DSR ready for the Western Swing!
Beckman hopes Bandimere love affair continues this weekend, won’t be surprised if crew chief Prock produces track’s first 3
BROWNSBURG, IN – Jack Beckman fell in love with Bandimere Speedway near Denver well before he won the first 
of his two NHRA Funny Car titles at the track.
He was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in nearby Aurora and the former Air Force sergeant recalls his first visit.
“It was different from any (dragstrip) a guy from Southern California had ever seen,” said Jack, who grew up in home of drag racing and resides in Norco, Calif.
His first trip to Bandimere was in 1987, and his first return was 20 years later when he won the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals driving for Don Schumacher Racing to earn his first NHRA Mello Yello trophy.
The other Denver win for the driver of the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car was in 2012 when he was the No. 1 qualifier in what turned out to be a world championship season.
“I can’t wait to go back and the crew chiefs can’t wait to leave there. I can’t wait to see Bandimere in my windshield and crew chiefs can’t wait to see it the rear-view mirror.”
Those perspectives have nothing to do with the immaculate facility and breathtaking backdrop of Thunder Mountain scenery, but the 5,280-foot altitude can be perplexing when thin air chokes a 10,000-horsepower Hemi engine of precious oxygen.
“As a driver, we have to get used to breathing a little different and the parachutes don’t slow you down as much because there isn’t as much air for them to grab, but it makes a crew chief’s job a lot harder.”
As tuners become more adept to adjusting for their only annual visit to such a high altitude and performances continue to improve, Jack won’t be surprised if the track gets its first 3-second run provided weather conditions are ideal.
“We’re not far away from the first 3-second in a Funny Car at the track,” he said. “The track is very good and the (underground) cooling zones the Bandimere family installed under the track drop the track temp considerably.”
Jack knows about 3-second runs. He has the most this year (7) and most ever (11).
And his crew chief, Jimmy Prock, knows something about track records. He tuned his former driver, John Force, to the Denver record a year ago with a run in 4.049 seconds.
“Five-hundredths of a second is a lot to cut but if anyone is going to do it, it would be Jimmy,” he said of his crew chief who has led the Infinite Hero team to three wins this year to rank third in the Mello Yello standings. Last year Prock cut nearly three-hundredths off the previous record.
Capps savors Western Swing for family time, Mello Yello racing
– Ron Capps is enjoying the beginning of his favorite time of the year.
A three-week trek began a few days ago when he loaded up his motorhome in Carlsbad, Calif., with his family and led a convoy north for their annual vacation trip to near his hometown of San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“It’s our annual vacation time and it comes at a great time of year for me,” said Ron, who will mix in the three NHRA stops on the annual Western Swing of three races in three weeks.
“The kids are teenagers now and they have more going on so it means more to me and Shelley every year when we can do things together. It’s just a great time to be with family and old friends.”
Ron could call his summer vacation the “4-F Club” as in family, friends, fun and fast.
Interspersed within his special time with his wife, Shelley, and their teens, Taylor and Caden, will be 320-mph excursions in his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car during NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series races starting Friday with the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Raceway near Denver, then racing the next two weekends in Sonoma, Calif., and near Seattle.
Ron has been very successful at “Western Swing” tracks where he has logged seven of his 45 career wins, including one near Denver in 2009 when he also was the No. 1 qualifier.
And this time of year is the most important of the 18-race Mello Yello regular season with only five races remaining before the list of championship contenders is cut to the top-10 in each of four pro categories.
Through 13 events, Ron and the NAPA Dodge team led by crew chief Rahn Tobler are fighting to hold the No. 2 ranking for when points are reset to start the six-race Countdown to the Championship. The NAPA team has won twice this year and is a longshot to catch current points leader and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan, who holds a 178-point lead, but they haven’t given up on the task.
But Ron is only 48 points ahead sixth-ranked Tommy Johnson Jr., another DSR teammate.
“Every year the Western Swing is crucial to the championship race and the points are so close now that a really good race or a really bad race can really jockey the standings around,” Ron said.
The NAPA team is continuing to implement a new clutch program that affected performances the past two races but those developments are geared for long-term gains.
Introducing the new clutch system was more challenging due to exclusive evening qualifying sessions the past two races that led daytime eliminations on Sundays. Those were factors in the team losing in the first rounds at the past two races and the challenges will continue at Denver when teams face four qualifying sessions scheduled to start after 4:30 p.m. (MT) Friday and Saturday leading to 11 a.m. eliminations on Sunday.
“What makes it challenging at Bandimere is having the early evening sessions like we had at Norwalk and Chicago on Friday and Saturday and then going into Sunday’s eliminations without having data to run in the hotter afternoon conditions.”
Crew chiefs could face variables unlike they’ve seen through this year with the forecast for high possibly reaching into the 90s. And that will be compounded by the track’s elevation of 5,800 feet that is the highest on the circuit and chokes the 10,000-horsepower engines of oxygen in the thin air.
“Denver throws us the most extreme conditions all year, but I love that racetrack,” Ron said.
Antron hopes to copy daughter Arianna’s success on stage with winning performances in Matco dragster on Western Swing
– Being a spectator at a major sports event with a loved one competing put Antron Brown in a different position last weekend.
