Photo courtesy of David Smith
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (August 20) – A breakout 2013 season had Brandon Booher and his AB Construction team primed for a national championship chase as the 2014 season began. They kicked off the year with a runner-up finish at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte then a win at the Norwalk regional. Their luck turned for the worse after that, falling in the first and second round at most races, even failing to qualify twice. Booher, who drives and tunes the family-owned Top Alcohol Dragster, hopes to turn things around for the better at this weekend's NHRA North Central Region event in Bowling Green.
“To go from the year we had last year and starting this year strong to struggling with issues and the car not running these last few races has been tough. It's no shortage of work or effort on anyone's part, it's just issues we've had to chase. It's been tough but that's part of the deal. We just need to plug away and get our car back to running where it should.
“After switching literally everything except my driving shoes and firesuit, we thought we had it figured out in St. Louis. The same issue persisted so I came back home, looked at my notes and realized that it was a certain part that I tried. It looked good on paper but it just caused the car to run very poorly. That part has been switched out and now we just need to go to Bowling Green, make some solid hits and get ready for the U.S. Nationals. It would be nice to roll into Indy with a win,” Booher said.
In addition to confidence in the changes he made since the last race, Brandon is fueled by past success at Beech Bend Raceway. He reached the first final round of his TAD career here in 2009, and was well on his way to another final last year.
“This year we've seemed to struggle at the tracks where we excelled last year and vice versa. Last year we won the Joliet and Columbus regionals; this year we didn't qualify at both. Last year we struggled at the Norwalk regional; we won it this year. So following that line of thinking we should do well at Bowling Green. We hurt a lot of parts at this race in prior years, though we didn't have any issues last year. We qualified number one and went to the semifinals where I was double-oh red. I'm looking to improve on that and gain some points,” Booher commented.
Those valuable Lucas Oil Series points are important to Booher, who last year won the NHRA North Central regional championship and finished third in NHRA national points. Though he's slipped to fourth in regional points this year, he's still set on a second championship.
“I'm not giving up on this regional championship yet. I'm sure a lot of people have counted me out based on the last few races but there's a number three on that car for a reason. I hope to prove wrong anyone who thinks I got dumb or forgot what I'm doing.
“It's going to take a good car,” Booher said of what's necessary to repeat last year's points finishes. “I can drive the car well so most of the time that isn't an issue. I just need to have the car behind me. I think our performance in the past proves that it's a contender. If we can pick up a few wins and the right people go out at the right time we can still have a very successful season.”
The NHRA Lucas Oil Series North Central Regional race at Beech Bend Raceway, Aug. 23-24, is a Saturday-Sunday event with qualifying at 1 and 5 PM Saturday and eliminations beginning at noon on Sunday. The AB Construction team will head to Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis following eliminations.
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 – 5.30 seconds at 275 MPH. The 2013 NHRA North Central TAD Regional championship-winning Booher Racing team receives support from Motorsports Unlimited Performance Parts Distributors, Spitzer Enterprises, Goodson Tools, Bell Helmets, and Torque MGMT.
Follow Booher Racing on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing), Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing), and Instagram (www.instagram.com/booherracing).
No comments:
Post a Comment