Booher Looking for Resurgence at Bowling Green Regional

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
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).

Booher's Regional Championship Chase Continues at Earlville

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of NVW M.P.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (September 4, 2013) – Following a No.1 qualifying effort and semifinal appearance in Bowling Green, Ky. and a strong showing at the legendary 59^th Annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon Booher is heading to Earlville, Iowa with aspirations of locking up his first NHRA North Central regional championship. If Booher can seal the deal, he will be the first blown alcohol driver to win the North Central region/division title since 2008 and the first torque converter-equipped TAD to win it ever.

Brandon attempted to lock it up at the Bowling Green regional event two weeks ago. He earned his fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the year and reached the semifinals. The AB Construction/Torque Management dragster left too early by just six thousandths of a second, ending his weekend and pushing back the championship decision.

Another strong qualifying attempt followed at last weekend’s prestigious U.S. Nationals. Booher qualified third in a field that included many of the top cars in the country. The 2010 Spitzer-built entry was one of the quickest car of all four qualifying sessions, including the final session when Brandon clicked off a 5.36 pass.

“I think it showed the car’s performance, that it can run right there with some of the best cars in the country, whether they’re blown or A/Fuel. The car has definite potential, and I think we’re just beginning to see what it can do. The big thing is we had consistency on all of those runs. We were able to improve every time the car went down the track. Going into eliminations, we had a secure foundation to build a successful race day,” said the 30-year old driver.

Brandon’s 5.38 first round win over Bill Litton was the second-quickest elapsed time of the round. The car was set up to repeat on the second round pass against Aaron Olivarez but the car’s magneto wouldn’t provide the power to make it happen.

“The car was idling low when we started it, which was weird. I had my dad pull the air bleeds off the injector and that helped. I staged the car, had a great reaction time, and then the car just didn’t want to go anywhere.  The team got it back to the pits and realized that the mag had lost phase. Basically the magneto was not generating any power. The car had two degrees of timing in it from the time I got on the trans-brake until the time I lifted it. When I saw Aaron’s front wheel there was no point in chasing. I knew my car had a problem. I would’ve been hurting parts that I need to go to Earlville to hopefully lock up the regional championship,” Brandon explained.

The former Pro Top Outlaw champion remains confident after second round losses at the last two races. Both losses came from preventable issues that the family-owned team has learned from.

“The car has been a picture of consistency,” Brandon claimed. “If you look at our losses this year, they’re all small issues – driver error with red lights, ignition issues, a silly wheelie bar problem, and a seized oil pump. You take away those issues and the car is on a string. It goes out and runs, doesn’t hurt parts, and it makes everything easier. It makes the crew’s job easier and it keeps my confidence level high. We had the red light at Bowling Green and the ignition problem here, but that does not deter me. The crew stuck around to service the car and prepare it for Earlville. We fixed the problem, everything is fresh, and we’re going to be ready to chase a regional championship this weekend.”

After calculations and in-depth conversations with his team, Brandon knows what needs to happen at this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Series regional event in Earlville, Iowa.

“We need to win,”Booher said. “We need to erase any doubt, any skepticism, and any thoughts that what we’ve accomplished so far may be a fluke. It’s definitely not. As Al Davis said, ‘Just win, baby.’ That’s my goal. I’m going there with my eye on the prize and settling for nothing less than leaving with the trophy. From a mathematical standpoint, I believe we need to win first round to prevent Marty Thacker from going around us. We need to reach the finals to prevent Bill Reichert from going around us. Both of those cars would need to win another regional event to take the title. It’s kind of on my shoulders and it’s kind of not. To me, they have a lot more weight on theirs then I do mine. I control my own destiny to a point.”

Booher Racing is a Champaign, Illinois-based Top Alcohol Dragster team, competing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Former Junior Dragster driver Brandon Booher pilots the family-owned AB Construction blown alcohol dragster. The team owns the world record for quickest and fastest converter-equipped TAD. Booher Racing receives support from Motorsports Unlimited, Goodson Tools, Spitzer Race Cars, Bell Helmets, Cantrell Racing Products, and Torque Management. To learn more about Booher Racing, please visit www.nitronate.com/booher.

For news and results throughout the 2013 season, follow Booher Racing on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing).

 

Reichert Wins TAD, Bohl Locks Up TAFC Title

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photos courtesy of Steve Fuhrman

At the North Central Region in Bowling Green, Ky., former Top Alcohol Dragster world champ Bill Reichert earned his first win since the opener at Indianapolis, and in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Andy Bohl, who also won the Indy race, clinched his first regional championship with his third win of the season. Both won from the No. 7 qualifying spot.

