Pro Stock Car: Which track is the most difficult?

The NHRA will visit their last stop on the Western Swing schedule this weekend. Listening to Dave Reiff and Mike Dunn talk in Denver about how difficult Bandimere Speedway is for all categories, it made me wonder...which track is most difficult on the NHRA circuit?

I recently took to Twitter and asked Vincent Nobile, driver of the Mountain View Tire/NAPA Auto Parts Pro Stock Car, which track is the most difficult for the Pro Stock Car category.

I thought Vincent might choose one of NHRA's bumpier tracks, like Wild Horse Motorsports Park (formerly Firebird International Raceway) in Phoenix, Arizona or Thunder Valley in Bristol, Tennessee, because it is rough on the cars.

I was wrong!

"Definitely Denver," said Nobile. He said it is because of the "drastic elevation change."

The elevation of Bandimere Speedway is 5,800 feet above sea level, meaning the air is much thinner than it is at other tracks. The thin air causes the cars to lose down force, which makes them run slower.

Because of this, Nobile said that Denver "calls for a totally different setup than what we normally use."

Allen Johnson took home the trophy on Sunday, Jul. 21 at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver at Bandimere Speedway, but Vincent was victorious in Sonoma.

NHRA: The Western Swing

Those who are drag racing fans know that the NHRA Mello Yello Series is in the midst of the Western Swing. Those who are new fans of NHRA may not have the slightest idea what that is. Don't worry--I'm here to help! (Even if you are a long-time racing fan, stay tuned because I'm giving you a little bit of a history lesson).

The History 

 

The three-race Western Swing began in 1989.

It begins in Denver at Bandimere Speedway. Bandimere received sanctioning from the NHRA in 1968, and the inaugural NHRA event at the track was in 1977. This also happened to be the first NHRA national event in the state of Colorado.

Next stop: Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Sonoma Raceway opened in 1968. In 1988, the track hosted its first NHRA event.

The last track on NHRA's Western Swing schedule is Seattle's Pacific Raceways, which opened in 1960 and hosted its first NHRA event in the same year over Independence Day weekend.

Sweeping the Swing

 

What does it mean to sweep the NHRA Western Swing? To "sweep the swing," a driver must win all three, consecutive races. It's a challenge, and only eight drivers in the history of the Western Swing can say that they have done it.

1. Joe Amato in 1991 (Top Fuel)
2. John Force in 1994 (Funny Car)
3. Dan Fletcher in 1994 (Super Stock)
4. Cory McClenathan in 1997 (Top Fuel)
5. Larry Dixon in 2003 (Top Fuel)
6. Greg Anderson in 2004 (Pro Stock Car)
7. Tony Schumacher in 2008 (Top Fuel)
8. Antron Brown in 2009 (Top Fuel)

If you notice, 5 out of the 8 drivers to "sweep the swing" won in Top Fuel. What does that mean for this year?

Some information for this post was retrieved from the following:
Bandimere Speedway's website
NHRA's website
Pacific Raceways' website
Sonoma Raceway's website