There’s no NHRA nitro Funny Car driver who compares to the legendary John Force.

Force has won 16 world championships and 153 national events, both NHRA records.

The Bandimere family, owners of Bandimere Speedway, were in court battles last summer with officials from the Jefferson County Health Department as related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bandimere Speedway is in Morrison, Colo., 20 minutes from Denver. Bandimere Speedway has been hosting races for 64 years.

The Bandimere family executive team runs the speedway and the family frustrations with restrictions for their events led to them host the “Stop the COVID Chaos” Rally, Sept. 1 at Bandimere Speedway.

The rally was billed to celebrate God and country and the people of the great state of Colorado.

Steve Torrence extended his points lead to 307 points over closest challenger Antron Brown, racked up his 45th victory, and claimed his fifth triumph in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ first eight races Sunday at Morrison, Colo., near Denver.

Hopeful class newcomer Joey Haas, making only his fourth start, was his latest final-round victim at the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil. 

​Matt Hagan is finally the king of Thunder Mountain.

After competing for years at Bandimere Speedway, also known as Thunder Mountain, Hagan, the reigning NHRA nitro Funny Car world champion, won the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil Sunday.

The 2021 season of domination continued for reigning NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Matt Smith.

Smith, in his Denso-sponsored Buell, qualified No. 1 and then claimed his first title at the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil win since 2008.

Mountain Motor Pro Stock veteran JR Carr earned a meaningful win at the Sonny Leonard Memorial Race contested at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Summer Shootout at Virginia Motorsports Park. Racing in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, Carr used a 4.091-second pass at 175.07 to defeat defending world champion Johnny Pluchino’s 4.102 at 177.04 in the final round. 

Jose Gonzalez continued his standout season in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, beating back-to-back world champ Stevie “Fast” Jackson in the final round at Bandimere Speedway. 

The race was the fifth event of the 2021 E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service season, and Gonzalez picked up his second straight victory and third of the season. It was the first time the NHRA Pro Mod Series raced on Thunder Mountain and Gonzalez was the last man standing. 

Brittany Force said her Top Fuel team has been eager to get back to a racetrack after a second 2021 runner-up finish at Norwalk, Ohio.

“Our team is ready for a win,” she said.

But she also said she has “never done really well” at Bandimere Speedway in the Denver suburb of Morrison, Colo.

In five completed Pro Stock Motorcycle appearances on the Camping World Drag Racing Series tour so far this season, Matt Smith has advanced to four final rounds and won twice. And at the one event he didn’t make the showdown, the Las Vegas four-wide race, Smith was No. 1 qualifier and set the low elapsed time and top speed of the meet. 

The four-time and reigning class champion continued his domination Saturday at the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil on the outskirts of Denver.

Smith will lead the field for Sunday eliminations with a 7.113-second elapsed time and track-best 189.47-mph speed he posted Saturday on the Morrison, Colo., quarter-mile course at Bandimere Speedway.