HIGHT No. 2 QUALIFIER; C. FORCE IN HUGE 1st ROUND AT US NATIONALS

INDIANAPOLIS – Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car will head into the 61st running of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals as the No. 2 qualifier but all eyes will be on No. 11 qualifier Courtney Force and her Traxxas Chevy Camaro as she races for her Countdown life against Alexis DeJoria in the ESPN Marquee Match-Up. Four-time U.S. Nationals winner John Force will face long time foil Cruz Pedregon for the 99th time in their storied careers in the first round as well.

Hight posted his best qualifying time of 3.971 seconds at 322.96 mph last night under much different weather conditions than his Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car faced today. Hight raced to the final round of the Traxxas Shootout and he had the benefit of being on the track for three runs going into race day tomorrow. His Funny Car went down the track all three runs but the performance was a touch off for Hight and crew chief Mike Neff. His times of 4.069 seconds, 4.102 seconds and 4.138 seconds were quick enough to get two round wins but not grab any qualifying bonus points.

“We went down the track every run. For some reason, on none of the runs it didn’t run as good as (Mike) Neff wanted it to. We were chasing something. We changed engines last night. For some reason it was just down on power for whatever reason today. So, we are going to work hard tonight. Tomorrow is really when you want to win,” said Hight, a three-time Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals winner.

After seventeen races in the NHRA Mello Yello regular season, it’s all coming down to the first round of eliminations to see who will make the 2015 Countdown to the Championship. Courtney Force sits 75 points behind Alexis DeJoria and will need to fight her way into the No. 10 position in the point standings. The first step will be getting past DeJoria, who has lane choice over the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car driver in an all-female first round match-up.

“We’re definitely in a tough position, but we’re excited. We’re going to do the best we can. Everyone wants to win Indy, but you have to just see where the cards are going to fall. We’re going to put ourselves in the best position possible tomorrow. I think our Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS team will hopefully make a good pass in round one. That’s the most important round for us so we really have to be on our A-game and give it all we got,” Force said.

Not only will the first round match-up determine who has a shot at the No. 10 position in the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship, but also who will take the lead in head-to-head wins since the two females are currently 6-6 in previous meetings.

“We definitely have to get around Alexis in the first round if we want a shot at getting in the Countdown. We’ll take it round by round and see what happens,” Force said.

This is the fifth time they have matched up this season, the tenth time they have met in the opening round of eliminations and the second time they have raced each other at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.

“Making a solid 4.11 pass in the heat in the first round today gives us some confidence going into tomorrow. It didn’t get us a win in the Traxxas Shootout, but it gave us a solid pass down the race track,” Force said.

John Force took to the track twice today and gathered information but did not improve on his Saturday numbers. He will go into race day as the No. 10 qualifier and will face Cruz Pedregon for the 99th time. Force is 66-32 against Cruz Pedregon, 2-2 this year and 3-1 at Indy. This is the first time they ever have raced in the first round at the U.S. Nationals. Force has beaten Pedregon more often than any other driver over his illustrious career.

As Force looked back at the regular season leading up to the U. S Nationals the 143-time winner was optimistic about where his four car team stood heading into the final day of the regular season and the Countdown.

“To be here in the heat in Indy coming from where we came from at the first of the year I feel like we are doing pretty good. We didn’t get the Traxxas Shootout win but Robert in his Auto Club Chevrolet was right there. We have a lot of work cut out for us but we are hard workers,” said Force, who clinched his 30th consecutive Top Ten finish earlier this season. “The first thing we need to do is get all our race cars in the Countdown. We have three in right now. Two Funny Cars and a dragster but we have to get that Traxxas Chevy in tomorrow. We make our own destiny. She has (Alexis) DeJoria and I have Cruz. She has her job and she needs to get that win.”

The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster will head into race day as the No. 7 qualifier and will be looking at a tough first round match-up with veteran Pat Dakin. Brittany Force will be making her third start at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and she will be looking for her first round win. Two weeks ago Force went from being 0-2 in her career at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals to a finalist this year. The 2013 Auto Club Road to the Future winner is looking for that kind of success tomorrow.

“It is definitely a challenge with the extra factor of the heat. We have been pretty lucky this entire season and it has been pretty cool. This weekend has been hot and that just makes this whole Monster Energy team push that much harder. We have a good match-up tomorrow against Pat Dakin,” said Force. “We are the No. 7 qualifier and we have had our struggles but it seems like everyone has been battling this track in the heat. We are hoping that the three day runs will give us enough information to make some good calls tomorrow. This is the biggest race of the season and I want to bring home the first win for Monster Energy so why not do it at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.”

Force posted a solid 3.798 second run at 319.60 mph on Saturday to lock into the show but the heat today was a factor for all the nitro teams.

“When you are outside of the race car you are thinking about the heat but once you get in your race car it is all about focus. I am looking down the track and thinking about what I have to do make the best run possible. I am thinking about doing my job and the heat is the last thing that is on your mind.”