FOUR JFR DRIVERS WILL HAVE SIGHTS ON PHOENIX WIN
 
CHANDLER, Ariz. — After two days of tough qualifying all three John Force Racing Funny Cars and the lone Top Fuel dragster will head into the final eliminations of the 29th NHRA Arizona Nationals with their respective focus on going rounds and continuing their winning ways in 2012. Leading the pack is 2012 rookie of the year Courtney Force the No. 3 qualifier with her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car. She is followed by father and eight-time Arizona Nationals winner John Force, No. 6 and finally Robert Hight, the 2012 Arizona Nationals Funny Car winner, in the No. 16 spot. Brittany Force raced into the show during the last qualifying session and will go into race day as the No. 13 Top Fuel dragster.
 
The Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster battled through a number of mechanical issues most notably excessive clutch wear before post their best time of the weekend in the final qualifying session. For the rookie driver having one shot to make the field increased the nervousness factor but did not rattle the Auto Club Road to the Future Award contender.
 
“I was obviously pretty nervous about it but I always try and put all that out of my mind. My guys always tell me we are at West Palm testing and the car doesn’t know if you are in the show or out of the show. I am excited because for the second race in a row we got the Castrol EDGE dragster qualified and I was a little concerned about it,” said Force.
 
“One of my big goals is to get qualified at every event and we got in on the last run today. We are in for race day and I am excited about the first round. We are moving up in the qualifying order. We were 15th in Pomona and we are 13th here. I have a new team and we are figuring things out every run. I have made some mistakes as a driver but I am always learning on every run.”
 
Brittany’s final run of qualifying 3.831 seconds at 321.81 mph was representative of most of the other Top Fuel dragsters and she will race Dave Grubnic for the first time in round one.
 
Courtney Force not only qualified her Traxxas Ford Mustang solidly in the No. 3 spot today, but also picked up four qualifying bonus points making her total five for the weekend.
At the start of the day, Force posted a 4.081 ET at 305.36 mph putting her third-quickest of the session.
 
“On our first run out here today we ran a 4.08 and it was a great feeling getting the car down there. Our Traxxas Ford Mustang was running really well and we ended up being at the top of the pack. We learned from that pass and it gave us more to build off of so we were excited going into the final qualifying run,” said Force.
 
Force then came back and raced her Traxxas Ford Mustang to a 4.076 second run at 297.16 mph, shutting the car off near the finish line.
 
“Our second pass today put us as the quickest Funny Car in the field for that session which is always exciting, but especially because I had to get out of it early. The lane started pulling me over. The back tires just kind of washed out and when the car starts turning like that at over 300 mph you have to get out of it,” said Force.
 
“My Traxxas Ford Mustang still went 297 mph at 4.07 seconds. Just to run a number like that in the 4.0s when you know you lifted off the throttle at the finish line, really makes me excited about what this car can do. Ron Douglas has given me an awesome car to drive and he’s doing a great job,” said Force.
 
Force’s best run of the weekend was from the second session on Friday that sent her to the No. 3 spot; a 4.064 ET at a track speed record of 315.71 mph. Her first round match-up on Sunday will be Todd Lesenko in the No. 14 spot. She is currently 3-0 to Lesenko in previous events.
 
“I’m excited going into eliminations tomorrow. We have Todd Lesenko in the first round. I just have to keep this car straight, try to figure out this race track and hopefully we can go some rounds,” said Force.
 
John Force made significant improved from his first race in Pomona qualifying in the top half of the field for the first time in 2013. He will race second year driver Alexis DeJoria. The last time these two drivers squared off Force advanced to the second round even though he red-lit. In a surprising turn of events DeJoria crossed the center-line after smoking the tires and Force advanced due the “first or worst” rule of NHRA with crossing the center-line being a worse infraction than starting early. Force raced to the final that day and secured his spot in the 2012 Countdown.
 
Force’s best run of the weekend was a strong 4.10 second run at 312.64 mph during the first session today.
 
“We did our job again. We got all four of these hot rods into the show and that is what the sponsors like Castrol, Auto Club, Traxxas and Ford pay us to do. My hot rod is coming around. That 4.10 was a good run and I had my hands full on that last run today. I got with (crew chief Mike) Neff and we talked about how we can work through a couple of things. I am excited about getting this Castrol GTX Mustang in the winner’s circle,” said Force.
 
“Courtney and (crew chiefs) Ron Douglas and Danny Hood have that Traxxas Mustang flying. I am real proud of them and we are all getting info from all the teams. We have the One Ford approach over here and we’ll be OK. Robert and Jimmy are working together and I know they will be ready for the fight tomorrow. I am proud of Brittany and that dragster,” said the proud team owner. “They came down to the last run and had to get her in there and Guido (Dean Antonelli) and Eric (Lane) got the job done. That is two races in a row for the Castrol EDGE dragster and we are learning every run. I think they have (Dave) Grubnic from Kalitta Racing so that will be a good race.”
 
The trials and tribulations continue for Robert Hight and the Auto Club team. They made one significant run over the last two days a 4.321 second run that steadily slipped down the qualifying order to wind up as the 16th quickest run of the weekend. That was enough to keep them in the show but they will have to race No. 1 qualifier Johnny Gray. Gray backed up his best time (4.034 seconds) with a 4.045 second run before smoking the tires in the final qualifying session.
 
“We are struggling some, no doubt but we aren’t hanging our heads. We will be ready for Johnny Gray in the first round. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) and (consultation) Ron Armstrong are looking at a couple of things and we’ll get this Auto Club Ford Mustang figured out. We made a lot of changes in the off-season and I am looking forward to seeing some progress. You look at the data and we are right there on the edge of getting some really good numbers,” said Hight.