COURTNEY FORCE QUALIFIES No. 1 AT WINTERNATIONALS
POMONA – Courtney Force and her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team got the jump on the competition today at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. when they made their first official sub four-second run and became the first No. 1 qualifier of 2015 in the Funny Car class. The 26-year-old posted a 3.995 second ET at 322.65 mph rocketing to the top of the field in the third qualifying session. This is her eighth No. 1 qualifier.
The last time a Chevrolet Camaro was No. 1 qualifier was Tony Pedregon at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2004.

“It feels great. We’ve done it a few times throughout testing over the last few years, but it never actually counts until you do it at a national event. It feels good to kind of get it out of the way and get it off my chest. It was flying down there. That sand trap was coming up quick,” said Force, the 2013 Winternationals winner.
This is the first run under for seconds for team Chevrolet, a milestone for the new John Force racing manufacturer that will go down in the history books. Force is the twelfth Funny Car driver to make a sub four second run. Auto Club Raceway at Pomona has the most three second runs with ten. The most three-second runs at one event came at the Winternationals one year ago when there were a total of seven.
“It was just a great run for us, especially because we’re trying to come out here on a high note. Obviously we have new sponsors on board. To be in this Traxxas Chevy Camaro SS is a lot of fun. It’s definitely different. Obviously my paint scheme is different; it’s fun just like those Traxxas radio control cars. It was awesome flying down there. I was right on my parachutes trying to get the car stopped and pull off.
“Honestly, I knew it was a fast run, but I didn’t know how fast. I could only tell by the expression on my teams face and that’s when I knew it was a good one. It’s exciting to be in the 3.0s and get that top spot. I was waiting to see what everyone was going to run tonight, but unfortunately the rain kind of held us back. We’re just excited to go into tomorrow and actually be racing here at the Winternationals with the help of the new sponsors on board including Chevy, Lucas Oil, Peak Antifreeze and BlueDEF. We’re very thankful for all of them,” said Force.
Force will have lane choice on Sunday in the first round next to Gary Densham, whom she has lined up against once in previous events. The pair faced off in Seattle in 2014 in the first round and Densham took the win.
“It’s always nice to be No. 1 going into Sunday, but I would probably rather have the fourth run. You want to get more data going into race day more than anything. People forget about your No. 1 qualifier. All that matters is turning on the win lights on Sunday. I’m definitely focused on trying to get those win lights. It’s unfortunate. I really did want to get a fourth session just to kind of get another number down there and see how far we can push this thing,” said Force.
The 2012 NHRA Rookie of the Year was asked about her new, wild and crazy paint scheme for the 2015 season, but couldn’t take any of the credit for the lively look.
“I wasn’t involved in the new paint scheme; that was all Traxxas! I texted (Traxxas president) Mike Jenkins after I saw the design on paper, it was a little crazy and then when they wrapped the car and we took it testing in Phoenix it was exciting. It was a fresh new look. I think everyone by now knows Traxxas and the fun that we get to have with the radio control cars and this is something that reflects that. We’re coming out here to have fun and we get to do that we them. I was excited to have a new look this year and especially with the new sponsors, it’s exciting to have a different look,” said Force.
While Courtney Force was running to the top of the Funny Car class her 16-time Funny Car championship winning teammate and father John Force was building up a consistent baseline of runs going into Sunday. Force was the second quickest driver in the first session and again in what turned out to be the third and final session. His Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car tripped the lights with a 4.021 second ET at 320.28 mph in the lone session today before rain cancelled qualifying action. An enthusiastic Force was ready for race day.
“We have to win the race but when you have new partners like Peak Antifreeze and Chevrolet and Lucas Oil plus the long standing sponsors like Auto Club, Mac Tools, and Traxxas and I can’t thank them enough because they stood by us,” said Force, the 2014 Winternationals winner. “John Force Racing went into fight mode. Me and Robert Hight and year and a half ago worked to put this company back together. The paint isn’t even dry and we are going to make it. The icing on the cake is to have the Top Fuel dragster qualified in the top half and to have Courtney the first race in a Camaro SS she goes to No. 1.”
Force and his new team will face veteran Bob Bode in the first round. The winningest driver in NHRA history is not taking anything for granted to start the 2015 season.
“I want to be in racing fight mode. I was in fight mode yesterday and today to do hospitality for the first time. It has all worked thanks to a great team.”
While Force will be starting his 643rd Funny Car race it will be his first with new crew chief Jon Schaffer. The soft spoken young crew chief has enjoyed working with the high-energy leader of John Force Racing. With two quick runs in the bank Schaffer is optimistic about how Sunday could turn out for the team.
“Our confidence is pretty good but a lot depends on track conditions tomorrow. I wasn’t worried about being the quickest today but it was nice to get that last run under our belt. If the track gets that good tomorrow we have a set up for that. We have a 4.02 and a 4.06 to work with and between those two runs we should be able to make something happen,” said Schaffer.
Three-time Circle K NHRA Winternationals winner Robert Hight is looking forward to getting his season started tomorrow. His Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS has been battling some clutch issues but it hasn’t slowed the team down too much. The No. 7 qualifier will race veteran Tim Wilkerson in the first round.
“This Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS is running good. We just had a few clutch issues and we are sneaking up on them. We were trying to run a little harder than that 4.04 but we are top half,” said Hight. “Tomorrow is a new day and I think in the first round you could see some more three second runs. We are racing Tim Wilkerson and we are going to have to get after it.”
Hight’s quickest run 4.045 seconds had strong mph of 319.60 mph, third fastest of the top eight qualifiers. In fact the John Force Racing Chevy Camaros posted the three fastest mphs of qualifying.
The rain most likely will have the biggest effect on Brittany Force and the JFR Next Generation Top Fuel team only because they don’t have as much experience at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. This will be the third consecutive year Force has qualified for the season opening race and her No. 8 qualifying position is equal to her best start. The Top Ten finisher knows that her team has been working hard since the successful Phoenix test session.
“We are definitely excited. We had two good runs yesterday and got that 3.77 second run to get us the No. 8 spot. To come out here to the first race of the season is great and it pumps up the whole team. Our third run today was a little unfortunate. I made a minor mistake but I would rather have that happen in qualifying than on race day. You have to learn from those mistakes,” said Force. “I would have liked to have had one more run tonight but you can’t control the weather. You have to deal with the rain and just get ready for the eliminations tomorrow. I have a great team behind me and I am looking forward to first round.”