Whether it's dragsters touting thousands of horsepower, the rumble felt in your core as a 4-second car goes hurling down the quarter mile or rubbing elbows with some of the industry's fastest and most daring drivers you're after — attending the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals has to be one of the coolest ways to spend a summer weekend. Pitting man against machine at over 5,800 feet in elevation, there's nothing quite like what you'll find at the biggest drag racing event in Colorado.
Held at the famed Bandimere Speedway in July, positioned on the side of a mountain west of Denver, we got the inside-line on all that went down at the 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. From top industry drivers to some of the fastest runs in the history of Bandimere Speedway, the event certainly didn't disappoint in any aspect — and we've got the photos to prove it.
One particularly notable race of the day included Top Fuel drivers Leah Pritchett (first-place qualifier for the event) and teammate Tony Schumacher (fourth-place qualifier) going head-to-head in the third elimination round, with Pritchett just barely taking the win light with an ET of 3.794 seconds and a reaction time of .060 seconds, compared to Schumacher's ET of 3.790 seconds and a reaction time of .071 seconds. Pritchett then moved on to race three-time Top Fuel Champion and fellow teammate Antron Brown in the final elimination round for the class. Brown took the win light with a 3.792-second ET on a .047-second reaction time.
Other notable races included round one of eliminations for the Funny Car class in which both Courtney Force (first-place qualifier in her class) and John Force (second-place qualifier) were knocked out of contention by 16h-place qualifier Jim Campbell and 15th-place qualifier Matt Hagan, respectably. Campbell went on to make it through another round, only to be knocked out by Tommy Johnson Jr. in the third elimination round.
When all was said and done, it was Top Fuel driver Antron Brown, Funny Car driver Robert Hight, Pro Stock driver Drew Skillman and Pro Stock Motorcyclist Eddie Krawiec who took home top honors for their class and shared the stage at the conclusion of the event, Wallies in hand.
