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NHRA
Wednesday, July 16
Updated: July 18, 8:31 PM ET
NHRA set for Mopar Mile-High Nationals
 By Bill Stephens
 ESPN

Bill Stephens The notorious "Western Swing," the three-race enduro that subjects the professional NHRA POWERade Drag Racing categories to a relentless test of stamina and resilience, fires up this weekend at Bandimere Speedway outside Denver, Colo., for the 24th Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

Each year, this punishing string of races conducted at venues of varying atmospheric conditions and topographical contrasts precedes the homestretch on the 23-event schedule. But unquestionably, the Denver stop offers the most challenges to the teams and tuners who must overcome the mile-high altitude, which robs engines of horsepower-making oxygen, forcing them to adapt combinations unique to the skimpy atmospherics.

How will the teams do this and where do the championship races stand heading in? Let's take a look.

Top Fuel
Larry Dixon's sizable lead in the points is under no immediate threat heading west. His closest challenger, Doug Kalitta, trails Dixon by more than 200 points. Dixon's consistency and the lack of same coming from his competition during the first half of the season bodes well for the Miller Lite driver to remain firmly in control of the points by the time the Swing finishes up. Not a lot of intrigue to be found here -- at least not yet.

Funny Car
Tony Pedregon returns to Bandimere as last year's runner-up -- nearly winning the race under some unusual circumstances. His chief tuner, John Medlen, was home undergoing a surgical procedure last year during the Swing and assistant crew chief Dickie Venables filled in admirably, actually leading the team to victory in Seattle. This year, no last minute emergencies are anticipated while Pedregon continues to comfortably lead the points. If Pedregon thunders through the Swing and avoids any early round snafus, he could make a strong move toward locking up his first career championship.

Again, any possible intrigue which could alter the inevitable will be the result of a host of unpredictable surprises.

As for battling the conditions, Nitro teams have a number of tried-and-true methods at their disposal to help restore horsepower to their Top Fuel and Funny Car powerplants. For instance:

  • Higher compression can be achieved by thinner head gaskets and domed pistons. Increasing compression is a necessity in the thin, mile-high air at Bandimere.

  • Increasing the speed of the supercharger by running a smaller pulley significantly adds to the volume of air being forced into the motor. The downside? Engines are more likely to lose their blower belts because of the higher pulley speeds.

  • Adding more ignition advance, which fires the spark plugs sooner in the combustion cycle, adds power, but also increases the chance of detonation, engine damage, and lost blower belts.

  • Until 2000, teams could run a higher percentage of nitromethane, usually 100 percent, to offset the loss of power in the 5000-foot altitude. Now, with the 90 percent nitro rule, that option is no longer open to them.

    In a nutshell: How tough is it to make power on "The Mountain?" No Funny Car had ever made a four-second pass at Bandimere until three years ago when Whit Bazemore ran a 4.99 in his final round victory against Scotty Cannon.

    Pro Stock
    As the Swing begins, two drivers have a duopoly in place for the 2003 Pro Stock title: Greg Anderson and Kurt Johnson. Anderson's 70-point advantage over KJ is anything but invincible, especially with half the season remaining. Is there still time for Warren Johnson or Jeg Coughlin Jr. to make a serious run at the top two drivers? If you ask them, they'll each say yes. But they also know that anything less than a phenomenal Western Swing may end their late-season hopes for a championship run once and for all.

    Pro Stock Bike
    With Angelle Savoie and Antron Brown rumored to be days away from a sponsorship announcement, the most hotly-contested championship battle within the professional ranks will almost assuredly get dramatically hotter. There are no favorites at this point when handicapping your 2003 PSB champion. The bikes will race at two of the three Swing races -- Denver and Sonoma -- and Geno Scali, the current points leader, knows he's within easy reach of Savoie while no fewer than three other riders -- Shawn Gann, Brown, and Reggie Showers -- are all on the doorstep. What the other classes lack in parity has been more than made up for in this class in '03.

    Pro Stock and Pro Stock Bike teams are much more limited than the nitro teams as to what they can do to beat the high altitude conditions. Outside of raising compression, more ignition advance, installing leaner carburetor jets and changing gear ratios in the transmission and rear end, the naturally aspirated (non-supercharged) machines can recover only a small percentage of their performance.

    Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.

    ESPN and ESPN2 will feature the special informational program during the networks' regular coverage of the NHRA event at Denver: on ESPN Saturday, July 19 from 7-9 p.m. ET; and Sunday from 2:30-3:30 p.m. live on ESPN and 6-9 p.m. on ESPN2. NHRA2Day, ESPN2's weekly news show, will also continue the Information Dragway theme Sunday at 11 a.m. ESPN Radio's RPM Now with host John Kernan, Friday from 8-10 p.m. (check local listings), will feature live driver interviews.

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