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QUALIFYING SESSION RECAPS

FUNNY CAR Q1 (6:23 p.m.): Track records dropped like flies in the opening qualifying session at Bandimere Speedway as John Force Racing picked up right where they left off from last season at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. John Force held the track record for about a minute before his daughter, Courtney Force, snatched it from him to move into the No. 1 spot with a 3.889 elapsed time. The three JFR drivers hold the top three spots. Robert Hight’s 3.973 got him into the No. 3 slot, while Jonnie Lindberg made a 3.993 pass to get into the No. 4 spot and Tim Wilkerson’s 3.996 pass put him at No. 5 in the provisional qualifying order. [Detailed results]

TOP FUEL Q1 (6:35 p.m.): Rain showers ended the opening Top Fuel qualifying session before it could be completed. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team grabbed the No. 1 spot on the last pass before the rain fell, carding a 3.806. Shawn Langdon was a distant second with a 3.897. Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, Tony Schumacher, and Steve Torrence were the four drivers in line when the session was halted. [Detailed results] 

UPDATE (7:15 p.m.): Rain has stopped and track drying is under way. As soon as the track is dried, Top Fuel will resume with the remaining two pairs, followed by Pro Stock Motorcycle and Pro Stock, followed by another round of nitro qualifying. There will not be a second round of Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

TOP FUEL Q1 RESUMPTION (8 p.m.): Steve Torrence took the No. 1 spot from Force on the last pass of the delayed session, uncorking a 3.797. Tony Schumacher slid into the No. 3 spot behind Torrence and Force with a 3.821.

PRO STOCK Q1 (8:42 p.m.): The finalists from the national event held two weeks ago in Chicago took the top two spots after the first Pro Stock qualifying session. Drew Skillman, who took home the Wally from the Fallen Patriot Route 66 NHRA Nationals by beating Erica Enders, posted a 6.925-second pass to take the No. 1 slot. That beat Enders’ 6.944 run, while Greg Anderson (6.958) slotted into the No. 3 spot, teammate Jason Line (6.959) sits fourth, and Allen “King of the Mountain” Johnson is in fifth with an identical elapsed time but a lower top speed.

PRO STOCK MOTOCYCLE Q1 (8:55 p.m.): Eddie Krawiec and the Vance & Hines team finally found the sweet spot for his new Screamin Eagle Harley Street Rod as he powered the three-race old machine to the No. 1 spot with a 7.178. Hector Arana Jr., who qualified No. 2 in Chicago, is again in the second spot with a 7.191 from his Lucas Oil Buell. Reigning season champ Jerry Savoie sits third with his pink-hued White Alligator Suzuki with a 7.206. Savoie’s teammate, points leader L.E. Tonglet, sits sixth.

FUNNY CAR Q2 (9:23 p.m.): Nobody broke up the John Force Racing blockade in the second qualifying session, nor could anyone take advantage of cool track conditions in to unseat Courtney Force from her perch as the provisional No. 1 qualifier. Only Tim Wilkerson (3.989) made a successful run down the track, though Jack Beckman gets partial credit with a 4.024-second pass that ended with a relatively mild explosion. Ron Capps’ 4.676-second run earned him one qualifying bonus point as the third-best run of the second session, but didn’t improve on his 4.016 from the first session.

TOP FUEL Q2 (9:55 p.m.): Doug Kalitta, whose Mac Tools dragster wouldn’t even fire for the first qualifying session, bounced back with a vengeance to claim the No. 1 spot with a track-record 3.767; the old mark was 3.776 by Steve Torrence. Kalitta, winner of this event in 2010, held onto the top spot despite a strong 3.775 try by Torrence to end the session. Tony Schumacher was just a thousandth of a second back with a 3.776. 

FEATURES

As one of just seven drivers to have swept the Western Swing, Antron Brown knows that there’s a long road ahead of him to do it again, and not just the highway miles between Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle. The Matco team’s sweep of the Swing in 2009 was the last time anyone has accomplished the feat
 
"It's tough," Brown said. "The conditions and the changes that these crew chiefs have to make in three weeks is what makes it so difficult. Brian [Corradi] and Mark [Oswald, crew chiefs] are the best of the best and we've done it before and we'd love to do it again."

Having the mile-high races as the first of three doesn’t help the effort to sweep either, as it’s a tough race for man and machine.

“Denver is one of those races where you never know what you’re going to get,” said Brown. “It’s a tough, grueling race from a crew chief and team perspective where the thin air, the sun and the heat are so physically demanding. The altitude is demanding on the car, too, because you can’t make the same type of power and it’s hard to stay focused and make the adjustments when the elements are beating you down. 

