There can be little doubt that the current qualifying
process of two runs on Friday and another pair on Saturday needs some
adjustment. In Pro Stock, for example, during the hotter summer months the
Friday evening session has become all important. Simply put, make a bad
run 

Friday and the odds are that you’re going home Saturday
afternoon rather than Sunday.

In an effort to even out running conditions between the
Friday evening and Saturday sessions a number of plans have been put
forth. One that’s alleged to be a favorite of PRO president Kenny
Bernstein is to lock in the top 8 runners after Friday evening, and fill the
field with the final 8 from the best times on Saturday.

In other words, even if conditions prevent the kind of
elapsed times that might come up on the clocks on Friday evening from being
repeated on Saturday, the eight quickest runners in the third and fourth
sessions would still have a chance of racing on Sunday.

Nothing gives a drag racer
a feeling of relief more than getting the proverbial monkey off his or her
back. Prior to this weekend’s triumph at Denver,
Pro Stock Motorcycle competitor Matt Smith had reached seven final rounds and
won only once. This second victory will hopefully banish the pesky creature for
good.

That would give Matt a leg
up on his dad Rickie, who once fought a monkey in real life and didn’t fare so
well. But, we’ll get to that later in the story.

“I had to get that monkey
off my back,” Matt said in a post-race interview. “We can get to the finals but
just can’t seem to close the deal. We’ve had parts failures and stuff like
that.”

That sound you heard in the distance at Denver was Ron Krisher sighing.

Krisher emerged from the outhouse and climbed his way into the
penthouse by reaching his first final round of the season. This wasn't
a matter of falling into the final round. The Valvoline-sponsored
driver was the quickest in each round leading up to the finals.

The only thing keeping Krisher from making it a fourth consecutive was parts breakage.

If you thought Kenny Koretsky's performance last weekend was a fluke, he showed in Denver there's more where that came from.

Koretsky has now reached the semifinals in two consecutive races,
backing up his runner-up finish last week at Bristol with a semifinal
appearance in today's race. The self-proclaimed "Captain Chaos'
qualified No. 3 for eliminations and defeated Max Naylor in Round 1 and
Jeg Coughlin in Round 2 before losing to Krisher in the semis.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the
13th of 23 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series -

BATTLE OF NITRO TEAMMATES FAVORS BECKMAN, FULLER; SMITH, JOHNSON ALSO SCORE

 
 
Top Fuel points leader "Hot Rod" Fuller handled teammate Whit Bazemore
in Sunday's final of the 28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at
Bandimere Speedway to win for the second time this year.
 
In Funny Car, "Fast Jack" Beckman did the same thing, beating his Don
Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps to claim his first Wally of 2007.
 
Pro Stock victor Allen Johnson and Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Matt Smith joined them in the winner's circle.
 
Bazemore got the jump on Fuller in the Top Fuel final, leaving with a
.077-second start to Fuller's .106-second launch. But Fuller had passed
his stablemate before they crossed the halftrack timers and went on to
win with a 4.683 at 312.93 mph in his Wagner CAT dragster to Bazemore's
4.770 at 308.35 mph in the Matco Tools rail.

Final round-by-round results from the 28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA
Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 13th of 23 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:
 
 
TOP FUEL:
 
ROUND ONE --
Whit Bazemore, 4.858, 256.60 def. Bob Vandergriff, 5.287, 225.00; Larry Dixon, 4.790,
310.41 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.791, 302.82; J.R. Todd, 5.257, 270.32 def. Doug Herbert, 12.505, 60.43;
Mike Strasburg, 5.395, 210.57 def. Melanie Troxel, 6.060, 213.50; Rod Fuller, 4.781, 310.91 def.
Morgan Lucas, 4.941, 304.87; David Grubnic, 4.806, 302.69 def. Cory McClenathan, 4.895, 267.43;
Tony Schumacher, 4.805, 320.13 def. Clay Millican, 7.482, 112.43; Hillary Will, 4.753, 309.77 def.
Brandon Bernstein, 6.655, 144.41;

 

Top Fuel -- Rod Fuller, 4.683 seconds, 312.93 mph  def. Whit Bazemore, 4.770 seconds, 308.35 mph.

TROXEL, HIGHT, JOHNSON, SMITH, HOLD ON TO NO.1 SPOT AFTER RAIN DELAYED SATURDAY QUALIFYING AT DENVER

Melanie Troxel, Robert Hight, Allen Johnson, and Matt Smith -- remained
in control of their respective categories as NHRA racers got a bonus
nighttime session of qualifying after weather delayed Saturday's
qualiflying session at the 28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA nationals
at Denver's Bandimere Speedway.

Squelch the rumor mill;
there’s no hidden agenda behind Bill Miller and Alan Bradshaw’s absence from
Bandimere Speedway this weekend. The Mopar Mile High Nationals never ranks high
on the high-profile independent team’s preference list.     

“It has never been on Bill’s
agenda to attend the Denver
race,” said Bradshaw. “There are enough challenges as it is now to run a fuel
car without having to go up on the mountain and try to figure that out. We just
don’t go up there because it has never been a race Bill has wanted to attend.”

The BME team will join the
western swing in Seattle and then Sonoma.