Final round-by-round results from the 29th annual Mopar Mile-High
NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, the 13th of 24 events in the 
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Doug Kalitta, 4.455, 259.76 def. David Grubnic, 4.878,
199.79; Morgan Lucas, 4.324,251.77 def. J.R. Todd, 4.591, 205.57;
Antron Brown, 3.995, 298.21 def. Rod Fuller, 4.115, 277.43; Cory
McClenathan, 4.283, 209.79 was unopposed; Tony Schumacher, 4.032,
299.53 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.353, 262.23; Larry Dixon, 4.064, 285.65
def. Steve Torrence, 6.506, 99.32; Bob Vandergriff, 4.046, 306.67 def.
Hillary Will, 4.182, 291.19; Doug Herbert, 4.035, 295.46 def. Brandon
Bernstein, 5.242, 151.04;

QUARTERFINALS -- McClenathan,
4.197, 270.59 def. Kalitta, 4.403, 237.38; Dixon, 4.077, 291.89 def.
Lucas, 4.778, 178.76; Brown, 4.259, 268.92 def. Vandergriff, 4.282,
261.12; Schumacher, 4.041, 300.46 def. Herbert, 4.290, 231.40;

SEMIFINALS -- Brown, 4.245, 257.73 def. McClenathan, 4.236, 246.12; Schumacher, 4.039, 300.46 def. Dixon, 4.146, 288.95;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 4.007, 304.05 def. Brown, 4.173, 276.97.

Sunday's final results from the 29th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA
Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.  The  race is the 13th of 24 in the 
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 4.007 seconds, 304.05 mph  def. Antron Brown, 4.173 seconds, 276.97 mph.

Forget the circus monkey business. Hot Rod Fuller is racing with
Elvis. Look to the right of his cockpit and you can actually see an
Elvis image in the fumes. It's even got sideburns!

The chiller unit is located on the backside of the grandstands. This
unit keeps the starting line at Bandimere Speedway a consistent
temperature, which means the world to many of the racers. (Roger Richards Photos)

Bandimere Speedway’s innovative underground cooling system needed only one professional qualifying sessions to feel the love from the drag racers.

Racers in both the sportsman and professional ranks are singing the
praises of the new inner cooled race track which, in the midst of
90-degree ambient air temperatures, measured 101 degrees on the
starting line and 120 within 100 feet of the starting line. Last year
the starting line track temperature hovered in the 140-degree range.

Greg Anderson has been around Pro Stock racing long enough to know when the odds are stacked

Greg Anderson has a gaggle of Mopars to deal with on Sunday. (Roger Richards)

against him. The three-time NHRA
world champion may have qualified No. 1 with both ends of the track
record, but he knows headed into Sunday he’ll battle for the crown
against the event title sponsor’s posse in eliminations.

“It’s like they gave these Mopars a weight break because they are
running better than ever,” Anderson said. “There are so many Mopars in
the field that tomorrow is going to be a knock-down drag out. It’s
impossible to come out here and pick a favorite.”

It’s not only the Mopars that has Anderson looking over his shoulder. Everyone in the class has him second-guessing.

There was no way Cory McClenathan was celebrating Friday’s provisional low qualifying effort.

Cory McClenathan has a winning record against the "invisible man". He has a bye run in the first round.

The veteran Top Fuel driver has
been around the game long enough to know one thing is for sure, anyone
can be beat at any time, unless you have a bye.

“Especially with that U.S. Army team and Tony Schumacher, they can lay
down a run at any time,” McClenathan said. “Not only them, but the
Kalitta’s, Bernstein and the rest of the field. There are a lot of good
cars out there and you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

McClenathan’s Friday-evening 3.929 elapsed time stands as the
quickest-ever official 1,000-foot race course pass. His performance
grants a bye-run in the first round due to a 15-car field.

Tony Pedregon will be the first to admit his future looked bleak on Saturday evening

Tony Pedregon has won two of the last races since a crash forced him to bring out a new chassis. (Roger Richards)

during the NHRA Route 66 Nationals
in Chicago, when he blew up his Funny Car and
made contact with the wall in a fiery run. Adding to the complexity of
the damage was additional carnage caused by his brush with an open gate
which rendered his proven chassis totaled.

He went into Sunday with an unproven chassis that wasn’t scheduled for
implementation until this weekend’s NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals in
Denver, Co. The chassis has been proving itself ever since the accident.

“I think you go back when we had five first round losses and I don’t
attribute that to anything but the little increase in weight where we
were just trying to fine tune our combination,” Pedregon said. “It was
hard for me to get discouraged because I knew we were on the right
track. If at anytime I felt we weren’t, I would have made changes.

John Force leads a galloping quartet of Mustangs into Sunday's eliminations. (Roger Richards)

There
is good news and bad news at John Force Racing heads into Sunday's
eliminations at the 29th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals. The good
news is all four JFR Ford Mustangs will be pulling up to the starting
line after qualifying for the race. The bad news is team leader John
Force will have to face teammate Mike Neff in the first round and all
four Force Mustangs are on the same side of the ladder, meaning in a
best case scenario only one could potential reach the final.

Castrol GTX High Mileage driver and 14-time champion John Force had the
opportunity to avoid racing one of his teammates but his final run of
4.235 was not quick enough to move him up in the field and avoid a JFR
vs. JFR match-up. He will have to race rookie of the year favorite Mike
Neff in the first round. It is a prospect that the rookie is prepared
for even though he did not have picture perfect passes.

McCLENATHAN TAKES TOP SPOT IN DENVER; PEDREGON, ANDERSON, KRAWIEC ALSO NO. 1 AT MILE-HIGH NATIONALS

Cory McClenathan has a bye run in the first round on Sunday.

Cory McClenathan raced to the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel as
qualifying came to an end Saturday at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA
Nationals at Bandimere Speedway

Tony Pedregon, Greg Anderson and Eddie Krawiec were also No. 1
qualifiers in their respective categories at the 13th of 24 events on
the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

McClenathan’s run of 3.929-seconds at 308.07 mph from Friday night was
fast enough to keep him and his FRAM dragster in the top spot. It’s
McClenathan’s second No. 1 qualifier of the season, 32nd of his career
and third in Denver.

Mike Buckner shudders when he imagines what could have happened.

The end result of the runaway Don Schumacher Racing souvenir trailer. (Donnie Faulkner Photo)

Buckner is the Merchandising Director for Don Schumacher Racing and on
the Thursday’s parking day at the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals in
Denver, Co., a souvenir trailer broke loose from his Humvee and
careened out of control through the parking lot and down a hill. The
errant trailer struck a hill and narrowly missed a motor coach pulling
another souvenir trailer.

“We were coming up the hill, the safety chains were attached and the
electric brakes were on,” Buckner said. “We reached an apex point where
the trailer went upward and the tow vehicle was straight. It just
released and popped and the trailer came off. The trailer started going
straight back down the hill.”