Antron Brown leads off the DSR Pre race Report for the Mile High Nationals

Published July 17, 2013

Jersey boy Brown ready to head west for annual gold rush with first stop near Denver to start NHRA Western Swing

– Antron Brown is a New Jersey native living near Indianapolis who feels very comfortable racing west of the Mississippi.

After a rare weekend off, Brown’s Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster team along with the rest of Don Schumacher Racing head west to Denver this week to begin the traditional NHRA Western Swing that includes races at Bandimere Speedway followed by successive racing weekends near San Francisco and Seattle.

It’s a trifecta in which the reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion has cashed in on before and came close a year ago.

Brown swept the Swing in 2009, and a year ago won the first two legs by finishing first at Bandimere and a week later at Sonoma Raceway.

“I love our trip out West,” said Brown, who owns two titles this season and is ranked fifth in championship points with crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald.

“The scenery is beautiful, the fans know their stuff and we’ve done pretty well out there.”

In addition to winning twice at Bandimere, he has been runner-up four times including three times in Pro Stock Motorcycle. He was the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel twice and once on a motorcycle.

The Matco team has been challenged this season by a series of unusual mechanical gremlins that Corradi and Oswald believe were solved last week during a test session at Lucas Oil Raceway, which is about three miles from DSR headquarters in Brownsburg, Ind.

The team lost in the first round two weeks ago at Norwalk, Ohio, which marked the sixth time in eight races in which the team did not get past the opening round.

“We’re all good,” Brown said. “We’ve just had some odd things happen to us, but our Matco boys never got down; it’s brought us closer as a team. We’d like to have won more races but we’re in great shape for the Swing and then we’ll be ready for the Countdown.

“I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Brian, Mark and all the guys.”

Brown is on schedule to win six titles for the fourth time in the past five seasons; he accomplished that in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Last season he won twice in the first 12 events – this year he won twice in the first 11 events – and then won four of the next eight to lead the Top Fuel category.

Beginning with the Bandimere event, only five NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series remain before standings are reset for the top-10 drivers to compete for the world championship during the six-event Countdown to the Championship.

Massey hopes for Mile-High success at Bandimere this weekend with Battery Extender dragster team

– Spencer Massey has been on top of the mountain before at Bandimere Speedway near Denver. He has plans to do the same this year as the NHRA Mello Yello Series sets out on its yearly “Western Swing” with stops near Denver, Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle in three consecutive weeks.

In 2012, Spencer Massey captured the No. 1 qualifying position at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. The year before, he defeated his Don Schumacher Racing teammates Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher en route to the event title.

Massey’s Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster sits firmly in the third spot in the Mello Yello Top Fuel points heading to Denver, four rounds of racing behind Schumacher and more than five rounds ahead of Doug Kalitta in fourth.

“The Western Swing is probably the toughest part of our schedule,” said Massey. “We start out in Denver, where it’s just hard to get these nitro powered machines down the track. These engines like a lot of oxygen and there’s just not a lot of it up a mile above sea level.

“The only thing is for that race you have to prepare yourself physically to be able to manhandle the mountain. The crews also have to work harder there because it’s a totally different setup. Our guys have built 15 different sets of rods and pistons just for this race. If you are fortunate enough to make eight runs in the weekend, it’s always very demanding up there for the crew.”

With only five races remaining in the NHRA’s regular season before the Countdown to the Championship begins near Charlotte, getting momentum is key.

“These next five races are important,” he said. “We have to keep ourselves in position to be in the top three when the Countdown starts.

“I would like to have our upswing near the end of the year. Last year we won a bunch of races early in the year and then kind of fell off at the end of the season. If we could have our momentum swing around the for Countdown this year that would be when we want it the most.”

Hagan, Magneti Marelli Funny Car team kick off Western Swing with Mile-High hopes of going rounds at Bandimere Speedway

– This time last year, Matt Hagan had only four elimination round wins heading into the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver.

But 2013 is a different season for the driver of the Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Funny Car. If Hagan wins one round of eliminations on Sunday, he will match the total number of round wins he registered through the entire 23-event 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Crew chief Dickie Venables, who started with Don Schumacher Racing just two weeks prior to the 2013 season opener in Pomona, Calif., has tuned Hagan to three event titles in five final round appearances and two No. 1 qualifier positions.

But getting that round next round win won’t be easy. The Mopar Mile-High Nationals is one of the toughest events in the 24-race schedule because of the mile-high altitude.

“Hands down, Denver is challenging because the way the cars have to run up there with less oxygen in the thinner air,” Hagan said. “Being a mile high, the car sounds so bad, if it’s sounding like that at sea level, you would shut it off. Up there, it’s a whole different ballgame.”

Crew chiefs rely on their years of track data and notes to tune the 10,000-horsepower nitro powered machines.

