HIGHT MOVING CLOSER TO VICTORY HEADING TO NORTHWEST NATIONALS
SEATTLE, WA (August 5, 2015) — The Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team has come close to standing in the winner’s circle this season but for the 34-time Funny Car winner close doesn’t count. Robert Hight and his crew chief Mike Neff have been working on a combination that will serve them well not just this season but throughout the 2015 Countdown and well into the future.
“We started the season really well but we knew we needed to make some changes for the future. There were some areas that Mike thought we could improve on as far as power and consistency and we decided to commit to making the changes and figuring some things out on this Auto Club Chevy Camaro Funny Car. We saw improvement in Bristol and last weekend in Sonoma we again made some big strides in qualifying,” said Hight, who picked up seven qualifying bonus points at the Sonoma Nationals.
On race day in Sonoma the No. 5 qualifier raced to the semi-finals before losing to the eventual race winner. In the opening round Hight outran teammate Courtney Force, 4.05 to 4.08. It was one of the closest races of the first round and a tough win for the teammates to have to deal with. In the second round Hight defeated Ron Capps with another 4.0 second run, 4.09 to Capps’ 4.11. In the semi-final round Hight posted another 4.09 but it was not enough to get the win light at the finish line.
Hight will head to the final stop of the Western Swing with a 31 point deficit (less than two rounds) on the team in the No. 8 points position and momentum. Coming into the Sonoma Nationals Hight was in the 10th spot and needed to make a move to secure his position in the Top Ten with so few races left in the regular season.
“We are getting down to it as far as the regular season goes. We have Seattle and then Brainerd then Indy which will be points and a half so you need to get as high in the point standings as possible. It will be a battle for sure and I am also looking at that last Traxxas Shootout guaranteed spot,” said Hight.
Through fifteen Funny Car races there have only been six winners so one more lock in spot is still available for the lucrative Traxxas Funny Car Shootout during the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend. Hight came close to winning the $100,000 to win race last year coming up a few thousandths short to teammate John Force.
The Northwest Nationals is one of the few events Hight has not picked up a career Funny Car win. During his rookie season Hight raced to the final and lost to teammate Eric Medlen in the final round. Since 2005 Hight has scored an additional semi-final finish in 2011 and only suffered three first round losses.
“The air is really good at Pacific Raceways so you know this Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car will run. We have been No. 1 qualifier four times and there have only been a couple of times when we have started from the bottom half of the field. I have a lot of confidence coming out of Sonoma and that semi-final finish. It had been a few races since we raced that many rounds on Sunday and we are ready to make that a habit starting this weekend,” concluded Hight.
BRITTANY FORCE AND MONSTER ENERGY WRAP UP SWING IN SEATTLE
SEATTLE, WA (August 4, 2015) — With the just one more race remaining in the 2015 Western Swing Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel team are ready to continue their strong momentum as they head to the Northwest Nationals. The team sits No. 7 in the Mello Yello point standings with just three regular season races remaining. They have steadily moved up the points since Monster Energy came on as primary sponsor at the Southern Nationals earlier this season.
“I am so proud of my Monster Energy team and my crew chiefs Tony Smith and Ronnie Thompson. We have been running really well. We stumbled a little in Sonoma but in Denver we raced to the semi-finals. Racing every weekend keeps me focused and I am looking forward to getting to Seattle,” said Brittany Force.
In Force’s previous two races at Pacific Raceway the 2013 Auto Club Road to the Future award winner has been eliminated in the first round. The early exits have not dampened Force’s enthusiasm for racing in the northwest.
When Brittany was a Sportsman Racer, she dove her A/Fuel Dragster to a semi-final finish at the 2009 Northwest Nationals before losing to sister Courtney, who went on to win the race. During last year’s race, Brittany qualified 11th but lost in round one. Still looking for her first Top Fuel win, Brittany’s runner-up this year at Englishtown has showed the fans and competitor she’s a contender. Brittany is also one of only seven women with as many as three No. 1 starts in a pro class and she has raced to five final rounds in her career.
Last weekend the Monster Energy Top Fuel team had a tough race at Sonoma Raceway. The team qualified No. 12 and was ousted early by Tony Schumacher. In Denver Force qualified the Monster Energy Top Fueler No. 3 and raced to the semi-finals. She took out veteran Terry McMillan in the first round and then out ran Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon before coming up a few thousandths of a second short to Schumacher in the semi-finals.
“We have come so close to getting that first win just gives me so much confidence. Since Monster Energy came on board in Atlanta we have been more aggressive and have been really making some positive moves. I am feeling good about our chances every race. This is the third race in a row for us so I am in a really good groove as a driver,” said Force.
