Top fuel dragster and top fuel funny car drivers hit the throttle, unleashing 10,000 horsepower last weekend during competition at the Mile High National Drag Races at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison.Each top fuel dragster and a top fuel funny car is powered by a powerful engine that sends the vehicle from a standing start to 100 mph in six-tenths of a second, and dragsters and funny cars are traveling about 300 mph as they roar through the timing lights at the end of the quarter-mile drag strip.All professional teams come to Bandimere once a year, but drivers like Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Beckman see the Mile High Nationals almost like homecomings.Johnson, who drives the Make-A-Wish top fuel funny car, said coming to the Mile High Nationals reminds him of how long he has been coming to the track."I think I came to Bandimere the first time in about 1981, bracket racing on a motorcycle," he said with a smile. "I did well then and kept doing well here, so I look forward to coming to Bandimere."He added that he knows a lot of people and knows the area because he lived in Littleton for several years."Coming to this altitude is a big challenge for all the teams but I love the area, I love the people and I really enjoy competing in the Mile High Nationals," he said. "Mopar is bringing back the Mopar top fuel dragster at this race. I drove the Mopar top fuel dragster in 1990."The blue and white funny car he now drives is part of the Don Schumacher Racing Team but is sponsored by Terry Chandler and dedicated to her support of Make-A-Wish Foundation."I love driving the Make-A-Wish car because we get to meet and talk to Make-A-Wish kids," Johnson said. "We are scheduled to host five Make-A-Wish children from the Denver metro area here at the track July 23," he said. "We will meet with them, sign autographs and have a little meal for them. It is a great experience for me and I hope it is a great experience for them."Beckman, driver of the Infinite Hero Top Fuel Funny Car, said he remembers coming to Bandimere as a spectator in 1984."I was in the Air Force and they sent me to school at Lowry Air Force Base," he said in the July 21 interview. "I always loved drag racing and came to the track to see them run. Of course, I came to the '84 Mile High Nationals. Even when I returned to my home base, I drove 500 miles the next three years to see the Mile High Nationals."He came to Bandimere as a competitor for the first time in 2006 in the sportsman class and has returned to the track every year since.Leah Pritchett, who will drive the Mopar/Pennzoil top fuel dragster, also raced at Bandimere years ago."I grew up in California, dad was a land speed racer and wanted his two girls to do something fun, so we drove junior dragsters," she said. "I came to Bandimere 10 years ago as an 18-year-old to race in the Junior Drag Racing Nationals. I did win a Team Junior Dragster Nationals Championship and received my first drag racing championship trophy, called a Wally. I want to receive my next Wally here on Sunday when I win the Mile High Nationals top fuel championship."
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Drivers-share-their-Bandimere-memories,231031
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