Western Swing Brings Unique Challenges

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In 1988, the NHRA Western Swing was just beginning to form with the inclusion of the Pacific Raceways in Seattle and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Ca. added to drag racing sanctioning body’s race schedule. It expanded the tour from 14 to 16 races and in the process; Bandimere Speedway in Denver was going through a major renovation of substantial improvements that would add another event to the series the next year.

That year was 1989 and along with the accumulation of then Houston Raceway Park now officially known at Royal Purple Raceway and the brand new Bandimere Speedway gave the NHRA 19 National events to call their own.

What started that season has become a tradition on the NHRA circuit. It’s called the Western Swing.

The three race series consisting of Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle have been considered by many competitors to be a series within a series and whoever came of it the best of three could claim the unofficial title of Western Swing Champion.

In the history of the NHRA only seven drivers in their respective categories have swept the three-race chain. No one has ever done it twice.

The first to accomplish the feat was Hall-of Famer and long-time Top Fuel pilot, Joe Amato, who accomplished the feat in 1991 with his, noted crew chief, Tim Richards at the helm. The next driver to take the series was 15-time Funny Car champion, John Force in 1994. Cory McClenthan drove his Joe Gibbs-owned Top Fuel dragster into notoriety with his domination in 1997. Larry Dixon added his name to the impressive list taking hisDon Prudhomme Top Fuel dragster to the top in 2003. Greg Anderson becoming the first Pro Stock driver to reach that achievement in 2004 followed that. Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel supremacy in 2007 brought him three wins in a row and the last driver to do it was Antron Brown in 2009.

Teams will travel approximately 2,115 miles during the 21-day mini-marathon so that their race cars can – if all goes according to plan – log a maximum of 6 miles (4.5 for Top Fuel and Funny Car) combined on all three-race tracks. In between those 1,000-foot or quarter-mile runs, the teams will be pushed to the limit to service those vehicles in 75 minutes or less on race day. Each race will present its own set of unique circumstances, whether it is extreme altitude, unpredictable weather conditions or sheer physical exhaustion from the task at hand. Teams will prepare cars that will go from one-mile up in the air to below sea level in just one week.

Starting in Denver and the running of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals, the teams will face their biggest adversary – lack of oxygen.

The conditions what teams call ‘climbing the mountain’ have driven crew chiefs crazy trying to get their race cars to perform. Add to it, the hot air settings of over 90 degrees, and teams will be trying to tune the cars in the range of over 10,000 feet real elevation.

Nitromethane contains its own oxygen and that helps the fuel cars. The ones suffering the most are the normally aspirated gas-burning engines of Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

From the Flatiron area of the Rockies near the Red Rocks amphitheater, the circuit moves to below sea level with a quick trip to the San Francisco bay for the running of the Fram/Autolite Nationals in Sonoma. The state of affairs changes so much that any team trying to run any part of their tune up from Denver could create a major explosion in the engine. It’s that much of an air volume difference.

In previous years, Sonoma was the last race of the three-race stretch. In 2011, it has been moved to the middle race and after battling the extreme air conditions in Denver, it’s a welcomed change for the teams, although it is hot and dry. The smooth Infineon Raceway strip is probably one of the best on tour. It has great traction and with the track going slightly downhill only adds to the inertia of going quicker.

1998 was the last time the NHRA ended the Western Swing in Seattle. Known as the Emerald City, the greenery surrounding the Pacific Raceways has been a great source of horsepower with the dense oxygen intensity all those trees surrounding the raceway provides.

Although the O’Reilly Northwest Nationals is not quite up to par with the other two, getting down the track to avoid the bumps is its biggest challenge. There have been times when only one lane was dominant telling crew chiefs to go all out in trying to win lane choice. With that noted, it has provided some phenomenal racing action.

The Western Swing is the heart of the NHRA schedule. It rivals Daytona Speedweeks and IndyCar’s 30 days of May for its three weeks of non-stop drag racing. It’s the most intensive part of the calendar and a great run doesn’t always guarantee a championship. However, the momentum from a great run in these three races sets you up for a positive run for the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to One with NHRA’s most prestigious event, Indy’s U.S. Nationals, quickly coming up on the horizon on Labor Day weekend.