Brogdon starts strong, qualifies No. 3 for season opener in Pomona

POMONA, CA – Rodger Brogdon is optimistic he can have a big day at the season-opening Pro Stock race after qualifying his Rodger Brogdon Racing Chevrolet in the No. 3 spot for the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

That’s his best qualifying effort since he started No. 2 in Norwalk, Ohio, in 2011.

“I’ve got a fast car,” Brogdon said. “With a break or two, I can win the race. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Brogdon’s pass of 6.524 seconds at 212.33 mph trailed only 2014 Pro Stock champion Erica Enders-Stevens and last year’s title runner-up Jason Line. That bodes well for Brogdon, who will face Deric Kramer in the first round Sunday.

Qualifying in the top half of a Pro Stock field is crucial to success in the class given its ultra-competitive nature.

“We’ve got lane choice going into tomorrow, which is one of the main things very important in this class,” Brogdon said. “Hopefully, I can qualify in the top five a bunch of races in a row, get lane choice, and go win the race.”

Brogdon has two national event victories to his credit, the most recent coming last year in Reading, Pa., but he was unsure about racing in 2015, making the decision to run the full season last month.

His team came out of the box quickly, vaulting to the No. 1 spot after the first qualifying session.

“That was really good,” Brogdon said.

After a Q2 run that was hampered when Brogdon admitted to “driver error” by forgetting to turn on his shocks, he made his best pass of the weekend in what ended up being the final qualifying session; Q4 was rained out.

“Q3 was a little bit of guessing because we had to change engines after last night,” Brogdon said. “I really think I could’ve tightened that gap on No. 1 (in Q4) if we got the run, but we’ll never know.

“We’ll see how we run tomorrow. I think we’ll be really, really fast tomorrow. I’m not complaining about top three. I’m tickled to death.”

Kramer is the No. 14 qualifier after a top pass of 6.595 seconds at 209.79 mph.

“We can win,” Brogdon said. “We’ve got a fast car, I’m driving decent, and the guys are making fantastic calls with the hot rod, especially considering we only decided to come out here three weeks ago. I’m very, very happy.”

Eliminations will start at approximately noon on Sunday.