Frustrated with Atlanta, it’s on to Topeka
After a weekend that had less than desired results, Rodger Brogdon and the RACERS EDGE team are headed for the next stop on the NHRA Full Throttle tour, the 23rd annual Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
After suffering a rare transmission problem in the second round of qualifying on Friday evening, Rodger and crew rebounded in Saturday’s early session with a strong 6.618, 207.72 mph lap to claim their 4th top four qualifying spot of the last 5 races. Steve Kent in the PISTONATOR Pontiac also had good results during qualifying and in the final session put down a very nice 6.649, 207.05 lap that was good for the #9 qualifying spot once all was said and done.
Eliminations found Steve paired up with Erica Enders and Rodger running alongside Larry Morgan. For Kent, clutch issues surfaced while waiting on Erica to get her car running and staged and led to a red light. Rodger was able to get around Morgan with a 6.611 @ 208.14. Unfortunately it was memories of St. Louis last year in round two that brought the day to a close.
“We ran a 6.625 at only 206 mph in a lane that is so slick down track that my car is skating around just like it did in St. Louis last year. I had to get out of it and get the ‘chutes out to make sure we didn’t have a repeat. I’m off almost 2 miles an hour and lose by .009 of a second. We were on another good run, but the track on the top end just wouldn’t hold it. I was talking with Jason (Line) in the shutdown area, and he said he'd felt the same thing” said Rodger.
“Every run we make is video recorded with both in car and starting line cameras. When we watched the videos after the run, you could see the car really skating around from about 1000 feet on. It would have been nice to get the win, and I honestly think we had the round won if I didn’t have to lift, but it’s also rewarding to not be back at Jerry Haas shop again with a damaged race car. We’ve got a good car right now, so we’ll head to Topeka and get after it again. Yea, it’s very frustrating to lose like that, but what can you do, except try again at the next race.”
“With the flooding situation in Louisiana, Steve Kent will be at home rather than in Topeka, so the crew will be focused solely on the RACERS EDGE Pontiac at the next race. Hopefully everything will be OK at Steve’s house and shop in Lottie, Louisiana, but he certainly needs to be there to keep an eye on things. If all goes well he’ll be back on track in Englishtown. I just hope we can hand him a Wally from Topeka when he catches back up with us,” Rodger grinned.
Television coverage of the Topeka event will be available on ESPN2/ESPN2HD, check your local listings
Follow Rodger Brogdon, Steve Kent and the RACERS EDGE team at
BrogdonRacing.com,
Brogdon Racing on Facebook & Twitter with additional coverage at
TheRacersEdge.us and The Racers Edge on Facebook.
The Racers Edge (OTC: MCHU)
After a weekend that had less than desired results, Rodger Brogdon and the RACERS EDGE team are headed for the next stop on the NHRA Full Throttle tour, the 23rd annual Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
After suffering a rare transmission problem in the second round of qualifying on Friday evening, Rodger and crew rebounded in Saturday’s early session with a strong 6.618, 207.72 mph lap to claim their 4th top four qualifying spot of the last 5 races. Steve Kent in the PISTONATOR Pontiac also had good results during qualifying and in the final session put down a very nice 6.649, 207.05 lap that was good for the #9 qualifying spot once all was said and done.
Eliminations found Steve paired up with Erica Enders and Rodger running alongside Larry Morgan. For Kent, clutch issues surfaced while waiting on Erica to get her car running and staged and led to a red light. Rodger was able to get around Morgan with a 6.611 @ 208.14. Unfortunately it was memories of St. Louis last year in round two that brought the day to a close.
“We ran a 6.625 at only 206 mph in a lane that is so slick down track that my car is skating around just like it did in St. Louis last year. I had to get out of it and get the ‘chutes out to make sure we didn’t have a repeat. I’m off almost 2 miles an hour and lose by .009 of a second. We were on another good run, but the track on the top end just wouldn’t hold it. I was talking with Jason (Line) in the shutdown area, and he said he'd felt the same thing” said Rodger.
“Every run we make is video recorded with both in car and starting line cameras. When we watched the videos after the run, you could see the car really skating around from about 1000 feet on. It would have been nice to get the win, and I honestly think we had the round won if I didn’t have to lift, but it’s also rewarding to not be back at Jerry Haas shop again with a damaged race car. We’ve got a good car right now, so we’ll head to Topeka and get after it again. Yea, it’s very frustrating to lose like that, but what can you do, except try again at the next race.”
“With the flooding situation in Louisiana, Steve Kent will be at home rather than in Topeka, so the crew will be focused solely on the RACERS EDGE Pontiac at the next race. Hopefully everything will be OK at Steve’s house and shop in Lottie, Louisiana, but he certainly needs to be there to keep an eye on things. If all goes well he’ll be back on track in Englishtown. I just hope we can hand him a Wally from Topeka when he catches back up with us,” Rodger grinned.
Television coverage of the Topeka event will be available on ESPN2/ESPN2HD, check your local listings
Follow Rodger Brogdon, Steve Kent and the RACERS EDGE team at
BrogdonRacing.com,
Brogdon Racing on Facebook & Twitter with additional coverage at
TheRacersEdge.us and The Racers Edge on Facebook.
The Racers Edge (OTC: MCHU)
