By Evan J. Smith

This past weekend, racers from across the globe converged on Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the 70th annual running of the NHRA US Nationals. When it comes to drag racing, the “Big Go” as it’s called, is the biggest and most prestigious drag race on the planet.

Bongiovanni racing brought seasoned drivers Anthony Bongiovanni and Dan Fletcher who competed in Stock Eliminator and Super Stock with their Micro Strategies Cobra Jet Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaros respectively.

Over 900 competitors in professional and sportsman categories battled on the famed quarter mile race track. Racers dealt with extremely hot conditions and the pressure that only Indy brings. The event consists of 6 days and nights of non-stop action and each racers enters the gates with a dream of hoisting a coveted NHRA “Wally” trophy.

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Amazingly, both Stock and Super Stock had over 150 entrants per class and the racers were vying for 128 spots on the ladders. Indy draws the very best from each of the 7 North American divisions plus competitors from Australia, Canada, England, Mexico, Sweden and more.

The team kicked off the event with qualifying and then Stock and Super Stock Class eliminations. There, Anthony Bongiovanni topped the Super Stock FSS/C field. He won his first-round match and then beat the ever-tough Brent Calvert in the final. Anthony used a .046 reaction time and 8.81 pass at 154 mph to top Calvert’s .084 light and 8.92/152 mph run.

Anthony went on to win first round of Stock and Super Stock in the Saturday eliminator, but he lost two close races in the second frame. Thankfully, Dan was a solid teammate, taking the Micro Strategies Stocker all the way to the final round on Monday.

Dan ran strong through 7 tough rounds of competition, but came up a few hundredths short. “I had a good streak going and was happy with my driving, but I missed it in the final,” said Dan Fletcher. “Joshua Decker was .019 on the tree and ran close to his dial, I was .063 and that left me no room to get to get in there for the win.”

“Indy is the longest and toughest race of the year,” said Anthony Bongiovanni. “It’s always challenging because you face changing conditions over 6 days, there’s day and night racing, and you demand consistency and maximum performance from the car and yourself. There’s drivers from across country and even abroad, and this year it was extremely hot, so we had to work extra hard on the tune-up,” he added.

“This race tests your mental toughness. You qualify, then run heads-up for Class eliminations then you do it all over in the main eliminator. I’m proud of how we performed, especially Dan, who got his car up to speed to make the show and then he drove a great race. We’re really dialed in and I’m looking forward to the remainder of the season.”