Sellout Crowd Sees Hagan, Brown, Enders & Arana Jr. Grab Provisional No.1 Spots at Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals

DENVER, CO – July 15, 2023 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan just missed out on a track record, powering to the provisional No. 1 qualifier position in front of a sold-out crowd on Friday at the 43rd annual and final Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 10th of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The sellout crowd on Friday in Denver gave NHRA its fourth sellout crowd during the 2023 campaign as well.

Hagan put together a run of 3.895-seconds at 324.59 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Dodge Direct Connections Charger SRT Hellcat, putting the three-time world champ in line for his first No. 1 spot this season and milestone 50th in his career. That would be a memorable moment at his sponsor’s race and Hagan, who broke through for his first win on Thunder Mountain in 2021, is aiming for a big weekend in front of an expected huge crowd.

“It’s a lot going on in there, but Dickie Venables is a hell of a crew chief,” Hagan said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s a Dodge race and we’ve got the car in the No. 1 spot. We want to keep that up and see what we can do tomorrow. A big thank you to all the fans that came out here today and this weekend. It’s such an emotional weekend, but we’re going to put on a heck of a show for these fans.

“It was pretty incredible to be that close to resetting the track record (3.889) up here. We’re making some real power with these Dodge cars. At the end of the day, I’m just excited to be here. I’m trying to take in every lap and every moment. You want to make it count this weekend. That’s what we’re out there trying to do.”

Legendary 16-time champ John Force is second after he went 3.920 at 323.74 and Bob Tasca III is currently third on the strength of his 3.943 at 315.12.

In Top Fuel, Brown raced to the No. 1 position on Friday with a run of 3.783 at 327.90 in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster. If it holds, it would be Brown’s second top qualifier of the year and the 51st in his career. A multi-time champ, Brown made a big move in the second qualifying session under the lights at Bandimere Speedway, putting on a stellar performance in front of the capacity crowd. Legendary driver Kenny Bernstein warmed up Brown’s car on Friday and the three-time Denver winner followed it up with a strong showing to close out the first day of qualifying.

“Everything is different on the mountain,” Brown said. “When you leave the starting line, you know don’t have the power you do at all the other tracks we go to. But that run there, it felt real good. We got to half-track and I felt that thing was lit on all eight (cylinders), and I felt it arch up and I was like, oh we’re on a run. I looked at the scoreboard and saw that 3.78 and I said oh there we go. That’s the run we’ve been looking for. After testing at Indy, this was a true testament. Coming to Bandimere on the mountain, it’ll show you if you have power or not. That run showed we have some power and we’re looking forward to tomorrow and getting some more runs down the track.”

Doug Kalitta jumped to the second position with his 3.796 at 324.44 and Steve Torrence locked up the third spot on Friday thanks to his 3.800 at 324.59.

Enders made a standout run under the lights in Pro Stock qualifying on Thunder Mountain, moving to the top with her run of 6.919 at 195.70 in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro. It puts the defending world champion in line for her second No. 1 qualifier of 2023 and also gives her momentum for the rest of the weekend. That’s big for the five-time world champ, who has yet to win at Bandimere Speedway in her incredible career. She has one last chance to change that, and Enders was thrilled with her start, especially considering some of her early-season struggles.

“It’s definitely better off than where we started the season,” Enders said. “We knew if we put our heads down and went to work, nobody could hold us down for too long. This mountain has been a true challenge and continues to be. We have never won here and that obviously is our goal this weekend. There’s a lot of tough competition, but we’re off to a good start and tonight we’re on the pole. It’s super challenging up here on the mountain but I’m really excited for our performance so far.”

Matt Hartford, who is the defending event winner and the most recent race winner, is close behind, taking second with a 6.919 at 195.34 and points leader Dallas Glenn is third after his 6.921 at 195.19.

Coming off his Pro Stock Motorcycle victory in Norwalk, Arana Jr. kept on rolling on Friday, shattering the track E.T. record on his GETTRX Suzuki with an impressive run of 7.047 at 189.36. Arana Jr. left the track record in the dust, too, putting together a massive pass that puts him on track for his first No. 1 spot this season and the 23rd in his career. He jumped to second in points with his Norwalk triumph and Arana Jr. seems to only be picking up steam as Pro Stock Motorcycle races the full Western Swing for the first time in class history.

