ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 10, 2024) – What a difference a year makes. Dave Richards and the BlueBird / Versatran Funny Car team have come a long way since visiting the Texas Motorplex in 2023 when they had a season ending explosion in the first qualifying session. Now, Richards and his BlueBird team enter this weekend’s Texas NHRA FallNationals competing in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship with a shot at a top 10 finish.
The BlueBird team is currently sitting 13th in the Funny Car standings, just 81 points out of the top 10, a position Richards is able to compete for because he’s participated in the full Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season schedule for the first time in his career.
After some early season gremlins, getting a new-to-them car and making necessary adjustments, the Bluebird team has slowly been building consistency and making full clean passes down track. They’ll be looking for that consistency to show itself in the form of win lights on Sunday.
“I’m excited to keep our forward momentum going. The whole team is, we see the improvement and it’s a good feeling. It’s going to be a stout field of cars at the Motorplex, but we have a great race car right now. We’re looking forward to getting quicker and quicker every lap and adding to the awesome show the Meyer family puts on,” Richards said. “Last year we had a pretty catastrophic crash in the first qualifying session that put us out for the rest of the year. A lot has changed since then, we’ve gotten better overall, and we’ve gotten some great support being part of SCAG Racing. So, we’re looking forward to getting on the track Friday and putting 2023 far behind us.”
Competition for the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, race four of six in the Countdown to the Championship, begins with four rounds of qualifying scheduled for Friday at 5:15 and 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Sunday at noon. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a qualifying show Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET and an eliminations show at 4:00 p.m. ET.
