Booher’s Regional Championship Chase Continues at Earlville
CHAMPAIGN, IL – Following a No.1 qualifying effort and semifinal appearance in Bowling Green, Ky. and a strong showing at the 
legendary 59th Annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon Booher is heading to Earlville, Iowa with aspirations of locking up his first NHRA North Central regional championship. If Booher can seal the deal, he will be the first blown alcohol driver to win the North Central region/division title since 2008 and the first torque converter-equipped TAD to win it ever.
Brandon attempted to lock it up at the Bowling Green regional event two weeks ago. He earned his fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the year and reached the semifinals. The AB Construction/Torque Management dragster left too early by just six thousandths of a second, ending his weekend and pushing back the championship decision.
Another strong qualifying attempt followed at last weekend’s prestigious U.S. Nationals. Booher qualified third in a field that included many of the top cars in the country. The 2010 Spitzer-built entry was one of the quickest car of all four qualifying sessions, including the final session when Brandon clicked off a 5.36 pass.
“I think it showed the car’s performance, that it can run right there with some of the best cars in the country, whether they’re blown or A/Fuel. The car has definite potential, and I think we’re just beginning to see what it can do. The big thing is we had consistency on all of those runs. We were able to improve every time the car went down the track. Going into eliminations, we had a secure foundation to build a successful race day,” said the 30-year old driver.
Brandon’s 5.38 first round win over Bill Litton was the second-quickest elapsed time of the round. The car was set up to repeat on the second round pass against Aaron Olivarez but the car’s magneto wouldn’t provide the power to make it happen.
“The car was idling low when we started it, which was weird. I had my dad pull the air bleeds off the injector and that helped. I staged the car, had a great reaction time, and then the car just didn’t want to go anywhere. The team got it back to the pits and realized that the mag had lost phase. Basically the magneto was not generating any power. The car had two degrees of timing in it from the time I got on the trans-brake until the time I lifted it. When I saw Aaron’s front wheel there was no point in chasing. I knew my car had a problem. I would’ve been hurting parts that I need to go to Earlville to hopefully lock up the regional championship,” Brandon explained.
The former Pro Top Outlaw champion remains confident after second round losses at the last two races. Both losses came from preventable issues that the family-owned team has learned from.
“The car has been a picture of consistency,” Brandon claimed. “If you look at our losses this year, they’re all small issues – driver error with red lights, ignition issues, a silly wheelie bar problem, and a seized oil pump. You take away those issues and the car is on a string. It goes out and runs, doesn’t hurt parts, and it makes everything easier. It makes the crew’s job easier and it keeps my confidence level high. We had the red light at Bowling Green and the ignition problem here, but that does not deter me. The crew stuck around to service the car and prepare it for Earlville. We fixed the problem, everything is fresh, and we’re going to be ready to chase a regional championship this weekend.”
After calculations and in-depth conversations with his team, Brandon knows what needs to happen at this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Series regional event in Earlville, Iowa.
“We need to win,”Booher said. “We need to erase any doubt, any skepticism, and any thoughts that what we’ve accomplished so far may be a fluke. It’s definitely not. As Al Davis said, ‘Just win, baby.’ That’s my goal. I’m going there with my eye on the prize and settling for nothing less than leaving with the trophy. From a mathematical standpoint, I believe we need to win first round to prevent Marty Thacker from going around us. We need to reach the finals to prevent Bill Reichert from going around us. Both of those cars would need to win another regional event to take the title. It’s kind of on my shoulders and it’s kind of not. To me, they have a lot more weight on theirs then I do mine. I control my own destiny to a point.”
