With his No. 1 qualifying shot in Denver, Mike Edwards achieved one of team's major goals it set
prior to the start of the 2009 season, making the NHRA "Countdown to 1" Championship. The spot
means Mike will be one of 10 drivers vying for the NHRA Pro Stock championship during the final six
races of the season.
"Since NHRA switched to this format, everyone's goal for the first three-quarters of the season is
to be one of those 10 drivers so you have a chance at the championship," he said. "Now that we are
in, that takes some of that pressure off the team the next few events; instead we can just go out
and race and have fun with it and get ready for the six-race run."
The "Countdown to 1" field will be set following the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, and will include
races at Charlotte, Dallas, Memphis, Richmond, Las Vegas, and Pomona with the points adjusted with
the regular season champion starting with 2,110 points, and second with 2,080 points, down to the
10th spot having 2,000 points.
"Last year we made the field, but we started in seventh position and it was just too big of a hole
to overcome to be a serious contender for the championship," said Edwards, who during the 2008
Countdown to 1 playoff secured the second-most points during that stretch, but finished only fourth
in points. "These next few races, we want to make sure we stay within the top two and hopefully
catch Jeg Coughlin and earn those extra 20 points, which would go a long way in reaching our second
major goal of 2009, the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship."
The trip to Seattle has always been one of Mike Edwards favorite trips on the tour. It might have
to do that it is one of the tracks that he's had the most success over his career. Edwards holds a
.632 winning percentage at the track and a pair of victories in 1996 and 1997.
"I don't know if it is the cooler temperatures, the great scenery, or just my comfort with the
northwest, but I always feel relaxed at the Seattle race," Edwards admitted. "I think that goes a
long ways in producing good results."
Edwards currently sits in second place in points, trailing only Jeg Coughlin, 1145 to 1062.
The first stop on the three-race Western Swing produced some big highs and a few lows during the
course of the weekend. In qualifying, Mike Edwards did not become the first official Pro Stock
racer to eclipse the six-second barrier, which he did a few weeks prior in testing, only solely on
the run order. With the first qualifying session an inversion of the point standings, Greg Anderson
went out the pair before Edwards and grabbed that honor. Edwards did follow with his first official
six-second shot.
On Saturday, in the last qualifying session, Edwards earned the No. 1 qualifying position when his
ART/Young Life Pontiac cranked out a 6.95 at nearly 198 mph, to become the quickest and fastest
driver in Pro Stock at the mile-high facility of Bandimere Speedway and garnered both ends of the
track record.
"That was a huge run," Edwards admitted, "to put those kinds of numbers on the scoreboard at that
elevation is just proof that every single member of this race team is doing their job at a high
level. All the guys have made this one of those years to remember."
During eliminations, a .001 red-light in the second round ended Edwards weekend and the worse part
it was against current point's leader Jeg Coughlin.
"That really hurt, but it is part of racing," Edwards said. "It would have been nice to stop that
yellow and black car, but we will get a few more shots at him. He is a great racer, you have to be
on your game every time, and we just came up on the wrong side."
Quick Notes
Mike Edwards in his first three trips to Seattle, was a perfect 10-0 until the semifinals in 1998
when Kurt Johnson ended the run.
Mike Edwards has grabbed either low e.t. or top speed at 11 of the first 13 event. He scored both
the low e.t. and top speed of the event at six races (Gainesville, Bristol, Topeka, Chicago,
Englishtown, and Denver), and has left with low e.t. two other events (Phoenix and Las Vegas),
while garnering top speed at three others (Houston, Atlanta, and Norwalk).
The 4,600 miles the team will travel from the Coweta, Okla., shop and to NHRA stops in Denver,
Seattle, and Sonoma, and returning home is basically the same distance as driving from Los Angeles
to New York City and then back to Denver.
Television Schedule NHRA Northwest Nationals
ESPN2
Saturday, July 18
Qualifying
7 - 9 p.m. (ET)
Sunday, July 19
NHRA Race Day Show
11 - 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Sunday, July 19
Eliminations
9 p.m. - midnight (ET)
Wednesday, July 22
Repeat Eliminations
3:30 - 5:30 a.m. (ET)
