Pro Stock’s Rodger Brogdon Suffers Through Frustrating Weekend In Norwalk

NORWALK, OH — After another frustrating weekend in Pro Stock, this time in Norwalk at the NHRA national event, Rodger Brogdon believes a small break may be the best thing for him.

Brogdon’s string of misfortune continued on Sunday in his DMG MORI Camaro, as the Pro Stock veteran lost in the first round to Elite Motorsports teammate Alex Laughlin.

It marked Brogdon’s fourth straight first-round loss, which means a little rest, relaxation and time away from the track is next on his agenda.

“I’m going to skip the Western Swing, come back in Brainerd and hopefully that will change our luck,” Brogdon said. “We’re snakebit right now. I shook the past two races, and it’s just been frustrating.”

Brogdon, who dropped to 10th in points after the race, hopes the time away and a chance to reset in August at Brainerd will help cure some of the car’s ills.

Sunday’s first-round loss was perhaps the most frustrating of the bunch, the final straw in a disappointing weekend that saw the team try three motors over the course of three days.

Unfortunately, Brogdon and the team couldn’t find an ideal combination in any of them, with Sunday’s first round part of that. Brogdon’s Camaro struggled on the burnout and that continued on the run. He was first off the line with a .056 reaction time, but slowed to an 8.210 at just 135.46 mph.

“I knew something was going on during the burnout when it kept grabbing the tire, and I kept trying to give it more and more gas and it wouldn’t go anywhere,” Brogdon said. “I just figured it was broke and we didn’t really realize what happened. I was down two holes and about 600 horsepower, and we really didn’t have a chance. My bad races just seem to continue.”

If Brogdon doesn’t race on the NHRA’s Western Swing, his return will come Aug. 15-18 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. It will be the 11th of 18 races during the 2019 NHRA Pro Stock season.