John Force Racing–4Wide Wrapup

JOHN FORCE No. 2 at DOLLAR GENERAL FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

 

CHARLOTTE (April 20, 2013) – John Force and the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang team came out of the pits swinging today at the 4th annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals qualifying No. 2 with a 4.039 second run at the Funny Car event top speed of 316.08 mph. All four John Force Racing race cars qualified for the once a season four-wide extravaganza at Bruton Smith’s Bellagio of Drag Strips, zMax Dragway. Rookie Funny Car driver Chad Head was the No. 1 qualifier, the first of his Funny Car career, with a 4.014 second pass in the opening session under optimal conditions.

 

John Force made the highlight run in Funny Car to start the day for JFR but Brittany Force in her four-wide debut also turned some heads with a constantly improving Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster. The rookie driver opened the day with a 3.839 second run and followed it up with a 3.836 second pass in the second and final session. At the end of the only day of qualifying the rookie driver was pleased to be the No. 9 qualifier, her highest starting spot in her young career.

 

“We only got two runs and coming into the race we were hoping for the four qualifying runs to get used to four-wide. We were consistent both runs and we improved on our last run which is always good. We are moving in the right direction. In my canopy I don’t have much side vision but it is definitely a lot louder,” said Brittany Force, a quarter-finalist at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals two weeks ago.

 

“For me staging is just so different. My first run today I was in lane one which is the furthest lane on the left and it was pretty easy since the Christmas tree looked like it normally does. You are just waiting on three other cars to pull in. The last run I was in lane three which is the lane second from the right and I got a little confused for a second. The two runs were enough to get me comfortable though. I am looking forward to going some rounds tomorrow hopefully.”

 

In the first round of Top Fuel Force will face off with No. 1 qualifier Shawn Langdon, No. 8 qualifier Tony Schumacher and No. 16 qualifier rookie Sidnei Frigo.

 

“I am just going to go up there and do my same routine. It doesn’t matter who is in the lane next to me or the three lanes next to me here. I am excited to be racing a fellow rookie, Schumacher and Shawn Langdon. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

 

Going into the second session today the three John Force Racing Funny Cars were in decent positions considering there were seventeen Funny Cars trying to get one of sixteen spots but with only two shots to qualify they all knew anything could happen.

 

Robert Hight was the first JFR Funny Car driver to try and improve his position. At the time of his run he had slipped to the No. 15 spot and was running with Johnny Gray, Dale Creasy Jr. and fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson. His spot in the show was far from secure and as Hight’s Auto Club Mustang powered down lane number four is began to drop cylinders before it shockingly exploded and blew the carbon fiber body high into the air.

 

“It ran 6.13 in the first session and more than likely that will not keep you in the show. There are too many good Funny Cars here. This is a little different ballgame because we are four-wide so you don’t know who is behind you that could still bump you out. You are trying to figure all that out in the water box. I just went up there and did my burn out and knew I needed to make a good run. I hit the throttle and it instantly goes to the right and I knew it had a cylinder out,” said Hight.

 

“The last few runs it has done that it has gone right down the race track. It doesn’t even put a mark on a piston. I am fighting it back to the left then all of a sudden it puts a cylinder out on the left side and it goes towards the center line but I get her straightened out. Everything is good but the motor didn’t sound right without a doubt. I didn’t know if I was qualified and I had to stay with it. It just blew up. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. It was obviously a malfunction.”

 

“If it would have just had one cylinder out at the hit that thing would have motored down there like it has done the last ten runs. There was some sort of malfunction and we will fix it tonight. We will be back up there tomorrow in the ball game trying to defend this four-wide title.

 

The NHRA released a statement after the incident stating that the Mustang carbon fiber body landed in a walkway in front of the eastside grandstand. As a precaution two fans were evaluated and released by paramedics on-site.

 

Veteran driver Johnny Gray missed the show and Hight settled into the No. 16 spot with a final run of 4.879 seconds.

 

After the debris was cleared from the race track Courtney Force and John Force were next up in their quartet of Funny Cars. Courtney Force’s Traxxas Ford Mustang was looking to improve on their qualifying position.

 

“The races rained out on Friday so we were short two qualifying passes, which means we didn’t get to try out two of the four lanes. It’s unfortunate, because we didn’t make two great passes today. The car tried spinning the tires down track and it struggled early on in the second qualifying pass today. I feel like we’re going into race day blindfolded because we didn’t get to qualifying in all four lanes, but everyone else is in the same boat as our team. We’re going to have to go out tomorrow and do the best we can with what we do know. On the bright side of things, we got qualified, and that’s a plus because that’s not always guaranteed,” said Force the Mello Yello Funny Car points leader.

 

“We’re looking forward to tomorrow to see what our Traxxas Ford Mustang can do. I have to keep this car as straight as possible as a driver, really just focus and not be distracted by the lights. It hasn’t been bad so far. I’m glad I have my routine down early on. Ron Douglas has been doing a great job tuning my race car all season long. We went to the final round at the last event in Las Vegas so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again tomorrow.”

 

John Force was a few lanes away from his youngest daughter and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car did not improve and he will go into race day as the No. 2 qualifier and a first round match-up with Tony Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and Blake Alexander.