READING, Pa. (Sept. 30) - While Pro Stock driver Rodger Brogdon didn't get the opportunity to put in extra track time at Gateway Motorsports Park this week, he still has a plan of attack for the NHRA Nationals this weekend in Reading.
"We decided not to stay and test at Gateway due to other obligations back at home," Brogdon said. "We're going to go to Reading though and change everything in that car, front to back. It'll be a whole different car when we get there than it was this past weekend. We're going in a whole different direction, that's for sure.
"We're not starting from scratch but we're making some major moves in the four-link area since we can't get it in the 330-foot area."
The Owens Corning Camaro has continued to show improvements from previous race weekends even though event timing and data shows otherwise.
"If you look at the incremental sheets that's where we are really suffering, in the 60-foot to 330 area," Brogdon said. "The car is running good down the back half. We can run just as well as anybody there, we just have to get to the middle faster.
"We know what the problem is; we just haven't figured out how to fix it yet. Soon we're going to run out of races to figure it out. Hopefully, we figure it out this weekend so we can have good races for the rest of the year."
With a new setup that may hold the answers Brogdon is looking for, he will be slightly hesitant to put it all on the line for his first pass of the weekend. Unfamiliar with what the car may do with the sudden changes and new weather conditions, Brogdon doesn't want to create a bigger problem than the minor ones he is currently facing.
"It's going to be pretty fast there I'm sure," Brogdon said. "Ask me after Q1 though, and if I tell you I've got my car fixed, then I'll be excited. When you make these kinds of moves, just turning the clutch pedal the first time can be an adventure. You don't know what is really going to happen."
Qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1:15 and 4:15 p.m., Friday, and 11:15 and 2:15 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations will start at approximately noon, Sunday, with both qualifying and elimination action broadcast on ESPN2 on tape-delay basis.