{"id":11339,"date":"2017-07-19T20:53:42","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T01:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=11339"},"modified":"2017-07-19T20:53:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T01:53:42","slug":"racing-at-home-track-still-has-big-challenges-for-pro-stocks-deric-kramar-at-mopar-mile-high-nhra-nationals-at-bandimere-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/19\/racing-at-home-track-still-has-big-challenges-for-pro-stocks-deric-kramar-at-mopar-mile-high-nhra-nationals-at-bandimere-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Racing at home track still has big challenges for Pro Stock’s Deric Kramar at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA<\/em><\/p>\n

MORRISON, Colo. \u2013 Deric Kramer<\/strong> has almost two decades of experience racing at his home track, Bandimere Speedway<\/strong>, the site of weekend\u2019s 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA<\/a> Nationals, starting in junior dragster and including his Pro Stock debut in 2012.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Deric Kramer. NHRA photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite all those passes on the mountain, racing in the unique conditions at Bandimere Speedway doesn\u2019t get any easier for Kramer, who will make his sixth appearance of the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season this weekend. Looking for his first round win of the year in his American Ethanol Dodge Dart, the Sterling, Colo., native knows challenges await in Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing (at Bandimere) in Pro Stock is definitely a whole new animal,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cThe clutch setup is so different and there\u2019s just so many things about this race that is different. There\u2019s no other track like this, and the view, the fans and the location, it\u2019s just really amazing. Even with the challenges, we like racing at home. It\u2019s something we always look forward to and it\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year\u2019s winners of the event that will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX, including live final eliminations on FOX at 3 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 23. It is the 14th of 24 events in 2017 and also the first of three races on the famed NHRA Western Swing.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Deric Kramer. NHRA photo<\/p><\/div>\n

It will be a busy weekend for Kramer, who is also racing in Stock and will have Richie Stevens Jr., who is married to two-time Pro Stock world champ Erica Enders, driving a second American Ethanol Dodge Dart in Denver. But perhaps the biggest priority is finding some success in his own car. He has qualified for every race he\u2019s attended this season, but after winning a career-best three rounds a year ago, Kramer is still looking to take that next step in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve made some decent runs, but these other teams are showing a lot more consistency this year so it\u2019s been hard,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cWe\u2019re making good progress, but it obviously doesn\u2019t show in the results. It\u2019s super tough. It really takes an iron will and we want to keep going and keep getting better. We can\u2019t get better if I\u2019m not out there racing. When I race I don\u2019t go there to go out in the first round, but that\u2019s where we\u2019re sitting right now. Hopefully we can change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doing it close to home would make for a thrilling weekend and having Stevens in a second car should help. But he\u2019ll also have to deal with defending event winner Johnson, who has seven wins and 10 straight final round appearances at Denver, as well as points leader Bo Butner and the rest of the talented Pro Stock class. Kramer has seen the rigors of that this season, but he knows there\u2019s room for improvement on his end. Racing in Denver and again next week in Sonoma will give Kramer an opportunity to show it and he\u2019s aware of what must get better on his end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see consistent starts for me,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cI\u2019m trying so many things, my lights haven\u2019t been consistent, so I would like consistent starts and obviously a handful of round wins. Whatever we can do to get that, that\u2019s the goal the next few races. We\u2019re trying to put our time to good use. It\u2019s no secret we\u2019re struggling right now, but I want to see us racing to the best of our potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schumacher will try for a fourth Top Fuel win at Bandimere Speedway, while also trying to track down points leader Steve Torrence, who has five wins in 2017.<\/p>\n

Force\u2019s seventh Funny Car win on the mountain tied him for most in NHRA history at the track. He\u2019ll look to top points leader and defending world champ Ron Capps, who has six wins this year.<\/p>\n

Hines will try for a fifth Pro Stock Motorcycle win in Denver to reach the most in class history, but he\u2019ll have to get past points leader LE Tonglet, who already has four victories in 2017.<\/p>\n

The event also features thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. After Nitro qualifying, fans can watch the spectacular Muy Caliente Racing jet dragsters sponsored by Lucas Oil, driven by the General Manager of Bandimere Speedway, “Sporty” Bandimere! Jet cars are thrust driven propelled by jet engines with exciting pre-run flame shows. <\/p>\n

As always, fans can interact with their favorite drivers as they\u2019re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. This unique opportunity in motorsports gives fans direct access to the teams, allowing them to see firsthand the highly-skilled mechanics service their hot rods between rounds, and get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers.<\/p>\n

Fans also will want to visit NHRA\u2019s popular Nitro Alley and Manufacturers Midway, where sponsors and race vendors create a carnival atmosphere, with interactive displays, simulated competitions, merchandise, food and fun for the entire family.<\/p>\n

On the evening of Thursday, July 20, the official \u201cstarter\u201d event of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals will commence with the free admission Mopar Mile-High Block Party in downtown Golden, Colorado, from 6 \u2013 10 p.m. MT. Mopar is partnering with Pennzoil to put on the 16th edition of the extravaganza featuring an autograph session with all top Mopar NHRA stars.<\/p>\n

Live music, food and drink tents, merchandise, interactive displays including the new Dodge Challenger SRT Demon simulators and a car show featuring plenty of Mopar muscle are also on tap at the fan event. Popular Denver-area morning radio show host Willie B. from KBPI 106.7 FM will serve as the event emcee. For complete information on the Mopar Mile-High Block Party, visit www.milehighblockparty.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 21, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, July 22, at 4 and 6:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 23.<\/p>\n

To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call 800-664-UWIN (8946) or 303-697-6001. Tickets also are available online at www.bandimere.com<\/a>. Kids 12 and under are free in general admission areas with a paid adult. To honor the Salute to First Responders, military and first responders can save 20 percent on general admission tickets at the gate. For more information about the NHRA visit www.NHRA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of the NHRA MORRISON, Colo. \u2013 Deric Kramer has almost two decades of experience racing at his home track, Bandimere Speedway, the site of weekend\u2019s 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, starting in junior dragster and including his Pro Stock debut in 2012. Despite all those passes on the mountain, racing in the unique […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[289,294,6],"class_list":["post-11339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-bandimere-speedway","tag-mopar-mile-high-nationals","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kramer_Deric_Action_2017.jpg?fit=2250%2C1500","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-2WT","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11339"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11346,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11339\/revisions\/11346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}