The role reversal occurred in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where his daughter, Arianna, 13, was competing in the Starpower International dance competition and her father was the one awaiting the outcome instead of her waiting to see if the win light illuminated over his lane to indicate his Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster won an NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series race.
The cool, calm Antron insists that he never gets nervous whether Arianna is on stage or racing with her brothers in NHRA Jr. Dragster competition. And he certainly is never nervous when he’s behind the wheel of the 320-mph Matco dragster.
“I don’t get nervous but I get very excited,” said the winner of three events this year with the Matco team lead by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald that is ranked second in points. They trail Don Schumacher Racing teammate and points leader Tony Schumacher by 20 heading to the Mopar Mile-High Nationals this week at Bandimere Raceway near Denver.
And he was very excited at Myrtle Beach when Arianna placed first in Jazz solo and first in team with the Sister Act Dance Academy. She also was selected seventh best dancer in the entire competition.
“You just want to see your children succeed,” he said. “It was exciting to see her nail her routines after all the practicing she did. You just want them to do well with their performance.”
Now the family spotlights switches back to Antron as he prepares for the 14th of 24 events in the Mello Yello season, and perhaps its most challenging.
The Mile-High Nationals starts the three-race Western Swing with stops over the next two weekends in Sonoma, Calif., and near Seattle.
“It’s tough for everybody. It’s like doing a marathon,” he said of the Swing. “It’s not just the back-to-back-to-back races, we do that a few times during the season. Our teams are out there on the road the whole time. The guys have to work on the car, pack it up and drive another thousand miles to the next race. And they won’t get home or back to the shop for more than three weeks.
“It’s not just a marathon for the drivers, but it is for the whole team.
“And then there’s the mile-high altitude in Denver that takes the guys’ breath away. It’s the week in the thin air and all the travel that knocks you down.”
Red Fuel team with Massey looking for third Mile-High Nationals win to kick off NHRA Mello Yello series annual three-week Western Swing
– One of the toughest challenges of the year starts this weekend at the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver.
The picturesque Colorado track sits a mile above sea-level and the lack of oxygen tests crew members and their 10,000-horsepower nitro-powered machines.
“It’s a unique event because of how high it sits above sea level and that makes it tough on everything – the people, the parts, the car. A lot of this sport is about preparation and racing at Bandimere requires a lot of that.”
Prepping for the unique Denver event isn’t all the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel team has prepared for in the past week. The Mile-High Nationals is the first stop on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series annual Western Swing. Following Denver, the series ventures even further west to Sonoma, Calif., before heading north for the final stop near Seattle and then making the 2,300-mile journey home.
“This has to be one of my favorite stretches of races throughout all of our 24 events,” Spencer said. “It’s tough. The teams and I leave Brownsburg and by the time they get home they’re gone almost a month.
“We have to have enough parts and pieces to last us the entire Swing so they’ve spent a lot of time preparing for these three races. We’re really lucky at Don Schumacher Racing to have guys back at the machine and fab shop that have spent weeks preparing so all of our teams have what we need to go to these next three races.”
Spencer and the Red Fuel/Sandvik Coromant team have one win through 13 NHRA Mello Yello events and after losing in the opening round of competition the past three races have fallen from third to sixth in the points standings.
The Red Fuel team seeks their third Mile-High win after scoring on Thunder Mountain in 2011 and 2013.
“Denver has been good to us in the past and we could use a good outing for our confidence, our momentum,” Spencer said. “But it’s not going to be easy. We have to focus on qualifying well first and then just take it one round at a time on race day and not beat ourselves.”
Qualifying kicks off Friday at Bandimere at 5:30 p.m. (MT).
Hagan looking for first Mile-High Nationals win with points-leading Mopar Express Lane team to start NHRA’s annual Western Swing
– Matt Hagan and the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots team are ready to conquer Thunder Mountain near Denver at this weekend’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals.
Matt has 18 event titles in his career that includes two NHRA world championships but has never had four consecutive round wins on a race day at Bandimere Speedway and he is looking to change that this year.
The Mopar Express Lane team enjoyed a stellar first half of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and kicked off the second half in similar fashion two weeks ago near Chicago where they were runner-up to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr.
“We’re having an outstanding year so far,” Matt said. “We kind of have to pinch ourselves to make sure it’s all really happening and I couldn’t be prouder of Dickie Venables, Michael Knudsen and this entire Mopar team.”
The Western Swing provides a challenge to all NHRA Mello Yello teams and the toughest race is arguably the Mile-High Nationals. The altitude and thin oxygen make it difficult for the 10,000-horsepower cars to create power.
It’s also difficult on the crew members who left Don Schumacher Racing headquarters in Brownsburg, Ind., on Tuesday and won’t return until the second week of August following stops in Sonoma, Calif., and near Seattle before making the 2,300-mile journey home.
“This is definitely one of the toughest races of the year,” Matt said. “That’s why it would be so special to win it. You know if you win this race that you’ve really accomplished something and I want that for this team.
“We have had a great racecar this season and we want to continue our success all the way to the end. That’ll be difficult, it’ll be a challenge but we’ve proven that we have a great car, a great team and we just have to keep our heads down and stay focused.”
