Seattle: Rodger Brogdon preview

Brogdon Ready for NHRA Western Swing

After experiencing the grind of 4 back to back races in June you would think that some time off would be a priority. Driver Rodger Brogdon and team owner Steve Kent though don't see it that way.

"The month of June was wild, there's no doubt about it," Brogdon commented. "Four races in a row with a significant change in the makeup of our crew halfway through. Since then we've made wholesale changes in the way we run the car and are finally starting to see the results we've been looking for all year. We're ready to get to Seattle and see what we can do."

"To the casual fan our last race in Norwalk (OH) appears to be a race where we lost by just thousandths of a second. Thorough review of the run though, found that we lost a fitting on the left rear shock that allowed the rear suspension to compress more than it should have. That extra compression slowed the cars launch and allowed us to run the quickest lap of Sunday's eliminations and yet lose on a hole-shot. That run on Sunday and the final qualifying run on Saturday tell us that we're on the right track. When we added Tim Freeman to the team at Bristol, we knew it would take 2-3 races to get the car dialed in. Seattle will be the 3rd race and with the conditions that usually prevail at the Northwest Nationals it promises to be an exciting weekend for the 'Pistonator' and the Attitude Apparel team."

"Obviously the way that NHRA structures the Full Throttle championship the first objective is to be in the top-10 when we get to Indy. Right now we are #8 and know we're gaining momentum at the right time. The challenge that faces us is to do well at Seattle and the next 3 races and hold onto our spot in the standings. We know we can do that and probably even move up a spot or two. From Indy on it becomes a 6 race battle for the championship and even though Mike Edwards has been the dominate car so far this year, we feel that we can give him and the rest of the field a real run for the title during the Countdown to 1."

Rodger Brogdon and the Attitude Apparel team are looking to the western swing to give them a running start on a better second half of the season than the first 13 races have been. During the first half they've qualified a career best #2 (St Louis) and suffered a horrendous crash that took them out of competition for 2 races in a row. With a revamped crew and new "attitude" in their pit area, they're looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

-source: steve kent racing