at Bandimere four times over the course of his career in Top Fuel and Funny Car .
“ When we heard that this was the last one , we wanted to come back for that , then Antron put the icing on the cake for me ,” Bernstein says after the warmup . “ There was no question I was coming back to be here for this . It ’ s a great place . The Bandimeres do a phenomenal job . I hope they get it going somewhere else . But the one thing about this place is there ’ s nothing else like it . It ’ s 5,000 feet in the air , it ’ s hard to run , there ’ s no air to push that wing down , and let me tell you , it ’ s a tough place . When you win here , you ’ ve had a good day .”
While Brown ’ s experience at Bandimere doesn ’ t go back as far as Bernstein ’ s , he ’ s won here nearly as many times with three Mile-High victories . Locking in more memories was on his to-do list going into the final running .
“ It ’ s one of those deals where you ’ re just trying to take it all in ,” Brown says . “ You take it in every year you come up here , but this year here , I ’ m really slowing down and looking at everything around me . Having Kenny out here being a part of it , it ’ s going to be a memory I ’ ll never forget .”
One of the fans who made a point to watch the Bernstein warmup is Mark Krekeler , who ’ s been coming to Bandimere Speedway since 1971 . Before a complete overhaul added the modern pit-side grandstands in the late 1980s , Krekeler and his friends would park their cars along the edge of the ridge to watch racing .
“ I clearly remember the old round tower , and the original Christmas tree had square bulbs in it , not the ones we ’ re used to ,” Krekeler says . “ What I remember mostly , though , is Old Man Bandimere , Bandimere Sr ., during the races on the weekend , he ’ d be back here with a backhoe hogging out the side of the mountain . He did most of that all by himself while the races were going on .”
Over the last 50 years , Krekeler has witnessed the evolution of Bandimere Speedway from a small proving grounds on the side of a mountain into its current status as a world-renowned professional drag racing facility . Fans like Krekeler were given a shot of optimism before the final Mile-Highs when John Bandimere Jr ., the track ’ s current president and the son of founder John Bandimere Sr ., announced during a media event that the family plans to build a new facility near the Denver Airport , possibly as soon as 2025 . Krekeler views these changes as the latest steps in the Bandimere evolution .
“ Knowing that this is the last Mile-High Nationals , it ’ s a little melancholy ,” Krekeler says . “ Nothing really stays the same forever . You can look at this as a big disappointment or you can look at it as optimism for the future . Whatever comes will be better in every conceivable way than this could be , except for the location and scenery and things like that . There are so many things that will be improved upon . One thing that won ’ t change is nitro .”
As the crowd around Brown ’ s pit area dissipates , the eight Mountain Motor Pro Stock entries start pulling into the staging lanes for their first qualifying session . The class , which originated three decades ago in IHRA competition , is known for its 800-plus-cubic-inch engines . “ They were big as mountains and most were built there , too ,” said Ted Jones , IHRA ’ s former VP of Competition , in a 2007 interview with Competition Plus founder Bobby Bennett . While those mountains were much further east , it ’ s fitting that Mountain Motor Pro Stock got one last chance to race on “ Thunder Mountain .”
“ It ’ s absolutely unbelievable that we ’ re going to get this opportunity ,” says John DeFlorian , who pulled up alongside Richard Freeman as the first pair of Mountain Motor Pro Stock cars to go down the track in the first qualifying session . “ I thank the Bandimeres and NHRA for inviting us up and allowing the Mountain Motor cars to be on the mountain . They belong here .”
DeFlorian was a part of the group that was supposed to race during the Mile-High Nationals in 2020 , but circumstances surrounding the
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