CONSISTENCY NOT LUCK WILL BE KEY FOR HIGHT AT LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2015) — This weekend at the 16th annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas fortunes will be made and lost on the Strip and at the race track. The bright lights will distract some but not Robert Hight, the winningest Funny Car driver at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year Hight and the Auto Club Funny Car team were the most consistent race car on race day and it took an incredible run by Alexis DeJoria to outrun Hight in the final. On Sunday Hight posted winning times of 4.082, 4.086, 4.073 and then 4.083 in the final.

“We have run really well at Las Vegas my whole career. Last year (crew chief Mike) Neff was dialed in on race day and I see no reason why we can’t do that again this weekend. We stayed after the Four-Wide race and made a couple test runs. We are not lost or anything like that we just seem to be a little off. I am ready to get back to the race track,” said Hight, a four-time winner at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hight’s wins at The Strip have spanned nearly a decade with his first victory coming at the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals in 2007 over Ron Capps. That began a stretch of at least one final round appearance a year in Las Vegas in five of six seasons. Hight’s success at the spring NHRA National event has been strong most recently with three final round appearances in the last four races. In 2011 Hight outran Johnny Gray for the win and then the next year he went back to back with a win over Bob Tasca III.
“There are just some tracks where you feel really comfortable. Las Vegas is one of those tracks for me and for Mike Neff. We were on a hot streak last year and came up a little short in the final. We ran strong on race day but we just got out run in the final by a great ET in the other lane. This is the fifth race of the season and we have two semi-final finishes so far. We want to get that first win of the season,” said Hight, a 34-time NHRA Funny Car national event winner.
The Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS and Hight sit in the No.5 position in the Mello Yello point standings just nine points out of the No. 4 spot. There have been three different Funny Car winners this season so Hight is only four rounds out of the top spot and futures can change quickly in the Funny Car class especially in places like Las Vegas.
While Hight has found the winner’s circle in Las Vegas four times he has also been dominant in qualifying at The Strip at Las Vegas. The former crewman turned world champion has started from the No. 1 spot four times at the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals and seven times in his career at The Strip.
“This is a great track for performance. We have always run quickly here and I think we will run quickly this weekend. We are going to focus on making a great run in the first qualifying session and building off of that. I have so much confidence after talking with Neff in Charlotte,” said Hight.

COURTNEY FORCE WANTS TO MAKE POSITIVE MOVE IN LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2015) — After celebrating her 75th career Funny Car start two weeks ago at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car driver Courtney Force is looking to improve on her current No. 9 position in the 2015 NHRA Funny Car point standings this weekend at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.
“I’m excited to get out to a familiar and lucky track for us and hope we can pick up a win here for Traxxas and team Chevy this weekend. The atmosphere is what makes this track, but the excitement of the fans and the fast race track makes it better! After a weekend off, we are excited and ready to get back into competition,” said Force.
Force holds the track speed record at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; her career best 325.27 mph which she posted at this event last season during the fourth and final qualifying attempt, along with a 4.006 ET to go to the No. 1 spot in the Funny Car field.
“It’s really cool to know that we currently hold the top speed record at this track and remember the feeling and excitement after running it. I was proud that my team could put a speed on the board like that and maybe we can even break our personal best this weekend,” said Force.
In the last three years, the now 26-year-old has competed at The Strip six times and has never qualified lower than No. 6, which was during her rookie season in 2012. In the last two years, she has not qualified lower than No. 3, and has qualified in the top spot once. Force says there is no added pressure to qualify at the top this weekend.
“I don’t see any added pressure for qualifying this weekend. We have qualified very well at The Strip in the past and we just hope to continue doing that. Personally, this track one of my favorites. I’m fortunate my team knows how to get my car to run great here. We are familiar with the track surface and conditions, and can use our past collection of knowledge and data to hopefully get us off to a good start when we return to Las Vegas this weekend,” said Force.
The 2012 NHRA Rookie of the Year has been to twelve final rounds in a little over three years and won eight of those match-ups. Last year, she raced to four victories, becoming the first female Funny Car driver to record four wins in a season, and won the 100th race by a female driver in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

