FORCES 2-3 IN FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING AT TOYOTA NATIONALS
LAS VEGAS, NV – John Force may have been bumped from the No. 1 to the No. 2 position today but for the 16-time NHRA Mello Yello champ, his Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car ran strong and consistent and that’s what wins races and championships. Force knows he has the performance to reclaim his points lead during Sunday’s final eliminations he’s racing to what’s gearing up to be another exciting season finale. With his brain trust of experienced tuners, Force is going full throttle and chasing another world title and is giving his rival a run for the money as the 2014 NHRA Countdown to the Championship is shaping up to be a dog fight.

It was during this evening’s final qualifying session that he blasted down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a ground pounding 4.022 second run at 320.66 mph. The header flames from his 8000 horsepower BOSS 500 engine looked like roman candles while they shot up over eight fight in the Vegas night sky as his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang stampeded right down the groove. For the winningest driver in NHRA history, it was just another day at the office but for this legendary driver, his office in not a boardroom but rather, the cockpit of his Funny Car. Force was also rewarded with two NHRA Mello Yello Bonus points during the final session.
“We only lost a few points to Hagan after qualifying but we can make those up tomorrow on race day by winning rounds. But the little points you make up in qualifying that also matter. I know he (Hagan) ran good with his 3.98 but tomorrow’s another day. The brain trust is running the car and we’re really going to go after it on Sunday, we’re going after the championship here and at Pomona,” said John Force.
Before Force can get there, he’ll face Jon Capps in the opening round and even though these two have never faced each other before in competition, he knows Capps will be gunning for him and Force will be ready. Capps is the 137th different opponent for Force who has raced at least one new opponent every year of his career.
Courtney Force is solidly in the top half of the field here at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after two days of qualifying. Force found herself in the No. 3 spot when all was said and done and will have lane choice against Paul Lee in the opening round on Sunday.
“We ended up qualifying in the No. 3 spot here in Las Vegas for the send-to-last race of the year. We made a pretty good pass earlier today in the warmer conditions, but it was definitely cooler today and it’s going to be cooler tomorrow on race day,” said Force.
Force made her quickest pass of the weekend at 4.024 seconds in the third qualifying session and picked up two bonus points for being second-quickest of the session. The Traxxas Ford Mustang team had difficulty in the fourth and final session when Force went up in smoke at half-track.
“I think it’s exciting to see that we could lay down that number in Q3 and run a 4.02 to get us up there in the top half in the No. 3 spot. We picked up two bonus points on that run and we were pushing hard for it tonight, but weren’t able to make the run we were trying for. We were going for it. Obviously we were trying to run better than that 4.02 and maybe pushed it too hard. It went right up in smoke and I had to get out of it,” said Force.
It has been two years since the Traxxas Ford Mustang driver has raced Paul Lee. The pair lined up beside each other at this same event in 2012. They met in the second round and Force took the win. Their current record is 1-0.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll be racing Paul Lee in the opening round. It’s going to be a big day for our John Force Racing teams. Dad and I are trying to go after this championship and Robert is trying to move up there in the points. It’s going to be a big race day tomorrow I think for everyone. We have to keep our focus, keep our team motivated and keep this car going rounds on race day,” said Force.
The Auto Club Ford Mustang will go into race day as the No. 11 qualifier. In both sessions Robert Hight’s Funny Car overpowered the racing surface and went up in smoke as the 2009 Funny Car champion was forced to abort each run. In the third qualifying session Hight lost traction just before half-track and Hight lifted off the throttle and the Auto Club Mustang cruised across the finish line in 7.848 seconds. In the last session with much cooler conditions it was hit or miss for all the Funny Cars and Hight came up on the short side with another sub-par run of 5.316 seconds. The Funny Car made it further down track before losing traction. No one on the team is hanging their head going into race day.
“We didn’t get down the track under power but that doesn’t mean we didn’t learn anything. When the track cools off you have to hit it just right. I know Mike Neff will get a handle for tomorrow morning. The goal is to go rounds and get another win here at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” said Hight.
It was a nail biter for Brittany Force today at the NHRA Toyota Nationals. The 2013 NHRA Auto Club Rookie of the Year was on the outside looking in as she headed into the fourth and final qualifying session today. The sophomore Top Fuel driver made a solid run on Friday but was sitting in the precarious No. 14 spot going into Saturday’s sessions and was looking to improve.
Brittany was bumped out and therefore it was do or die for the Castrol EDGE team. With only one more race after this weekend, Brittany Force did not want to be on the sidelines but rather, strapped in her dragster and racing her rivals. Even though she’s not in contention for a championship run, she wants to end the season with a potential first time Top Fuel win for Castrol EDGE and John Force Racing.
Luckily, her crew led by Todd Smith and Dean Guido Antonelli found the right set-up and on the last qualifying session. Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster blasted right down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ran a 3.805 second pass at 325.37 mph. This put Brittany in the field in the No. 14 spot and she will face Doug Kalitta in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. Brittany has face Kalitta seven times before in prior matchups and has scored two wins against him.
“I was nervous and so was the entire team going into that final session, it felt worse than first round sitting in that seat. I’ve been out of the car for a few weeks so we had to get back in our routine but the car went down there but I didn’t know if it was going to be good enough to get in because it didn’t feel that fast. But my guys came on the radio, told me what I ran so it worked and I’m excited to get in the field,” said Brittany Force.
On the first qualifying run, Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster smoked the massive Goodyear slicks almost at the hit of the throttle. She was trying to improve and her spot in the qualify order and take advantage of the improved weather conditions. Brittany did try her best in tackling the track and tried to pedal her 10,000 horsepower race car but it wasn’t cooperating. Now, she would be going into the fourth and final session not qualified for the field.
“We missed a little on the set-up in the first session, the car was slow at the tree and it couldn’t get up on top of the tires. It’s important to all of us to make sure we had Brittany’s car dialed-in going into the final qualifying session and there was no reason we couldn’t make the field,” said Dean Antonelli.