Photo courtesy of David Smith
CONCORD, N.C. (April 8) – NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster regional champion Brandon Booher is back in the United States after a two-month racing series took him to Qatar to work as a tuning consultant. The torque converter-savvy Booher is starting his 2014 campaign at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway this weekend, April 11-13.
Brandon spent most of his “offseason” in Qatar, joining Brandon Snider's ADRL Pro Extreme team as a tuning consultant. After working on and running the blown-alcohol Pro Mod almost daily, Booher is excited to be back to tuning and driving his AB Constuction/Torque MGMT dragster.
“When I got back from Qatar, I was almost burnt out from racing. We basically ran a full season's worth of runs in six weeks straight. I slowly started getting things ready, but the season starting on the west coast really motivated me to get everything ready for our season. Now I'm fully prepared to start off right where we left off,” Brandon said, hinting at his first-ever national event win at the Carolina Nationals here last September.
The Top Alcohol Dragster landscape has been altered slightly since the Booher Racing team last raced. Two-time national champion Jim Whiteley retired from the class. The rival nitro-injected A/Fuel teams were awarded three beneficial rule changes over the winter. Despite the changes, the Illinois-based driver is set on maintaining the routine and mindset that took him to two national event finals last year.
“I'm still going to follow the same plan that we had through all of last year; take small steps to improve in qualifying so we have a solid, consistent tune-up capable of going rounds on Sunday. The rule change doesn't bother me; you still need to get down the track and reach the finish line first. I'm just going to concentrate on putting the best package out there for the guys with me and the people who support us and see where we end up. Hopefully it's in the winner's circle,” Booher claimed.
Never one to rest on his latest performances, the 31-year old driver/tuner has set strict benchmarks for his upcoming title chase.
“I always want to improve. Elapsed time-wise, I know we can improve; I plan to do that this weekend. I have new goals for myself and my team to take what was a consistent mid-to-low 5.3s car and turn it into a low 5.3-to-mid-5.2s car. I know we can do it, it's just a matter of getting out there and doing it.
“Performance-wise, we're defending our Lucas Oil Series regional championship. We're also currently leading the Jegs Allstars points for the North Central region. I want to maintain that lead so we can race for our first Allstars title at my home race at Joliet. As far as national points, I believe we have a car that's capable of winning the national championship. We'll see how Charlotte goes. Not that this race will dictate how the whole season will go, but it will give us a good idea,” Brandon concluded.
Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals begins on Friday with runs scheduled for 12:15 and 3:45 PM. Teams will get one final session at 11 AM on Saturday before entering eliminations at 3 PM. Eliminations continue on Sunday.
ABOUT BOOHER RACING
Booher Racing is a father-son NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team led by owner/crew chief Aaron Booher and his son, driver/tuner Brandon Booher. The AB Construction team holds the title of quickest and fastest torque converter-equipped vehicle in the world. The 2013 NHRA North Central TAD Regional championship-winning Booher Racing team receives support from Motorsports Unlimited Performance Parts Distributors, Spitzer Enterprises, Torque MGMT, and Bell Helmets.
Follow Booher Racing on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing), Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing), and Instagram (www.instagram.com/booherracing).
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