Edwards top seed at K&N Horsepower Challenge

Monday, 21 June 2010

Mike Edwards will lead the K&N Horsepower Challenge field as the No. 1 seed for the first time in his career as the lucrative special event takes center stage Saturday during this weekend's race in Norwalk.

A purse of $76,000 is available for the eight drivers competing in the K&N Horsepower Challenge. The winner of the 26th annual K&N Horsepower Challenge will earn $50,000. The runner-up will earn $10,000, the two semifinalists $3,000 each, and the four first-round finishers $2,500 apiece.

Edwards, from Coweta, Okla., qualified No. 1 at 19 of the 25 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events where drivers could earn K&N Horsepower Challenge points. It is Edwards’ seventh career appearance in the bonus event.

The $151,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge showcases eight Pro Stock teams in a race-within-a-race bonus event. Seven of the teams qualified during a 25-race span between the 2009 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, and 2010 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Besides the $76,000 available in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, bonuses of $75,000 were paid to the top Pro Stock qualifiers throughout the 25-race K&N Horsepower Challenge series.

Drivers accumulated points during qualifying at those events, and a $3,000 bonus was awarded to the No. 1 qualifier at each race.

This year's K&N Horsepower Challenge field features four of the bonus event’s 11 past winners and of the four non-winners, one is top seed Edwards and another, Rodger Brogdon, will actually be making his debut in the bonus event. The other two non-winners -- Jason Line and Ron Krisher --will be making their sixth appearances.

Edwards, a two-time runner-up, will face the winner of the fan vote, Warren Johnson, who has won the event three times (’93, ’95 and ’02) in a record 23 previous appearances. Second-seeded Greg Anderson, a two-time winner (’04 and ’06), will meet Brogdon; third-seeded Allen Johnson, the 2008 winner, will meet Krisher; and three-time and defending (’99, ’00, and ’09) event-winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. will meet Line.

Other past winners of the K&N Horsepower Challenge include Larry Morgan, Bruce Allen, Bob Glidden, Darrell Alderman, Jim Yates, and Dave Connolly.

K&N Horsepower Challenge rounds are scheduled for noon, 2:20 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Final standings
1. Mike Edwards, 4,270
2. Greg Anderson, 3,520
3. Allen Johnson, 3,405
4t. Jason Line, 3,350*
4t. Jeg Coughlin Jr., 3,350
6. Ron Krisher, 3,205
7. Rodger Brogdon, 2,925
8. Warren Johnson, Fan Vote
* Wins tiebreaker