NHRA POWERade Funny Car Racer Preps for Las Vegas

Phil Burkart and his Checker, Schuck’s Kragen team was in Minnesota for the NHRA’s annual visit to Brainerd in early August. He barely qualified there, landing 16th for race day, and then was dismissed in the first round on Sunday. At that time, Burkart was 11th in points and in danger of falling further. He was looking for a way to salvage the season.

Phil Burkart's CSK Team
Phil Burkart's CSK Team
CSK Driver Phil Burkart
CSK Driver Phil Burkart
In the past couple of months, Burkart has done just that. He has a record 6-5 from the last six races, including a pair of second-round finishes and a big race victory in Reading. He has gone from 11th to 9th and now sits at 10th, but the 8th spot is still possible. Burkart is heading to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hopes to finish strong in the 2006 NHRA POWERade season.

Phil Burkart and his blue CSK Team use K&N Engineering Oil Filters (HP-5001) every time they race. “The thick canister walls on the K&N Filters have extra strength and durability,” he said. “It reduces the risk of damage from debris on the race track. We wouldn’t dream of entering a race without K&N Filters.”

Burkart and CSK Team use K&N Burkart and CSK Team use K&N
“We did mess up in Richmond, at the last race, but other than that we’ve been a very competitive group for the last couple of months,” said Burkart. “It’s one thing to be 6-5 at the last six races, but the truth is even better than the raw numbers. That’s a 6-5 mark against some of the toughest teams in the world. It happened that way because we’re still not qualifying as well as we’d like, and we have a tendency to face really fast cars in round one. Since mid August, we’ve beat a lot of those cars.”

Burkart and the CSK Team’s goal is to finish 8th in points. “To say this year was challenging is putting it way too lightly,” he said. “I’ve heard all the terms, including frustrating and agonizing and all they really mean is we’ve had a bad year. Both of the CSK cars have run well, but we don’t have the results to show for that. If we finish 8th or 9th, it means all was not lost on the 2006 tour.”

Follow Phil Burkart's progress throughout the racing season at the K&N news site. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.