Luke Bogacki Takes a Big NHRA Win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- 19 May 2016
Luke Bogacki hit a winning streak at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his K&N Filters backed dragster, he won his first event of the season and watched one of his cars dominate another event. Bogacki won the main event and $20,000 at the weeklong Spring Fling event in Las Vegas. Dan Fletcher, driving one of Bogacki's K&N Filters Super Comp dragsters, won at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals.
For Fletcher, it was his first win in the Super Comp division and his 96th NHRA Nationals event victory. He beat Steve Williams in the final. Fletcher and Bogacki met in the quarterfinals. Fletcher won with a 0.001 reaction time and a 9.049-second run. "My own success thus far this season has been incredible," Bogacki said. "But watching Dan win might be my highlight so far. I know that winning in Super Comp was a big deal for him, and when Jessica and I offered him the car, we told him that we'd love to be a part of his first 8.90 win. The car was incredible as usual – obviously it's been the breadwinner thus far this season – and Dan was flawless as well. It was great to see it all come together." Bogacki won 15 consecutive rounds at the races in Las Vegas in the Division 7 Lucas Oil event. He finally lost to Jeff Verdi in Round 6. He ran his wife Jessica's American Race Cars dragster in another event and advanced to the fifth round.
"It was all sort of a whirlwind," Bogacki said. "Obviously the car performed flawlessly thanks to American Race Cars and all the manufacturers that we depend on for product, it all came together. The trip out there was actually a lot of fun. .. Having some success on the race track is just icing on the cake." Bogacki has a four-car drag racing team, built by American Race Cars and backed by K&N Filters. He started the 2016 season at the DragRaceResults.com Ultimate Series in Huntsville, Alabama, in March. In his wife's new dragster, he advanced to the final nine cars and came out as the leader in the season-long Ultimate Series standings. The season champion wins an American Race Cars dragster valued at more than $35,000. He won the last race of the event and $25,000. "Considering that was our first weekend of competition in general, obviously I would have loved to debut the new car with a victory, but I'm not going to complain," Bogacki said.
One of his cars is brand new. His team put it together during the off-season. Even though it was a new dragster, Bogacki said he was confident it would be competitive from the start. American Race Cars helped assemble the car. Bogacki said American Race Cars built his last dragster and his last eight cars. "It's just kind of tedious to get all of that stuff just right," Bogacki said. "I felt like when we debuted it, it's not only a very competitive car, that it's a candidate for best spring car, best engineered car." Bogacki is coming off a successful 2015 season. The two-time NHRA national champion won three Super Comp national events, at Brainerd, Minnesota, St. Louis, and the US Nationals at Indianapolis. He won 29 consecutive rounds in the Super Comp division. He also won drag racing events over the winter at Valdosta, Georgia, Bradenton, Florida, and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Bogacki and his team are headed to events at Norwalk, Ohio, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Chicago in the next few weeks. He is looking forward to the next three events because they have been successful tracks for his team in the past. "We will be pretty busy in the next three or four weeks," Bogacki said. "The goal is to find some success and continue earning points toward another NHRA championship." Having K&N Filters for support has been a huge part of Bogacki's team success. He said the K&N air filters are the best products on the market and his partnership with K&N has been fruitful. "It's grown over the years to where it's a huge part of what we do," Bogacki said. "It is so entrenched, they probably support our sport as much or more than any other manufacturer. They obviously make the best components for what we do; their support has been a huge, huge part of our success." |
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