“We change almost everything on the car. You go to Denver like you’re playing craps. You just roll those dice and hope they come out right so you stumble onto a good combination that’s going to work. That had been our Achilles heel for a stretch before we made it to the finals last year because Denver had been eating us up a little bit. We’ve won there twice and been runner-up five times. 

“When you win here, it’s gratifying. It’s not the Mile-High Nationals, it’s really the ‘King of the Hill Nationals’ and if you make it to the top, you’ve done something really special.

"It's getting tougher every year to win one race, let alone three in a row," he added. "We've been to six finals this year and came away with two wins.”

It’s been a long, tough march for Tony Schumacher and the Army team since their last victory of the season at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, and even tougher in the summer where they’ve won just two rounds in the last six events, capped by a surprising first-round loss two weeks ago to Top Fuel rookie Blake Alexander in Chicago.

All of that makes the sight of picturesque Bandimere Speedway a welcome site for the eight-time season champ. He’s the defending champ here, a runner-up the previous year, and has two other wins at the mile-high venue. His first win here, in 2008, kicked off his only Western Swing sweep en route to that year’s season championship.

“Denver is a place I can just be thankful for the absolute lack of bad memories I have there,” he said. “It’s zero. Even though we lost in the first round there a few years ago, we were No. 1 qualifier for the first time that year and that sort of kicked off the momentum that carried us through the championship. Two years ago, we came back and qualified second and lost a close race to Steve Torrence in the final. And last year was just amazing in how it all finally came together for the win. We don’t have a race anywhere else on the circuit like Denver, and we can go there and pull off a victory like that – it was just a fantastic day.”

It’s been nearly a decade in the making, but Greg Carrillo finally made his official Top Fuel debut with his opening qualifying pass.

Carrillo, a three-time NHRA Super Comp national event winner – his first win came at this event in 1990 – began chasing his Top Fuel dream in 2008, just before the economy crashed and ended his sponsorship hunt. An experienced motorsports marketer – his Super Comp cars enjoyed backing from Coors beer – Carrillo has tried numerous times since to move the project along by completing his licensing and testing but it took until this season to get everything lined up.

His longtime friend, 40-year fuel-racing veteran Glenn Mikres, brought along his experience and another former driver turned crew chief, Johnny West, is also on board at this event. Although Carrillo lives in Arizona, he’s formerly from the area, and the car is also locally based, in Fort Morgan .

Sponsorship is being provided at this event by Santiago’s Mexican Restaurants, a 25-year-old chain that has more than two-dozen eateries in the area. Owner Carmen Morales is on hand, helping serve the restaurant’s signature food to the hungry crew and guests. The company is very committed to the community, and through Caruso Family Charities it assists Colorado families being treated for life-threatening diseases or life-altering events. Last year it raised more than $185,00.

The team will evaluate its performance after this race before deciding on its future schedule, but Carrillo is optimistic of their future.

“I think that we can show companies some real return on their investment,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of experience in all forms of event marketing and now that we’ve got the car up and running, we’ll see where it all goes. I’ve always wanted to do this, but I wanted to do it right. I feel very lucky to have my friend of 30 years, Glenn, tuning the car with Johnny West helping. It’s very comforting to look out there and see their gray hair and know that it means experience, which is what we need.”

Courtney Force got off to a great start in the Eastern Swing this year. She runnered up to Matt Hagan and moved into third place. Things have been downhill from there. Force slid to sixth over the next three races of the swing, culminating in her first career DNQ in Norwalk.

She proceeded to lose to J.R. Todd in the first round of Chicago, an upset in terms of where the cars sat in qualifying (and the standings). It was also the first time since race No. 6 in Charlotte that Force lost in the first round. 

That DNQ in Norwalk remains the only blemish on her qualifying sheet. Force’s qualifying times have been nothing short of spectacular: She’s qualified in the top four in every other race this season, including grabbing pole position five times. 

So far, that hasn’t translated to Sunday success. Bandimere Speedway is a place she’s come close to conquering twice, including last year where an all-Force final went the way of her father, John. He beat her in a holeshot victory by a .016-second margin by grabbing a better reaction time by .018. She also fell in a final to Jack Beckman in 2012. 

The nine-time Funny Car winner has found success during the Western Swing in the past, winning in Seattle twice and Sonoma once. With five races to go and 84 points separating Force from Tommy Johnson Jr., grabbing 16 win lights on Sunday would provide a big boost towards climbing the standings.