For Reichert, it was his 10^th career win at Beech Bend Raceway, including five in a row from 1994 to 1998 and four in a row from 2008 to 2011. "I think I've done better here than I have at any other track," he said, "but we struggled almost all weekend."

Reichert qualified second-to-last with a 5.48 and slowed to a 5.63 in a first-round win over No. 2 qualifier Jared Dreher, then picked up almost two-tenths in the semi's, just in time to take out Marty Thacker. "I've been working with different cams all year trying to make more power, and I tried something different this weekend, too," he said. "When the car slowed down in the first round, we had to accept that we just weren't doing what it wanted and made a major move."

In the final, Reichert's Rislone Dragster dipped into the 5.30s with a 5.36 (low e.t.), in a lopsided win over 2006 Bowling Green winner Ken Perry, who shook hard immediately. "After all these years, this still feels as good as it ever did," he said. "This combination seems to be tunable, and I think we might actually be 'back,' but it'll be pretty hard to win the [national] championship – I think that's just about impossible now – and the region isn't looking too good, either. I'd have to win another one, and [Brandon] Booher would have to not make it to any more finals."

With three consecutive wins coming into the event, Booher, who surprisingly hasn't raced Reichert head-to-head all year, would appear to have a stranglehold on the regional crown and can clinch it with a final-round appearance at Earlville the week after Indy. He qualified No. 1 with a 5.37 but fouled against Perry in the semifinals by just three-thousandths of a second, his second -.00 red-light of the year.

The North Central Alcohol Funny Car title was decided early, when Bohl, who had already won two races this season (Indy and Columbus) met Chris Foster, who had also won two (Norwalk and Chicago) in the first round. Foster, who came out on the wrong end of a similar first-round meeting with Mickey Ferro here last year after twice winning down-to-the-wire division championships earlier in his career, fought for traction and slowed to 12.87 while Bohl made his best run of the weekend, a 5.67.

"It's a relief to finally win a [regional] championship," Bohl said. "I lost one on a red-light right here at Bowling Green and lost another when the other guy [Foster, in 2009] had to win the last race of the year to pass me. Frank Manzo was the first person I saw when I got out of the car, and I hugged him so hard I almost knocked him over."

With the title locked up, Bohl edged Ray Drew by just eight-thousandths of a second in the semifinals, 5.69 to 5.72. Manzo, who qualified No. 1 with a 5.62 and set low e.t. of eliminations with a 5.65 on his first-round single, had a harder time than expected getting around Wayne Butler in the other semi, when his car broke a lifter and Butler got a better light in a 5.72 to 5.80 race.

For Manzo, who had been to four previous regionals this season and reached the final every time, nothing less than a win would help him in the national standings. Manzo, whose 40-final winning streak in national competition will never be beaten, surprisingly had lost three of four regional finals this year, including the Indy final against Bohl, and he dropped this one, 5.70 to a tire-shaking 5.79.

"Lane choice won that race," Bohl said. "It was a coin-flip which one was better in the first round, but by the final, the right lane was definitely the one to be in. I looked at the left before we ran and said, 'No way is going to get down that lane.' I'm surprised he ran as good in that lane as he did. I know how it sounds, but I had more confidence against Manzo in the final than I did against Foster. Against Manzo, I had the good lane, and I knew what my car was going to do. Against Foster, that was a pretty clutch deal – basically one run for the championship and I'd just changed five things after pretty much embarrassing myself in qualifying."

TAN Driver Blog - Dave Hirata - TAD

Summer Vacation

So what does a Top Alcohol Dragster owner/driver do during a 4.5 week layoff? Work on Top Alcohol Dragster? That’s what I should be doing. But reality is I have a real job. Hirata's Lowell Body Shop, Lowell Automotive and Hammer'd restos and customs is what fuels my life fire. It’s why I have opportunities in life. Racing is in my blood. Genetically I didn’t have a choice. But our business is my real life. Lowell body shop was established in 1956 by my parents. It’s all I know and do. It’s the only job I’ve ever had. I just heard this saying, "if you love what you do, it is NOT a job" So true.

What really gives me the opportunities I have are my FANTASTIC EMPLOYEES. They make it happen...and to them, THANK YOU. I leave and the place does not miss a beat. I could probably work from home, but I was sternly told by my office manager, Nicole, that will NOT happen.

