either lost in the first round or won the race. The latter happened in memorable fashion at the last Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on Sunday before a sellout crowd.

Millican clocked a 3.872-second elapsed time at 299.60 mph to defeat Doug Kalitta’s 4.454-second lap at 211.23 mph in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

Troy Coughlin Jr. once admitted there’s a balancing act when it comes to qualifying and doing it while racing in qualifying. It’s a pretty simple philosophy cited the third-generation drag racer. Make your best run every time, regardless of the situation. 

And for Coughlin, the balancing act over the weekend at the final NHRA Mile High Nationals would have put him in the same caliber as the Flying Wallendas, a tightrope act that made them famous on a tightrope. 

Coughlin was smooth as peanut butter as he swept the weekend at Bandimere Speedway by winning the #2Fast2Tasty crown, qualifying second in Pro Stock, and winning his second NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series event of 2023, stopping points leader Dallas Glen in the final round. 

Sometimes – for whatever reason – stars align.

Everything that can go right – does go right.

That was definitely the case for Matt Hagan this weekend at the final Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., just outside of Denver.

Point standings (top 10) following the 43rd annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 10th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series -

Final round-by-round results from the 43rd annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 10th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan picked up the victory for Tony Stewart Racing at the final NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series race at Bandimere Speedway, powering past Alexis DeJoria in the final round on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd at the 43rd Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Troy Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won the 10th of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. It was also the third straight sellout crowd to close out racing at Bandimere Speedway.

After winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge specialty race on Saturday, Hagan made it a memorable clean sweep on Thunder Mountain, going 4.135-seconds at 304.25 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Dodge Direct Connections Charger SRT Hellcat to defeat DeJoria. It is Hagan’s fourth victory this season and 47th in his career, as well as his second career win at Bandimere Speedway.

Hector Arana Jr. kept using one word: “Awesome.”

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class’ No. 1 qualifier at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals couldn’t find another word for his Friday-night track-record elapsed time of 7.047 seconds on the Bandimere Speedway quarter-mile aboard his family-owned GETTREX Suzuki.

In his mixture of joy and disbelief, Arana could find any other words for his accomplishment that came at a speed of 189.36 mph in the always-tricky conditions at Thunder Mountain in the Denver suburb of Morrison, Colo.