Jack Beckman boasts a lot of racing experience, but few places compare to how much he enjoys going to Bandimere Speedway. Don’t take our word for it, though. Take his. 

"I get asked a lot from friends, from fans and they say, 'Hey, listen. We want to pick a race to go to that we've never been to, do you have any recommendations?' And Denver is always right at the top of my list," Beckman said.

It’s not because of the record-breaking speeds or elapsed times; you’re unlikely to see either at the mile-high track just west of Denver. But the scenic location makes it one of the NHRA’s most iconic tracks. 

"You're not going to see record-breaking elapsed times you see at the sea level tracks, but it doesn't matter,” said Beckman. “It's so completely unique in every aspect of the facility. From the fact that it's carved into the side of the mountain, from the point that it's a mile above sea level, meaning that none of our tune-up data from the 20 other tracks seems to apply there, and the fact that it's family-owned and has been there for five decades.”

Its location makes it an incredible spectacle for fans, but a challenge for crew chiefs. As Beckman eluded to, the only tune-up data of any value came from last year’s race; making every Mile-High Nationals a special challenge. 

"Every single aspect of that facility is perfect for drivers and a nightmare for crew chiefs,” said Beckman. “But for the fans and the drivers, it's a spectacle that no other facility can offer."

Beckman has three wins in Denver, the most recent of which came in 2015. He also won in 2012 and 2007. The driver of the Infinite Hero Funny Car has two wins on the season, one in Norwalk and another in Englishtown and currently sits in third place behind Don Schumacher Racing teammates Ron Capps and Matt Hagan.

 
John Force and Tim Wilkerson had a close encounter of the high-speed time in their first qualifying run as both drifted towards the centerline, then narrowly avoided a collision in the shutdown area. (animated gif)

“I had to lift because it was drifting to the inside," said Force, whose early-shutoff 3.89 was a track record at the time before it was bettered by daughter Courtney's 3.88. “A lot of times at these tracks it will drift to the outside, but both of us went inside.  You gotta protect the other driver. I lifted and it still ran good.”
 

With his unparalleled success at Bandimere Speedway, a lot of people joke that NHRA might as well go ahead and hand the Pro Stock trophy to Allen Johnson before we even begin, and who could blame them?

A.J. and his Mopar have been to 10 straight finals at this event with seven wins, which ties him with Bob Glidden and John Force as the event’s winningest driver and certainly it’s most successful in the last decade.

His first win at the event came in 2007 over Ron Krisher and, after a runner-up to Greg Anderson the following year, he beat Jason Line in 2009 and Jeg Coughlin Jr. in 2010. Mike Edwards beat him in the 2011 final, but he followed with a pair of final-round victories over Colorado favorite V, Gaines (2012 and ’13) and Coughlin (2014). Larry Morgan put an end to his streak in the final in 2015 but Johnson rebounded to win again last year

“We’ve had a lot of success and put in a lot of hard work up on the mountain to get the title of King of the Mountain,” Johnson laughed. “We worked out tails off every year testing before the race and our team developed a great setup for that race over the years. EFI took the way our advantage last year but some way or another, we still got it done last year. The term ‘King of the Mountain’ is one of the top two or three things that has happened to me in my career.”

Tricky tuning conditions led many teams to come test at Bandimere Speedway in the days leading up to the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. But not Jason Line and the rest of KB Racing. Citing the high cost of such testing, Line hopes the four qualifying sessions are enough to adjust to the thin Denver air.

“It may be worth it, but you spend a lot of money coming out here to test,” said Line. “We rent the transmission gears and all that stuff because they’re so wildly different.”

The cost of renting those gears just adds to the cost of coming out early. And while added testing may help adjust to the conditions, Line feels they had the best car by the time Sunday rolled around during last year’s event. 

“We still should have won the race last year,” said Line. “By the time Sunday rolled around we were the best car even though we weren’t in qualifying. The point is by the time Sunday gets here we’ll have figured it out. We’ve got 12 runs is what you’ve got, between the three cars.”

Those three cars also have all the data from last year now that Pro Stock is in its second year of electronic fuel injection. Line feels that data should help make the adjustment to the climate a little easier than last year.

After qualifying no better than 10th at the season’s first four events, former Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith knew something was definitely awry with his sleek new Polaris Victory Magnum. The bike was making great power but not handling correctly, forcing him to lean hard to keep the bike on track.

The bike had already spent 10 hours in the wind tunnel during development in December, but Smith couldn’t put a finger on his problems until he made a return trip following his surprising DNQ in Englishtown. It was then the team discovered that a misaligned mounting bracket was causing the body to not sit correctly and was creating a disturbance in the air flow.