The race weekend for Force will get started with a press conference at the famed Seattle Space Needle and a trip to Seattle Seahawks training camp.
JOHN FORCE CAPITALIZING ON SUCCESS AND NEW TEAM MOTIVATION
SEATTLE, WA (August 5, 2015) — John Force and the Blue Def Peak Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team are sitting in the No. 3 position in the point standings and with only three races left in the NHRA regular season the winningest driver in NHRA history thinks there is room for improvement. The 16-time Funny Car world champion has a new crew chief, a new crew, new manufacturer but still has the same attitude.
“These young kids led by my new crew chief Jon Schaffer keep me young. When I put on that Peak firesuit I feel like I am twenty years old again. We have won some races and last weekend we were the No. 3 qualifier. I am really proud of this team and how well they have pulled together. They are young and still learning but we are working together to get better every race,” said Force, who has wins in Las Vegas and Epping this season.
The consistency that has led Force to so many Funny Car world championships and 143 Funny Car wins has been evident again this season. The Blue Def Peak Chevy has started from the top half of the field 13 times in the first 15 races including eight top three qualifying starts. Force has been the No. 1 qualifier this season at Denver and Bristol.
“We have had a good race car this season and that is a credit to the whole brain trust. Jon Schaffer learned under Mike Neff and they still talk every day. We are getting all our hot rods ready for the Countdown and making another run at the championship. We have had a lot of change this season and we are rebuilding and making moves that will help us in the future. We have two of our Funny Car in the Top Ten and Courtney Traxxas Chevy is right on the edge. The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster has been running good and we are making our moves,” said Force.
As the defending NHRA Northwest Nationals winner Force knows that he has had success at Pacific Raceways. In fact Force has won in the northwest eight times with two additional runner-ups. Since 1994 when Force became the lone Funny Car driver to win Western Swing he has won or been runner-up at least one Western Swing race (Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle) thirteen times in those nineteen seasons.
“My teams have had a lot of success on the Western Swing and I love being on the road with my team and my family. Last year we beat Gary Densham in the final round at Seattle and that was like racing back in the early days. Densham was racing last weekend in Sonoma and you have veterans like him and young kids out here racing it just keeps me motivated to try my best. I want to win every race for all my sponsors that have stood by me like Auto Club, Traxxas, Mac Tools and the new ones like Peak, Chevrolet, Monster Energy and Lucas Oil,” said Force.
COURTNEY FORCE EAGER TO RECLAIM SEATTLE MAGIC
SEATTLE, WA (August 5, 2015) —- Courtney Force is looking for her first win of the season, her eighth overall, and is headed to a familiar race track this week to wrap up the 2015 Western Swing. The 27-year-old is competing in the 28th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, where she has been successful in the past and picked up her first wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Nitro Funny Car.
“I love coming back to Seattle because there are so many great memories at this track. Getting my first win in Top Alcohol Dragster and my first win in Funny Car; this seems like a lucky track for me for ‘firsts’ so maybe it can be my first win of the season,” Force said.
In 2012 Force claimed her first Funny Car win after qualifying in the No. 14 position, but went on to dismiss Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III, John Force and Matt Hagan in eliminations. Since then she has picked up a total of seven tour victories, fourteen final rounds and eight No. 1 qualifiers.
“Qualifying usually plays a big part going into race day. Obviously you want to qualify high to earn points, but also to have the advantage of lane choice over your opponent. However, I did get the win here from the No. 14 position so sometimes it’s a matter of who you face and if you can get your car consistently outrunning the field that day. We have won from the bottom half, but are striving to improve on our qualifying to have lane choice on race day,” Force said.
So far this season, Force has qualified No. 1 twice and gone into race day with lane choice seven times. She has 13 round wins in 2015 and was recently runner-up at Norwalk, Ohio, her fourteenth career final round.
“Last year I got to go to Starbucks headquarters with my sister, Brittany, and taste all the coffee. It’s always fun coming here because there are so many great places to go. The conditions are usually good which means a fast field, but the crowd and the atmosphere at the track make this place great. I’m hoping to continue to have even better memories here this weekend,” Force said.
Force and her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS team currently occupy the No. 11 position the NHRA Mello Yello point standings. They are just 53 points (less than three rounds) out of the No. 10 position.
Another win in Seattle would be beneficial to Force so she could lock up the final guaranteed position in the lucrative Funny Car Traxxas Shootout. Only six different drivers have won Funny Car races so far this season leaving one open spot for Force who flies the Traxxas sponsorship on her Chevy Camaro. Last year Force clinched her spot in the Traxxas Shootout with her win at the Kansas Nationals.