“The second I popped the clutch, it smacked me in the butt and I knew we were going to make a killer run,” Arana Jr. said. “I thought we could go in the 7.00s and we went deep in the 7.00s. That was just an awesome, awesome run and I’m just so excited to be able to run that number. To get that (timing) ticket, I was in shock seeing the 7.04. It was just a great run. I feel like there’s a little more left in it, so we’ll see what we can do.”

Rookie Chase Van Sant is currently qualified second with a 7.121 at 188.52, and Angie Smith is third after going 7.133 at 189.42.

Qualifying continues at 2:30 p.m. MT on Saturday at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

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DENVER, CO — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 43rd annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, 10th of 21 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Antron Brown, 3.783 seconds, 327.90 mph; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.796, 324.44; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.800, 324.59; 4. Leah Pruett, 3.812, 323.89; 5. Clay Millican, 3.815, 322.73; 6. Greg Carrillo, 3.832, 324.75; 7. Shawn Langdon, 3.837, 317.87; 8. Josh Hart, 3.850, 321.42; 9. Brittany Force, 3.901, 305.29; 10. Mike Salinas, 3.909, 251.25; 11. Austin Prock, 3.952, 311.56; 12. Tony Schumacher, 3.966, 308.99; 13. Justin Ashley, 3.992, 279.85; 14. Buddy Hull, 4.066, 256.70; 15. Terry Totten, 4.254, 258.37; 16. Rob Passey, 4.669, 187.31.

Funny Car — 1. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.895, 324.59; 2. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.920, 323.74; 3. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.943, 315.12; 4. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.944, 311.56; 5. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.004, 298.60; 6. Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 4.014, 306.60; 7. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 4.104, 315.78; 8. Alex Laughlin, Charger, 4.206, 287.05; 9. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.207, 283.91; 10. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.333, 284.69; 11. Steven Densham, Mustang, 4.352, 215.00; 12. J.R. Todd, Supra, 4.366, 206.92; 13. Chris King, Charger, 6.038, 120.25; 14. Chad Green, Mustang, 7.887, 87.48.

Pro Stock — 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Camaro, 6.919, 195.70; 2. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.919, 195.34; 3. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.921, 195.19; 4. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.923, 196.67; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.927, 194.60; 6. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.946, 195.53; 7. Jerry Tucker, Camaro, 6.956, 195.56; 8. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.959, 195.65; 9. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.960, 196.19; 10. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.965, 196.47; 11. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.965, 195.17; 12. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.966, 195.82; 13. Fernando Cuadra, Mustang, 6.978, 196.19; 14. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.980, 195.93; 15. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.998, 196.02; 16. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mustang, 7.032, 194.32.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 7.047, 189.36; 2. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 7.121, 188.52; 3. Angie Smith, EBR, 7.133, 189.42; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Suzuki, 7.134, 188.81; 5. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 7.144, 188.10; 6. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 7.176, 186.61; 7. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.243, 184.70; 8. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.252, 187.63; 9. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.276, 183.94; 10. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 7.280, 184.88; 11. Jianna Evaristo, Suzuki, 7.375, 181.91; 12. Chris Bostick, EBR, 7.377, 183.94; 13. Lance Bonham, Buell, 7.681, 172.72.

To purchase tickets to the 43rd and final Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals on July 14-16 at Bandimere Speedway, fans can visit www.bandimere.com. For more information on the NHRA, please visit www.nhra.com.

About Camping World Holdings, Inc.

Camping World Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, (together with its subsidiaries) is America’s largest retailer of RVs and related products and services. Our vision is to build a long-term legacy business that makes RVing fun and easy, and our Camping World and Good Sam brands have been serving RV consumers since 1966. We strive to build long-term value for our customers, employees, and shareholders by combining a unique and comprehensive assortment of RV products and services with a national network of RV dealerships, service centers and customer support centers along with the industry’s most extensive online presence and a highly trained and knowledgeable team of associates serving our customers, the RV lifestyle, and the communities in which we operate. We also believe that our Good Sam organization and family of programs and services uniquely enable us to connect with our customers as stewards of the RV enthusiast community and the RV lifestyle. With RV sales and service locations in 42 states, Camping World has grown to become the prime destinations for everything RV. For more information, visit www.CampingWorld.com.

About NHRA

Headquartered in San Dimas, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 21 national events featuring the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports, Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown™ and Top Fuel Harley Series. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 120 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association

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