“We saw it right away and it was a pretty easy fix, and things have just gotten better from there,” said Smith. who was the No. 1 qualifier in Norwalk and No. 3 in Chicago. “We’ve been trying a lot of stuff that’s working, and we’re anxious to try out our new fuel-injection system up here. It may take us a few runs to get it dialed in, but we think it will be fast.”

One thing that isn’t working out so well for the team is the side skirts on the rear tire, which are trapping air and creating drag. The skirts, which give the bike its distinctive look, are part of the factory look, so they’re required by NHRA. Smith has asked NHRA for allowance, whether shorter skirts, air vents, or flaps to alleviate the problem, but they’re not allowed.

If he stands at the edge of his pit area in the elevated Bandimere Speedway pits and looks east across Highway 470, Mike Berry can not only see his Littleton, Colo., race shop but also the house he grew up in, so to say this is a hometown race for him is a bit of an understatement.

The fact that his lone final-round appearance in national event competition came at this event, in 2003, also is not lost on him as prepares to hopefully show off for the armada of friends and family who will be on hand to root him on.

Berry has finally battled his way through ignition gremlins that have slowed John Hammock’s Vroom Racing Buell, and with those problems behind him, is anxious to give his brand-new engine, which has been in the works for months but postponed by dyno problems and the ignition gremlin, its first passes down the track.

“It’s been frustrating trying to track down the problem because there wasn’t an obvious miss or anything; it wasn’t something so obvious that you could see it with a timing light or easily figure it out or, but I’m glad we finally did,” he said. “I was honestly very discouraged and ready to quit running before I stumbled across it.”

While he gets to sleep in his own bed every night, Berry knows what every “hometown” racer does: the demand for tickets from friends and family is overwhelming.

“I’ve had to buy tickets and borrow tickets from everyone I know, and I’m still short,” he said with a good-natured laugh. “It’s been stressful, so riding will be the easy part.”

Berry’s Vroom Racing teammate, David Hope, is also competing at this event, which should give him twice the data and, hopefully, a push toward yet another fine showing for family and friends.

Bo Butner got his. Clay Millican got his. Scotty Pollacheck, a drag racing community turns its lonely eyes to you. The Pro Stock Motorcycle rider has been a finalist five times, most recently in Reading in 2014, but looks poised to take the next step this season.

He’s in fourth place in points after six races, his best position this late in the season in his career. Pollacheck has made three semifinal appearances and advanced past the first round in every race. That’s helped him stay in the top five all season long. 

Joining the five-bike Stoffer-Underdahl team hasn’t hurt matters any, giving Pollacheck stability while allowing the riders to share data. 

“For as many bikes as we have, there’s no chaos,” said Pollacheck. “Everybody has their own little deal. It’s pretty smooth and everybody gets along good. We’re really happy with the way everything has been going.”

Switching teams meant changing from a Buell to a Suzuki, which offered a bit of an adjustment process for Pollacheck. 

“It took longer than I thought it would (to adjust to the new bike),” said Pollacheck. “I guess it was more different than I thought it would be. It handles way different and the gears are way, way different, but it’s good though, I like it. It just takes a little to get used to.”

The class has, up to this point, been dominated by LE Tonglet. The Louisiana native has won four out of six races and is unbeaten in final rounds. But if this version of Pollacheck is one that’s just getting warmed up, look out. He might be on the verge of a breakout. 

PHOTOS

Race weekend kicked off Thursday with the traditional Mopar Mile-High Block Party in nearby Golden, Colo., where fans crowded the street to check out Mopars on display and other attractions.

Mopar-sponsored Funny Car hero Matt Hagan was among the NHRA Mello Yello stars who took part in an autograph session at the Block Party.

A strong crowd was on hand at Bandimere Speedway for the opening day of qualifying at the event.

Leah Pritchett, far lane, defeated Matt Hagan in a special macth race between a pair of Mopar's hot new Dodge Challenger SRT Demons. Hagan got the better light but Pritchett chased him down for the win.
 

Greg Carrillo won't soon forget the first run of his Top Fuel career as a mechanical malfunction led to some wild-looking header flames. The team later found a problem with the blower rotors that led to the problem.

The body language says it all for veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Steve Johnson, whose Suzuki died on the starting line just as he was set to take the green light.

Robert Hight's Auto Club Mustang left the line with a long trail of header fir; the high altitude climes of Bandimere Speedway often provide unique flame patterns.

