“This has been a real rough season,” laughed the twenty-four year old. “I feel like I’ve been driving well, and I’ve had good equipment, but I’ve just been a little out of synch--and in a game where thousands of dollars change hands by thousandths of a second, the real difference between a banner season and near starvation is pretty slim!”

Bogacki, who sold both dragsters he campaigned early in the season in June, made the trip to Toledo, Ohio to pick up his new American Race Cars Swing-Arm Unishock 4-link Dragster last week. While American Race Cars is a relatively new name in the dragster chassis market (Bogacki’s machine is the tenth car the company has sent out), the people behind the name are not: the company is owned and operated by sportsman racing veterans Mark Horton and Travis Colangelo.

“When I sold my dragsters earlier this year, I went shopping for a new car. There are a lot of chassis builders out there, and for the most part they all make good, safe, competitive machines. What drew me to American was the people. Mark and Travis have been awesome to work with, they were right on time with completion, they were competitive and up front in pricing, and they’re racers--so they understand what a racer wants in a car. For a relatively young company, they’ve integrated a lot of great ideas and features in these cars.”

With the help of Horton, Colangelo, and the staff at American Race Cars, Bogacki fitted the new car with his proven Huntsville Engine “Money Winner” 555 combination, along with his BTE Transmission & Converter, and made his way to Mountain Park Dragway Saturday night. There, despite a third round loss he was pleased with the cars initial performance. Sunday, at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY (a track that Bogacki has enjoyed a great deal of success at in recent seasons), things came around in a big way as he claimed the Super Pro victory.

“Most racers wouldn’t get too excited about a local $1,000 bracket win--but with the way this year has gone, I feel like I just won ten grand!” joked Bogacki. “The car was unbelievable. It moved about one hundredth all day, and it moved .004 in 60 foot in nine runs. I’ve worked on cars for months and never achieved that result--so I’ve got to take my hat off to Travis, Mark, Brett, Jeff, and the guys at American.”

Bogacki’s victory was just a small part of a successful weekend for the Ohio-based chassis builder. Dave Elrod drove his American Race Cars built dragster to a runner-up in Quick Rod at the IHRA World Finals, and Brian Lampton and John Kyle went deep into competition at the Halloween Classic at Norwalk Raceway Park before falling in their American Race Cars built machines.

“In addition to all of the great companies that have stood by me throughout my racing career and who helped this car come together, I want to thank the staff at American Race Cars as well as Brian Horton, the guys at APD, and Brian at Jay’s Body Shop for all their help getting the car together.” Bogacki also was quick to thank his marketing partners for their continued support: Bill Taylor Engineering, Huntsville Engine & Performance, Bogacki Marketing Solutions, Autometer, Goza Racing Products, Advanced Product Design, Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels, K&R Performance Engineering, Rockett Brand Race Fuel, Moser Engineering, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Milodon, Valvoline, Afco Drag Racing, Dixie Performance Products, M2 Race Systems, Hedman Hedders, TD Performance, Nitroplate, and Dragraceresults.com.