It’s one race down and five to go in NHRA’s Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. For Rodger Brogdon and the EDGE Pain & Performance Chips team, it was a race that should have had a much different outcome.
A first round match up against former champion Mike Edwards was slated to be a good race, but one that the team felt they had a handle on and were looking to run a 6.56 or 6.57 to get the day started. After watching Steve Kent in the teams Charter Communications car put down a 6.569 in the pair just before them, everyone was looking forward to the run against Mike. Unfortunately the car rattled the tires at the top of second gear and everyone watched Edwards 6.585 get the win light in the other lane.
“We were all surprised when that happened,” lamented Rodger as he looked back on that tire shake. “We tried something in Saturdays early qualifying session that didn’t work, adjusted for it and came out in the final session and laid down a nice 6.57. We felt pretty comfortable with our setup for round one, but obviously we were just a little too far over center and it cost us. With Steve’s round win we already knew that we would be facing our team car in the 2nd round, which should have then put us in the semis. So, what should have been a good weekend ended with some tire shake that had my back still aching on Monday.”
“Fortunately we were also trying some things out on Steve’s car this weekend and boy, did they ever work! How about Steve, got his first Pro Stock round win and then just kept on going all the way to the semi-finals. He was driving great and having a hell of a good time doing it and really got old Jason Line’s attention in the semis. Anyway, the changes we made to Steve’s car worked well, so we’ve implemented the same changes in the EDGE Pain & Performance Chips Pontiac. We tested the changes on Monday in Charlotte and then the guys loaded everything up and headed for Dallas.”
“With the changes we’ve made and the forecast for sunshine and mid 80’s for this week’s race at the Texas Motorplex everyone on the team is anxious to get there and get after it again. We let one get away from us in Charlotte, now we’re looking to take it back in Dallas. We have some good race weekends at the ‘TexPlex’ in the past and this weekend has all the makings of being another one.”
“The annual DRAW auction will take place Saturday night in the Champions Club at the Motorplex and it’s always a fun evening that raises money for a very good cause that both Steve and I support. We’ll be there, and hope to see you there too.”
A first round match up against former champion Mike Edwards was slated to be a good race, but one that the team felt they had a handle on and were looking to run a 6.56 or 6.57 to get the day started. After watching Steve Kent in the teams Charter Communications car put down a 6.569 in the pair just before them, everyone was looking forward to the run against Mike. Unfortunately the car rattled the tires at the top of second gear and everyone watched Edwards 6.585 get the win light in the other lane.
“We were all surprised when that happened,” lamented Rodger as he looked back on that tire shake. “We tried something in Saturdays early qualifying session that didn’t work, adjusted for it and came out in the final session and laid down a nice 6.57. We felt pretty comfortable with our setup for round one, but obviously we were just a little too far over center and it cost us. With Steve’s round win we already knew that we would be facing our team car in the 2nd round, which should have then put us in the semis. So, what should have been a good weekend ended with some tire shake that had my back still aching on Monday.”
“Fortunately we were also trying some things out on Steve’s car this weekend and boy, did they ever work! How about Steve, got his first Pro Stock round win and then just kept on going all the way to the semi-finals. He was driving great and having a hell of a good time doing it and really got old Jason Line’s attention in the semis. Anyway, the changes we made to Steve’s car worked well, so we’ve implemented the same changes in the EDGE Pain & Performance Chips Pontiac. We tested the changes on Monday in Charlotte and then the guys loaded everything up and headed for Dallas.”
“With the changes we’ve made and the forecast for sunshine and mid 80’s for this week’s race at the Texas Motorplex everyone on the team is anxious to get there and get after it again. We let one get away from us in Charlotte, now we’re looking to take it back in Dallas. We have some good race weekends at the ‘TexPlex’ in the past and this weekend has all the makings of being another one.”
“The annual DRAW auction will take place Saturday night in the Champions Club at the Motorplex and it’s always a fun evening that raises money for a very good cause that both Steve and I support. We’ll be there, and hope to see you there too.”
