2018 NHRA Mile-High Nationals Super Gas Results

Morrison, CO – The Super Gas winner at the 2018 NHRA Mile-High Nationals was Santa Fe, New Mexico racer Michael Miller.  Miller collected his 10th national event win and his fourth at Bandimere Speedway.  Michael picked up the easy win in the final when multi-time national event winner Kevin Moore of Littleton, Colorado turned it red by one thousandth.

The Winner

Miller averaged an outstanding .014 reaction time over five rounds of competition.  After an easy first round win where his opponent missed the tree and coasted down the track, Miller ran into a buzzsaw in second round foe Craig Maddox.  Miller and Maddox left within .005 of each other and both were holding about three hundreds.  After trailing off the line, Miller won the finish line braking battle as he killed .05 to go .023 above while Maddox killed .06 to go .033 above the dial losing a close race by .005.

The third round saw Miller win a breakout contest against Ryan Siffring.  Although Siffring had a .016 to .020 starting line advantage, he couldn’t find room to kill the .06 he was holding.  Miller, holding .02, expertly turned Siffring lose at the finish dropping to a dead-on 10.505 while Siffring settled for a .014 break out run.

In the semi-finals, Miller ran into the red-hot local racer Bradley Johnson.  Miller’s .011 reaction, his second best of the race, put him in control of the race as Johnson slipped to a .035 reaction.  With a big reaction advantage and his car dialed close, Miller eased to a two over run after taking .045 at the strip.  Johnson fed a little stripe to Miller but was well off pace with a .047 over pass.

The Runner-Up

Moore’s run to the final started with a couple of close breakout wins in the first two rounds.  In round one, Larry Bernshausen and his ’77 Vega Wagon broke out by a .007 after taking a .021 to .037 reaction time advantage.  In round two, Tim Nicholson and his stick-shifted ’67 Camaro broke out by one thousandth after taking .015 to .030 reaction time advantage.  In both rounds, Moore used his MPH advantage to push both competitors under the index.

Moore had his best reaction time of the race in his round three encounter with D7 hitter Mike Wiblishouser of Laveen, Arizona.  Moore’s .010 to .024 reaction advantage allowed him to control the race.  Although both drivers seemed to be dialed dead on the index, they both dropped at the finish to .03 over the dial runs allowing Moore to turn on the win light.

Multi-time Mile-High winner Kris Whitfield gave Moore all he could handle in the semi final round.  Whitfield took a .006 to .015 starting line advantage but failed to capitalize at the finish when gave up the stripe allowing Moore to kill .02 to go dead-on with a one.  Whitfield is probably still kicking himself as he looked to be on a dead-on 10.50 himself prior to his dump.  Either way, Moore found enough brake pedal to get safely above the dial and take the win.

The Final Round

Just as Moore had won several races by a thousandth or two, he lost the final by the slimmest of margins as he turned it red by .001.  Miller left with a .020 light and then enjoyed his parade lap.  Miller continues to win with a proven combination that he’s ran for years.  He’s never the fastest car in the class but he knows how to drive the finish and find the win light.

Congratulations to Michael Miller and family on your well-earned win!