Luke Bogacki concluded a three-week IHRA road trip last weekend far from his Woodville, AL home, in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. Bogacki, an accomplished bracket racer who is the reigning DragRaceResults.com Bracket Series national champion in both Super Pro and Sportsman, shifted his focus to the IHRA ranks for 2008. Thus far, he has enjoyed mixed success pursuing an ambitious schedule that includes competition in four IHRA sportsman categories. Bogacki began his road trip in Clay City, KY two weeks ago for the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am event. There, he drove his CSR Performance Products Dragster to a runner-up finish in Top Dragster, and advanced to the semi-finals in Hot Rod with his Mickey Thompson Tires backed Vega. The following weekend, Bogacki earned a Quick Rod victory in the same dragster at the Pro-Am event at Pittsburgh Raceway Park, where he also advanced to the semi-finals in Stock Eliminator. A day later, at Pittsburgh’s inaugural Thunder Nationals Sportsman National Event, Bogacki drove Bryan Robinson’s BTE Racing backed Nova to the Stock Eliminator victory, his first in that category.

Last weekend at the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Bogacki made an improbable return to the Stock Eliminator winners circle, recording rare back-to-back national event victories in the class on the strength of twelve consecutive round wins. At the wheel of the BTE backed Stock Eliminator machine, Bogacki qualified 28^th in the 35-car Stock field. That set up a first round matchup with Dan Velenosi. There, he used a strong .018 reaction and dead-on 11.032 for a winning .020 package. He got a break when second round opponent Pierce Jones had mechanical problems after a great .006 reaction. Bogacki was then rewarded with a 3^rd round bye run, and a free pass into the quarterfinal round.

“The first two rounds were both huge breaks--I should have been headed home early,” admitted Bogacki. “First round, I was .018 to opponents .030-something, but he did a lot better job at the finish line than I did. He dumped hard and I didn’t catch any of it. I took the stripe by .036, which is horrible. I actually looked straight at his win light when we went thru the finish line, I just knew I’d lost. I was just lucky to be dead-on, that could’ve easily been .001 under. Then second round, my opponent had me killed on the starting line: .006 to my .026; and he broke. I suppose it was just my weekend.”

Following his third round bye, rain brought a halt to the Sunday festivities forcing the remaining competitors to stay at Grand bend an extra night, as sportsman finals were contested Monday morning. In the quarterfinal round, Bogacki engaged in a heavyweight confrontation with fellow touring sportsman racer Jim Harrington. There, Bogacki was able to overcome his worst reaction of competition, a still-competitive .031 and win a double-breakout match with a -.023 10.937. He stepped up his reaction time in the semi-finals, and needed every bit of his .009 lamp to top Paula Cambria’s .031 and dead-on 10.732 pass. Bogacki played the finish line to record a .01-over 10.961 for a tight win.

Awaiting Bogacki in the final round was none other than touring professional competitor Dan Fletcher, at the wheel of his familiar Valvoline backed B/SA Camaro. A final round matchup that would normally prove to be an epic duel ended before it began, as Fletcher fouled with a -.004 reaction. Bogacki was solid once again, leaving with a .013 before both competitors shut off early.

“This is unreal-a dream come true,” said an exuberant Bogacki. “Same deal though--I was just in the right place at the right time. I’m .031 against ‘Harry’, and that should get me beat. Turns out, we’re both real fast that round, so it’s a good time to be late and I win a double-breakout. Then Paula makes a great run in the semi’s, and I’m able to get under it. And then Dan Fletcher is red in the final? I mean, I’ve been reading about that guy since I was in elementary school. You grow up dreaming about winning a national event and beating someone like Dan in the final. It’s all kind of surreal.”

Bogacki’s Stock Eliminator entry is owned by former NHRA Super Gas World Champion Bryan Robinson. The 396 cubic inch engine was assembled by Brian Rogers and features a Milodon Oiling System and accessories, CSR Performance Products water pump, starter, and flex plate, and Hedman Hedders with Nitroplate Coating. A Holley carburetor prepared by John Kyle at Advanced Product Design burns Rockett Brand Racing Fuel and is topped by a K&N air filter. Bill Taylor Engineering built the Turbo 350 transmission and torque converter that puts the power to the ground thru a set of Moser Axles and Mickey Thompson Wheels and Tires. Matt Tinnin performed the necessary chassis updates on the Nova, which features AFCO shocks, Auto Meter gauges, and an array of products from JEGS mail order. Additional assistance comes from Goza Racing Products, TD Performance Products, Jiffy-Tite, ISC Racers Tape, B&M, Figspeed.com, American Race Cars, and Dixie Racing Products.

Bogacki’s back-to-back national event victories moved him to the top of the IHRA Stock Eliminator Nitro Jam points standings, although he admits that position is not likely to be his for long.

“I’m in the lead, but I’m almost out of races and I don’t have a total deserving of winning the championship. I’ve only got one national event left to claim for points, and I’d have to win it to have any chance. Even then, I don’t know that it would hold up. You’ve got great racers lurking in the top ten with races yet to claim; Nick Folk, Scott Macy, Craig Marshall, Anthony Bertozzi, and more. Nonetheless, I’m ecstatic to be able to win two national events, and I think a top-ten finish for our first year of Stock would be a great accomplishment!”

In addition to currently leading the Stock Eliminator points standings, Bogacki also sits in the 3^rd position in Top Dragster national standings (a category in which he has also claimed a national event victory in 2008), and 8^th in Quick Rod. In his fourth category, Hot Rod, he currently leads the IHRA Division 2 standings and sits just outside the national top ten.