MORRISON, Colo. – The beginning of NHRA’s traditional three-race Western Swing Friday at Bandimere Speedway brings with it a signal to the professional drivers who are vying for top 10 Countdown to the Championship series positions that the regular season ends in five more races. Three of those events obviously unfold on successive weekends in the challenging Swing that goes down from the Denver area to the Sonoma, Calif. wine country (July 27-29) and concludes in Kent, Wash. near Seattle (Aug. 3-5), putting a premium on performance. Nitro Fish Associate sponsored teams of Jeg Coughlin Jr., Pro Stock; Clay Millican, Top Fuel; and Tony Pedregon, Funny Car, are battling for Full Throttle series points. Each driver wants to take a big step forward starting at Bandimere. Coughlin, driving the JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Avenger, is a scant four points (437-433) behind 10th place Ron Krisher. He has been to the Thunder Mountain winner’s circle in 1998 and 1999. Millican, driving the Parts Plus Top Fuel dragster, has been running well all season. He is tied for 10th place with Bob Vandergriff (514). T. Pedregon, driving the Pedregon Racing Camry, hasn’t found the consistent performances to get into the top 10. From: Joe Sherk
