Brogdon hopes fast start in Englishtown leads to faster finish

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – For ProtectTheHarvest.com Pro Stock driver Rodger Brogdon, a quick start is essential to a good finish, so when he lines up his Chevrolet Camaro for the first qualifying session of the Toyota NHRA Summernationals this weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, he’s hoping for a good pass.

“Hopefully, you can get out of the trailer with a good, solid first run and get some good information,” Brogdon said. “We didn’t get to do that in Topeka and it really set us back.”

Brogdon struggled last weekend after an engine problem beset the team during Q1. He and his crew fought from behind all weekend but were not able to repeat their success from Atlanta, where they came out swinging with an engine from Elite Motorsports, qualified No. 5, and won the first round.

“You chase the car all weekend if you don’t make a good first run,” Brogdon said. “To do well in Pro Stock period, if you come out of the trailer with a decent run, you can start working off of that. That’s everybody’s goal, to try to get some good data from Q1.”

If Brogdon can lay down a good pass in the first session, crew chief Jeff Perley and the team can tune the car off that, depending on weather and track conditions. Plus, with a good qualifying pass under their belt, Brogdon and the team can turn their attention to getting a good race-day tune-up.

Whatever happens, Brogdon looks forward to racing in Englishtown, one of the legendary stops on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.

“The fans up there are incredible,” Brogdon said. “It was a good place to race Competition Eliminator and they really like Pro Stock up there, so we like going there.”

Four rounds of Pro Stock qualifying will feature sessions at 4 and 6:15 p.m., Friday, and 12:45 and 3:15 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations are slated to start at 11 a.m., Sunday. Both qualifying and elimination action will be broadcast on ESPN2.