Roger Bateman and crew rolled in to Morrison, Colorado, a suburb of Denver trying to win two in a
row in their home division. The Friesen Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car Racing team was in
competition at the annual NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Thunder on the Mountain Presented by
Grease Monkey hoping to capitalize on the fact that only six funny cars were on the property.
After two weeks off the team was ready to do battle with their peers and show that what happened in
Joliet was just a fluke and was not the norm. Roger went out and put the car in the number one
spot on the ladder with a 5.912 second, 244.43 mph pass Friday and held on to that spot all
weekend.
Roger would match up with number six qualifier Robert Kanewisher Sunday, holding the all important
lane choice. A win in this round would give the winner a bye in the semifinals and a free trip to
the final round. Roger lined up against Robert and took the win over his opponent with a
5.858/243.41 to 6.217/231.75. In the semifinals, Roger stumbled a bit running only a 5.862 second,
245 mph pass. Luckily for him there was no opponent competing against him but he did give lane
choice up to Vern Moats in the final round.
As the heat of the day burned down on the all-concrete dragstrip that the Bandimere Family built
last season Batman faced off against the long-standing class and division fixture with high hopes.
As the starting line Christmas Tree came down, The Canadian team left on the Iowan and never looked
back as Moats encountered problems and watched Bateman streak down to a 5.854/ 244.38 to a 5.937/
243.37.
There will be no rest for the wicked, as the team will pack up and head East back to Great Bend,
Kansas June 27th to complete at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Event which was rained out in late
April.
