ESPN NHRA

The annual westward migration for the NHRA POWERade drag racing contingent has always been a keynote three-fer in years past, which demands an added dimension of stamina and willpower for drivers and crews alike.

This year's Denver-Seattle-Sonoma three-week turnaround will be flavored with an extra layer of significance.

First of all, when the first of the three Western Swing national events takes the stage at Bandimere Speedway this weekend for the 28th Mopar Mile-High Nationals outside Denver, it will mark the fourth of six races in a row on the POWERade series -- dating back to the ProCare Rx SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J., from June 21-24.

But perhaps more importantly, it will be the 12th of the 17 events which comprise the first leg of the 2007 Countdown to the Championship. It will be during the next five races, beginning in Denver, that the elite eight in the four professional classes will be determined, thus setting the field for the Countdown to Four, which commences on Labor Day weekend at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

The importance of this weekend's Western Swing kickoff has not been lost on the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle speed merchants preparing to brace for battle in the mile-high air on Thunder Mountain.

Top Fuel's Melanie Troxel, a Colorado native, has been working her way through a period of stubborn inconsistency since her win in Madison, Ill., in May. Since that victory, she has failed to win a round of racing, suffering five consecutive first-round losses.

"What we need is a healthy weekend," Troxel said. "We surprisingly haven't fallen back in the points standings as much as we could have. Even with our first-round losses, we haven't dropped out of the top eight, so we need to take this opportunity to go out and put in a solid finish that will move us up a spot or two in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship."

Countdown in a nutshell

The NHRA's new playoff system is an elimination process. That's the biggest difference between the Countdown to the Championship and NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup. It starts with the NHRA's biggest event -- the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend at Indianapolis. In the 18th of 23 annual events, the top eight racers in each pro category will begin competing for the championship. It means the 17th event, the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Reading, Pa., on Aug. 16-19, is the last chance to make it to the playoffs. Starting at Indy, the standings are reset, with points awarded in 10-point intervals from the first- to last-place finishers for the eight contenders in each class: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Indy begins the Countdown to Four over the next four events. The drivers who rank in the top four in each class after the Richmond race on Oct. 7 will compete for the title in the last two events: Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif. Points are reset again at Las Vegas with a 10-point margin between the four competitors in each category. "The one thing most of the drivers wanted was to keep the top eight in it until the end,'' said six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein. "No one was complaining about going to the top-eight playoff. But a lot of teams and crew chiefs don't like cutting it down to four in the last two races. "It's a brutal way to end it, but this always has been a brutal sport. You line up at 23 events and can lose in the first round each time." -- Terry Blount

Fourteen-time Funny Car champion John Force finally broke into the 2007 win column in Bristol, Tenn., last weekend but must continue to win rounds in Denver to give himself a realistic shot at gaining entry into the Countdown.

"Bristol was one race," he said of his success in Thunder Valley's sweltering heat. "The only way we're gonna get in [the Countdown] is to keep winning rounds and keep winning races, but at least now we've got a chance."

In Pro Stock, last weekend's winner, Jeg Coughlin Jr., would seem to be in good shape for entry into the all-important Countdown; he is second in the Pro Stock standings, trailing Greg Anderson by 86 points. But further back, drivers (including No. 6 Kurt Johnson) are avoiding the temptation of focusing too closely on the points and stumbling on the race track.

"We're not going to worry about things we can't control, such as how many races we have until the Countdown or how many consecutive weekends we're racing," Johnson said. "Just as we do every week, this AC Delco Cobalt crew is going to concentrate on this race, taking it one step at a time, starting with qualifying on Friday. After all, whether we're first or sixth in the points or racing at sea level or 5,800 feet, the object of this game remains the same -- to reach the finish line first.

"The way we see it, if we do that four times on Sunday, everything else will take care of itself."

For racers in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, the Western Swing is an abbreviated affair, with only Denver and Sonoma hosting the bikes. But there is a tightfisted logjam in the standings in the vicinity of the No. 8 spot with Chris Rivas (No. 7), Steve Johnson (No. 8) and Peggy Llewellyn (No. 9) all within 20 points of each other -- with one fewer race than Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock left to go until the next phase of the Countdown.

This year, more will be riding on the Swing than ever before.

Bill Stephens covers NHRA for ESPN.com