Spencer Massey’s return from a year-long driving hiatus keeps getting better.
Massey edged teammate Tony Schumacher in the final elimination round to win the Top Fuel dragster division at the Mopar Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on Sunday.
Part of the Don Schumacher racing team with Schumacher’s son, Massey hit 269.67 mph and covered the 1,000-foot straight-line course in 4.150 seconds in his nitro-fueled dragster for his fifth career victory and third this season.
“It was tough sitting back and watching on the sidelines for so long,” said Massey, the NHRA’s rookie of the year in 2009 who lost his first driving job when team owner Don Prudhomme closed up shop.
“But I knew that one day, I would have a shot at it again,” Massey added. “I knew it might not be the next year or the next year, but if I kept my head up and kept beating up the doors, eventually something would happen. I kept my faith and here I am.” ESPN
John Force (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway near Denver.
In Funny Car, Force won his first race of the season and the 133rd of his career when he took an automatic win light after final-round opponent Matt Hagan fouled at the start in his Mopar/DieHard Dodge Charger. Force finished in 4.361 at 285.23 in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to claim his sixth win in nine finals at the scenic mile-high dragstrip.
“Like the military, it’s all about teamwork, and we have great guys,” Force said. “[Crew chiefs] Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas have been struggling, and Mike Neff and Jimmy Prock stepped in to help them. Robert Hight, the president of the company, even spoke up and told me, ‘It’s you. You have to get back in the game. Your head is hopscotching to the air show and the Indy 500 and every place you’re going. You taught me that you need to live it.’ He was right. I’m back in the game today.”
Edwards scored his third win of the season and 31st of his career by holding off Bandimere Pro Stock dominator Allen Johnson in the final round. Edwards ran 6.970 at 197.56 in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP in the final but ultimately wouldn’t need the strong performance because Johnson turned on a rare red-light at the start in his Team Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Avenger.
“We got the Wally, but I believe that Allen Johnson is still ‘King of the Mountain,’ ” said Edwards, who beat Warren Johnson, Jason Line, and Larry Morgan to advance to the final round.
“It’s so sweet to come up here because the Bandimere family does such an awesome job, and the fans are great,” Edwards continued. “It’s such a privilege to come up here and race because it is such a unique place. We have to change everything from one end of the car to the other [to adjust for the increased] altitude, and it’s a game to see which team can make the best guesses and best choices and who can be ‘King of the Mountain’ for one year. I just give praise to God because this team is all about Him.” NHRA.com
Karen Stoffer beat Michael Phillips to win the Pro Stock motorcycle division. The win was the sixth of her career, but first since 2007.
“I was counting the days,” Stoffer said. “But it takes patience, fortitude. This is a tough sport and it has lot of good teams.”
She tipped her helmet to her crew, saying they had her motorcyle in peak racing condition.
“Hats off to them,” Stoffer said. “We’ve been struggling with mechanical problems and they did a great job. They diagnosed everything and gave me a phenomenal bike for this weekend.” The Associated Press
| 
|