“You know, I think that Dickie, he has a lot of notes, very knowledgeable, been out here a long time racing. That will play into our advantage of hopefully having some data and stuff to look back at, combinations to work off of when we do get up there.”

The goal for the Magneti Marelli/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T team is to make the journey back to the Don Schumacher Racing headquarters just the way they did when they left as points leaders for the three-week Western Swing that includes stops at Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle.

“I think we’ve got one of the most consistent race cars out here,” he said. “I guess to say because of Dickie Venables; the guy is phenomenal. He’s the baddest crew chief I’ve ever worked with, the most consistent.

“I think the points show how consistent our car is. We have a 101-point lead on everybody. I think as long as we keep working hard, digging deep, just keep our heads down, I think this thing will turn out the way we need it to in the end.”

Hagan will kick off the Mopar-themed weekend with his car on display beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday evening at the Mopar Block Party in Golden, Colo.

Beckman’s love affair with Mile-High Bandimere started decades before he became a double Funny Car winner at famed track

– Jack Beckman has never visited a dragstrip he didn’t like but admits some are more special than others.

The reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion will get to spend time at one of those “special” tracks this weekend when he competes in the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver.

His love affair became stronger after he won the Mile-High Funny Car title last year marking the second time (2009 the other) he won at the famed track on the mountain. He also was the No. 1 qualifier a year ago with the MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors/Valvoline MaxLife Dodge Charger R/T. He also was runner-up in 2008 for Don Schumacher Racing.

But being the recipient of considerable hardware from the track is not what started his affection for the facility owned and operated by the Bandimere family.

Beckman was in the U.S. Air Force in 1984 stationed about 20 minutes from the racetrack. That year was the first time he attended a race at Bandimere Speedway.

“I was so blown away by the facility,” recalled Beckman, 47, who was 21 when he was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a sergeant.

“I was raised on Southern California drag racing. It was so completely different seeing a dragstrip carved into the side of a mountain. For the next three years while I was still in the Air Force I drove a thousand miles roundtrip to be at that race.

“I fell in love with the facility. To go there this week as a two-time and defending champion is a pinch-me moment. I’m close with the Bandimere family and in awe of their outreach programs and relationship with the community.”

Beckman cites the history of when John Bandimere Sr. purchased a parcel of land on the west side of Denver nestled against the Hogback leading up to the Rocky Mountains. What started as a small dragstrip and test track has blossomed into one of the most pristine facilities on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit.

This marks the 55th year of operation by the Bandimere family, now led by president John Jr. and his son, John III.

“I didn’t believe it could get any better when I won there for the first time in 2009,” Beckman said. “But being able to win back to back and in their 55th year would top that.”

Capps uses family time on California vacation to prepare for NHRA Western Swing and final half of Mello Yello season

– Ron Capps might have to endure some discomfort when he arrives at Bandimere Speedway near Denver this week for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

If he is a little uncomfortable when he puts on his NAPA AUTO PARTS firesuit it only would be from a few mosquito bites or a little sunburn.

After being the runner-up at the last NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event at Norwalk, Ohio, Capps headed home near San Diego before whisking his family in their RV up the California coast to Lake Nacimiento near Monterey on the first leg of a two-week vacation.

And for the next two weekends he’ll trade his shorts and flip-flops for his NAPA racing gear and driving boots when he flies to Denver for this weekend’s event and a week later to Sonoma, Calif., for the first two stops on the three-event NHRA Western Swing.

“It’s our annual vacation and it comes at a great time of year for me,” said Capps, who was born in San Luis Obispo not far from Monterey. “It’s at the halfway point of the season, and it really heats up from here on out.

“The kids are going to start getting busy as the summer winds down. It’s just a great time to be with family and old friends.”

With 13 of 24 Mello Yello events completed, Capps and his NAPA AUTO PARTS team started to make a strong move at Chicago three weeks ago when crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant John Collins tuned Capps to the No. 1 qualifying spot with a time of 3.988 seconds, which is the quickest Funny Car run of the season.

The NAPA team backed that up the following week at Norwalk, Ohio, when Capps qualified third and advanced to his third championship round of the season where he lost to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Johnny Gray.

“We had a couple tough races at Bristol (Tenn.) and Epping (N.H.) but our NAPA Dodge Charger looks like its back on course,” said Capps, whose only title this season came in the second event of the season.

“The last two races we had a great hot rod. Tobler is on his game again.”

Those performances moved Capps to fourth in points and just one point out of third, 26 behind Gray in second and 127 behind points leader and DSR teammate Matt Hagan.

“I told our team we’ll have the points lead by Brainerd,” he said of the Aug. 15-18 event in Minnesota that is the 15th race of the year. “That’s a goal we’ve set. We pulled it off last year coming from ninth place. I don’t see why we can’t do it now.”

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