MORRISON — If Antron Brown had it his way, today’s weather would be cool and calm, just like Saturday’s fourth qualifying session of the 30th Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
“Maybe (today) we get some overcast and shadow like this, and we can go for it again like this,” Brown said.
He was the No. 1 qualifier heading into today’s top fuel finals, with a hot pass Saturday night (3.862 seconds, 315.05 mph). Brown captured the track’s top speed with a 318.39 mph pass Friday night, which wasn’t surpassed in any of the unseasonably cool qualifying sessions. Brown will face No. 16 seed Rob Passey in today’s first elimination round. Passey had a 9.653-second run Saturday.
Ron Capps (funny car), Mike Edwards (pro stock) and Hector Arana (pro stock motorcycle) also earned No. 1 qualifying spots.
The inconsistent weather has some drivers and crews worried about today’s sessions. Because the action will start at noon — instead of the late afternoon as in the past two days — teams aren’t sure what to expect.
“Tomorrow is a whole new ballgame,” Capps said. “That’s when you find out who the cream of the crop is.”
The conditions could be drastically different from what crews have seen so far, which means they don’t have as much data on the track conditions.
“We have to race in the heat of the day, and it’s another challenge,” Brown said.
The odd schedule — Friday and Saturday afternoon/evening qualifiers and Sunday noon finals — is one specific to Bandimere Speedway.
Capps captured the top funny car spot in 4.121 seconds at 297.22 mph.
Six pro stock drivers broke the seven-second mark Saturday night. After Allen Johnson dominated the first three sessions, Edwards stole the top qualifying spot with a fast pass in the fourth session (6.957 seconds, 197.71 mph). Both marks were track records. Johnson finished second (6.964 seconds) and Ron Krisher was third.
Arana shattered the pro stock motorcycle time in his fourth-session pass, 7.319 seconds, topping out at 180.01 mph, to earn his third career No. 1 qualifying spot. Andrew Hines was close behind, clocking 7.342 seconds.
“Today I got a little bit aggressive, and this last hit I knew I had the opportunity because I kept watching the weather,” Arana said after the race. “My goal is I’m going to win.”
Anica Wong: 303-954-1720 or awong@denverpost.com