JOHN FORCE WANTS TO HIT JACKPOT IN LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2015) — The last time John Force made a pass at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway it was in the final round of the fall NHRA national event and he was in the midst of a heated battle for his unprecedented 17th Mello Yello Funny Car championship. Force came up just short on both endeavors but his resolve did not lessen in the off-season, in fact the winningest driver in NHRA history has started the 2015 season with an even higher level of focus and determination.
“We came close last year and we made a good run at Las Vegas in the fall. We took the championship down to the last day of the season. We have brought on new sponsors like Chevy, Peak, Lucas Oil to go along with Auto Club, Traxxas, and Mac Tools. I have been busy but I love the NHRA and love racing with all these kids,” said Force.
This season Force has a brand new team led by newly promoted crew chief Jon Schaffer along with returning JFR assistant crew chief Nick Casertano. These two up and coming tuning stars lead a young crew that has re-invigorated the indomitable Force.
“I get a lot of energy from these young kids. I tell them this race car does the running for me and I will give them my best. We have gotten to know each other a little more every race. You can see how badly they want to win and give me a good race car. In testing in Phoenix we went old school and did a day of just tear downs to get them into race mode. I loved it. It was like the good old days when we would tear down in a hotel or Wendy’s parking lot,” said Force.
For the second race in a row Force will be campaigning the all-white Chevrolet branded Camaro SS Funny Car. The Funny Car will still feature Force’s main sponsors Peak, Auto Club, Traxxas, and Mac Tools but the emphasis on Chevrolet as the new manufacturer also has Force excited.
“I feel like I have gone back to my roots. I started my career in a Chevrolet. We just did a big promotion with them last week and we are going get this hot rod in the winner’s circle for Chevrolet, Peak, Auto Club, Traxxas, Mac Tools and everyone else that keeps this big machine running all over the country,” said Force.
The entire John Force Racing team of drivers participated in the Chevrolet Best Day Ever promotion on April 1st. As part of a national initiative to give regular people a little something special on April 1st the JFR drivers handed out free $50 gas cards at the Union 76 gas station in Yorba Linda, California. Chevrolet made a two minute viral video of the give-away and aired the segment as part of a day-long celebration making April 1st the #BestDayEver for people across the country.
“Giving away the gas cards was a lot of fun. Chevy asked Robert, Brittany, Courtney and me to have some fun with the people and we had a great time. I was washing people’s windshields and Ashley’s company John Force Entertainment put the whole movie together for Chevy. We were in our uniforms with all our logos and people were just shocked and so happy when we walked up to fill up their gas tanks thanks to Chevrolet,” said Force.

COMFORT LEVEL HIGH FOR BRITTANY FORCE IN LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2015) — This weekend will mark the fifth time Brittany Force will race at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as a professional in the Top Fuel division of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The third year pro also has experience racing in the desert in Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster as well as any number of test passes in her JFR Top Fuel dragster.
“I love going to Vegas. It is one of my favorite tracks to race. It feels like home. I have raced there in Super Comp, Top Alcohol Dragster and in Top Fuel. I would love to bring home my first win there,” said Force, after her second round finish at the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals.

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was where Force fell in love with Top Fuel almost four years ago. The second youngest daughter of 16-time Funny Car champion John Force was originally only going to test out a Top Fuel dragster but keep racing Top Alcohol Dragster. After one run in the 10,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragster Brittany Force knew there was no going back.

“My dad sort of tricked me. He told me it would maybe be easier to get a sponsor for Top Fuel but I could keep racing Top Alcohol Dragster. He asked me to make a couple passes in the Top Fuel Dragster and I think he knew once I made a pass I would love it. He was right. I love this dragster and my crew guys,” said Force.

In just two seasons in a brand new class for John Force Racing Brittany Force has raced to four final rounds and three No. 1 qualifiers. Last year she made history in Topeka when she and her sister Courtney were the No. 1 qualifiers in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively. It was the first time sisters had qualified No. 1 at the same event in two different professional classes.

This season Force is No. 8 in the Mello Yello point standings and is less than three rounds of racing out of breaking into the Top Five for just the second time in her career. The last time Force was as high as fifth in the standings was after the second race of the season last year. She had a breakout first final round appearance and eventually finished the season in the Top Ten for the first time in her young career.

“Last year was really a major step forward for my team. I am hoping to capitalize on that momentum and some early season success this year to move up in the points. I got my first round win at Las Vegas two years ago and it would be great to get my first win here. This class is so tough. There have been four different winners in Top Fuel this year. I get more comfortable in this dragster every run,” said Force.