A pair of jets dragsters helped bring the evening to a dramatic conclusion ...

Followed by an impressive fireworks display.

PREVIEW

The Western Swing starts with the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, Colo. as the first of three-straight races. Three of the four points leaders picked up Wallys at the Mello Yello Series last stop in Chicago, while Drew Skillman became the ninth Pro Stock driver to win this season. 

Standing in the way of a 10th Pro Stock racer picking up a Wally this season is Allen Johnson, who has won four of the last five contests in Denver and reached the final in the Mile-High City each of the last 10 years. His seven wins in Denver ties him with Bob Glidden, while John Force’s six is the second-most of any other active driver on tour. 

Force may hold the record for most wins (both all-time and in Denver, for Funny Car anyway), but Ron Capps has been the driver to beat in the flopper category this season. He picked up his class-best sixth Wally in Chicago and is running away with the points lead as the rest of the class does its best to keep up. 

Capps holds a 186-point lead over second place driver, and Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Matt Hagan with five races to go until points reset for the Countdown to the Championship. The bottom of the table is where things are a little more interesting as four drivers battle for 10th place. Cruz Pedregon sits in 10th with 463 points, while Alexis DeJoria is just 26 points behind in 14th. 

The story isn’t much different in Top Fuel, where Steve Torrence tightened his grip on first place by earning his fifth victory of the season. He did it by beating a good friend, Antron Brown. It was their meeting of the season in a final round, and Torrence has the best of Brown 2-1. That should help soothe the pain of their lopsided rivalry, which Brown dominates. 

Much like in Funny Car, the bottom of the table is where the intrigue lies. Torrence is now 101 points ahead of Leah Pritchett, who leads DSR teammate Brown by a pair of points. Currently fighting for a spot in the Countdown are Terry McMillen (8th place, 509 points), Scott Palmer (9th place, 496 points), Troy Coughlin Jr. (10th place, 480 points), and Shawn Langdon (11th place, 411 points). 

Skillman became the ninth different winner in Pro Stock this season, but Bo Butner is still the driver to beat. He leads Greg Anderson by 139 points and has been dominant since getting his first win in the class earlier this season. If there’s a surprise in Pro Stock this year, it’s who hasn’t won: Jeg Coughlin Jr. “The Natural” has been to two final rounds (Topeka and Houston), but he hasn’t been able to seal the deal; at least, not yet. 

That Elite Motorsports team’s performance is coming around, though. Coughlin’s teammate, Erica Enders, got back into the winner’s circle this year and runnered up in Chicago. It’s easy to be distracted by her incredible reaction times, but she’ll be the first to tell you that the performance of the Elite team is starting to get where they want it to be. If there’s smart money to be played on who the 10th winner will be, it’s on Jeg. 

While Pro Stock in 2017 has been about the diversity of winners, Pro Stock Motorcycle has bene all about one man: LE Tonglet. If there’s a secret to beating Tonglet this year (and there’s probably not), it seems to be this: get it done early. Both of his losses have come in the second round (in Englishtown and in Gainesville). When he’s advanced past that? Goodnight Irene. He’s undefeated in the other four races.

That scintillating start has paced Tonglet to a 141-point lead over second-place Eddie Krawiec after just six races. So far, teaming up with defending champ Jerry Savoie has paid dividends for Tonglet, who has qualified either first or second in the last four races. He’s taken that great qualifying performance and transfer it to Sunday, too: Tonglet is 14-4 in final rounds. If anyone can take the heat, it’s Tonglet; but you knew that already. 

NATIONAL RECORDS: 

Top Fuel 
3.658 seconds by Leah Pritchett, Feb. ‘17, Phoenix, Ariz.
333.66 mph by Brittany Force, May '17, Topeka, Kan.

Funny Car
3.802 and 338.85 mph by Matt Hagan, May ’17, Topeka, Kan.

Pro Stock
6.455 sec. by Jason Line, March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.
215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14, Englishtown N.J.

Pro Stock Motorcycle
6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.
199.88 mph by Hector Arana Jr., March ’15, Charlotte, N.C.

TRACK RECORDS: 

Top Fuel
3.776 sec. by Steve Torrence, July ’16
326.95 mph by Brittany Force, July ’15

Funny Car
3.917 sec. by Courtney Force July ’16
322.81 mph by Robert Hight, July ’16

Pro Stock
6.877 sec. by Allen Johnson, July ’15
201.01 mph by Shane Gray, July ’15

Pro Stock Motorcycle
7.134 sec. by Andrew Hines, July ’16
187.96 mph by Andrew Hines, July ’16