Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran SCAG Racing team enter this weekend’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, race one of the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs, feeling more confident than ever.
Racing a full Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season for the first time, Richards and his Bluebird team ended the regular season with plenty of growth qualifying for 11 of the 14 races while also laying down Richards’ career best speed (319.60 mph) at the Charlotte Four-Wide event where they also raced to a quarterfinal finish. The BlueBird team earned their bid into the Countdown to the Championship by having participated at every race on schedule. Sitting 13th, they are only 30 points out of the top 10.
“I’m still just very thankful for this opportunity, I think this whole BlueBird / Versatran team is. Being in the Countdown is just so cool. It’s exciting to know we still have a shot at getting in the top 10,” Richards said. “We just need to hit our stride. We have the want, we just need to get it done! We’re planning on coming out swinging and I’m not going down without a fight. We stayed after Indy and made test runs that were very productive so I’m looking forward to hitting the gas Friday at Maple Grove. It’s a cool track with lots of history. I’ve raced there before and our pops used to race there.”
Richards and the BlueBird team are hoping they’ve found some late season consistency with a new-to-them car. They used the U.S. Nationals to debut the former Wilkerson vehicle and took time after the event to test and get Richards as comfortable as possible in the machine. They’ll be looking to put an exclamation point on their season as they compete for their first Funny Car victory and maybe deliver some upsets along the way.
Competition at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway begins with qualifying on Friday at 3:30 and 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Television coverage of the event will start with two qualifying shows Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET both on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations coverage will begin Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET with a second show at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX).
This story was originally published on September 13, 2024. 
