Trending upward, Brogdon can't wait to get to Ohio for NHRA weekend

After some early season hiccups, Rodger Brogdon's MAVTV Pontiac GXP has roared to life over the past few races, and the tall Texan hopes that positive trend continues at this weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

"With the strides we have made on the car over the last few weeks, we are all excited to get to Norwalk and show what we have." Brogdon said. "This weekend we have a real chance to solidify our position in the points as we get ready for the Western Swing. The Countdown is just six events away, so the push to stay in the top 10 starts now for sure."

Qualifying is usually a good indicator of just how well a Pro Stock car is performing. Early in the season, Brogdon qualified in the bottom half of the field in five of the first seven races. After making some major strides, Brogdon has landed in the top eight in qualifying four straight races and improved over his previous qualifying effort in three straight races (eighth in Englishtown, sixth in Bristol and fifth in Chicago).

The next step is to turn the Friday and Saturday runs into winning runs on Sundays. Brogdon knows the team doesn’t have much room to stub its toe.

"Unfortunately we just had a miscommunication before that last run in Chicago," he said. "But that is behind us now and we are focused on getting the job done in Norwalk. The car was really good and really fast. Hopefully we will get the same kind of reaction out of our MAVTV Pontiac GXP this weekend."

Brogdon has been hovering around the eighth spot in the points for most of the season, and it's where he sits now. Summit Motorsports Park has a reputation for being a Pro Stock-friendly track, and Brogdon is looking to make a splash in Ohio.

"Last year we were the No. 2 qualifier at Norwalk, but we didn't get the results on Sunday that we wanted, or felt like we deserved," Brogdon said. "We lost on a hole shot in the quarterfinals and that was tough. This year we hope to repeat our success in qualifying and then win more rounds on Sunday."

Father's Day race will be a special one for MAVTV's Brogdon

Racing on Father's Day weekend will be doubly special to MAVTV/Lucas Oil Pontiac driver Rodger Brogdon.

Not only will the Pro Stock veteran be thinking about his own dad, but Brogdon will also have his son with him for this weekend's Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Brogdon's 15-year-old son Logan is his biggest fan and since he's finished with school for the summer, he'll be on hand to watch dad race on Sunday.

"My kids do something for me every day," Brogdon said. "I've got great kids, especially my son. In his eyes, I'm the greatest thing on the planet. He thinks his dad is the best in the world at anything. That sure makes me feel good."

Brogdon, too, will be thinking of his father, Leon, who helped Rodger get started in drag racing many years ago.

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have raced," said Brogdon, adding with a laugh, "and if it wasn't for him, I'd be rich – because I would've never gotten involved in drag racing.

"I used to go with him and my uncle to our local track. They've got pictures of me when I was 7 or 8 years old out there with them. That's how I got started."

Brogdon remembers racing the family station wagon when he was just 15 years old.

"When I first got my driver's license, my mom had a big, ol' red station wagon," Brogdon said. "We'd take it and go ET racing. It'd cost $5 a race. It was a lot of fun."

Leon Brogdon, 72, was himself a racer in his day, and he remains one of his son's biggest supporters.

"He actually gets madder at this racing thing than I do," Brogdon said. "He's something. I bought him a '66 Chevy and he drives it all the time. It makes 500 horsepower and he drove it all the way to Alabama – and got 23 miles to the gallon. He's out tooling around the country in it."

Brogdon heads to Bristol with some momentum born from lots of testing and extra work on his Pontiac GXP. Brogdon has qualified in the top half of the field in the last two races, and in Englishtown snapped a six-race winless streak with a slump-busting first round victory. The second-round appearance moved him to eighth in the Pro Stock points standings.

Now he's ready for Bristol.

"That's got to be the most beautiful track we go to," Brogdon said of Bristol. "It's in the mountains. We really like it. We're ready to go."

Four rounds of professional qualifying will set the field for this year's race, beginning with two sessions at 5 and 7:30 p.m., Friday, followed by two more rounds at noon and 2:30 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations begin at 1 p.m., Sunday, with all action being shown on ESPN2.