With that, the race car got put on the back burner to catch up on some real work. I also got a phone call from Route 66 Raceway a few weeks ago.  They chose my mom and dad to be their "LEGENDS" for that evening. It was a very thoughtful thing to do from them. Not a bad year for my parents - Garlits Hall of Fame, got a Norwalk nationals win, and a Legends award. In turn, we also did a little testing at Joliet that night, too. So I did get some race car action in.

Now starts our second Midwestern swing. We start at Bowling Green, move on to the U.S. Nationals and then off to Iowa. Three weeks of misery/fun coming up.  Now, what I really have to look forward to after the Iowa race is 3 days of punk rock at Riotfest in Chicago. Now there is a reason to go to work…Remember, opportunities?

 

Dave Hirata is the driver of the Hirata Motorsports/Schepel Auto Group A/Fuel Dragster. For more information on Hirata Motorsports, visit www.HirataMotorsports.com or like 'Hirata Motorsports' on Facebook.

Booher Chasing NHRA North Central TAD Regional Championship at Bowling Green

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of David Smith/PSA

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.  (August 20, 2013) – Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon Booher enters the final NHRA North Central regional event of the season with a considerable lead in regional points. The blown alcohol driver, who won the last three regional events that he entered, can clinch his first NHRA regional championship with a win this weekend.

“The championship situation won’t affect how we race. It’s just another race to me. We’ve won races and championships in other drag racing organizations so it’s not foreign to us. I haven’t experienced it in NHRA yet but my approach is the same. We’re going to Bowling Green looking to seal the deal but we’ll still race the same. We’ll unload, get down the track on Q1, then use Q2 to shoot for the best possible qualifying position to make our race day that much easier,” Booher said of his approach to the race, held at historic Beech Bend Raceway Park, August 24-25.

Brandon drove his torque converter-equipped AB Construction/Torque Management dragster to No. 1 qualifying positions at the Norwalk, Chicago, and Cordova regional events. He backed up the latter two with wins, followed by a third win at Booher Racing’s most recent regional event in Columbus, Ohio. The former Junior Dragster driver also rode a string of consistent passes to reach the semifinals at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in July.

The team’s recent success gives Brandon and his family-owned team a high level of confidence as they enter the final NHRA Lucas Oil series North Central region event.

“My confidence is pretty high. Looking at those three wins, not only did we win the trophy but the car was extremely consistent. I know that in all different types of conditions we can unload the car and get it down a dirt lane. I don’t expect the conditions at Bowling Green to be any different than something we’ve already seen this year. We’ll look at the details once we get there but I expect our car to run the way it has all year. Hopefully that’s enough to propel us to success on the regional level,” claimed the 30-year old Champaign, Ill. resident.

Though his finish at Bowling Green won’t affect his national points position, Brandon sees this weekend as an important part of his chase for a spot in the Top 10 nationally. This race will serve as a prelude to the upcoming U.S. Nationals, Carolina Nationals, and Auto-Plus Nationals.

“Bowling Green is very important to me because of the regional championship but it will also be a tune-up for Indy – making sure all of our new parts are jiving. Thanks to Kevin Cantrell at Cantrell Racing Products for coating our blower and getting it back to us in time for the race. We want to make sure that we have a car that is capable of winning. Everything is refreshed for this weekend so everything is as good as it can be going into Indy.

“We already have a perfect three-win regional score for national points so we need to start hitting the national events harder. We’ll run Indy, Charlotte, and Reading next. If we do well at those events then we’ll need to work on sponsorship deals to go out west to Las Vegas and Pomona at the end of the year to solidify our position in the National Top 10 standings.”

Brandon Booher and the AB Construction/Torque Management Top Alcohol Dragster team will continue their chase for the NHRA North Central region championship at Beech Bend Raceway Park’s Lucas Oil Series regional event, August 24-25. Teams will get two qualifying sessions on Saturday followed by eliminations on Sunday.

Booher Racing is a Champaign, Illinois-based Top Alcohol Dragster team, competing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Former Junior Dragster driver Brandon Booher pilots the family-owned AB Construction blown alcohol dragster. The team owns the world record for quickest and fastest converter-equipped TAD. Booher Racing receives support from Motorsports Unlimited, Goodson Tools, Spitzer Race Cars, Bell Racing Helmets, and Torque Management. To learn more about Booher Racing, please visit www.nitronate.com/booher.

For news and results throughout the 2013 season, follow Booher Racing on Facebook (www.facebook.com/booherracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/booherracing).