JOHN FORCE LOOKING TO MAKE COUNTDOWN MOVE IN ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS (September 23, 2015) — In 2013 when John Force won his 16th Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car world championship he moved to the top spot from the No. 5 position. This season Force once again entered the Countdown to the Championship as the No. 5 driver in the points and he is already off to a better start in 2015. Two years ago Force lost in the second round of the first race of the Countdown but last weekend Force drove his Jeff Gordon Tribute Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to a semi-final finish. This weekend at the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals Force will be behind the wheel of a new look Lucas Slick Mist Chevrolet Camaro.
“We are promoting Lucas Slick Mist this weekend and I have to thank the Lucas family for sponsoring me this race and growing our program. Forrest Lucas and his family have done so much for this sport and I could not be prouder to race this Chevy with his name on the side. This is race is sponsored by AAA Insurance which is another one of our sponsors and we will be battling for all our sponsors this weekend,” said Force, who has two wins in 2015.
So far this season Force has been racing with a brand new crew and new crew chief Jon Schaffer. The winningest driver in NHRA history has been very pleased with his young team’s performance and by his own admission the 16-time champion feeds off of the enthusiasm.
“These young guys keep me motivated. I have always been excited to get to the race track and when I get around these young guys it just puts a smile on my face. When I am in my firesuit I feel like a 20 year old and most of these crew guys are about that old so we are a perfect match. Jon Schaffer has been giving me a great race car all year. We had a race car that could have won last weekend in Charlotte. I will be ready to get back at it on Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park,” said Force, who lost to daughter Courtney Force last year in the semi-finals in St. Louis.
Force has a lot of confidence heading into the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals when you consider he won this race in 2013 on the way to his 16th championship. The last four times Force has raced at Gateway he has qualified No.1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 1. The track just across the river from downtown St. Louis has provided Force with great performance numbers and confidence.
“I was at a crossroads a long time ago in my career crossing the Mississippi. Now we have rebuilt this organization and we still have some work to do but we have a lot of energy at John Force Racing. I am chasing that championship and so is Robert Hight in the AAA Insurance Chevy Camaro. My daughter Courtney Force and the Traxxas Chevy will also make a big difference in the Countdown. She helped us out last race with a big win and all three of these Chevrolet Camaros will be ready to go this weekend,” said Force.
Force is looking for his 144th career Funny Car win and third of the season. He has raced to four final rounds this season and he will finish this season in the Top Ten for the 30th season in a row. That streak is something Force appreciates but it wasn’t the goal when the former truck driver first got behind the wheel.
“In the beginning winning rounds wasn’t just to prove I could beat somebody. It was to get that round money to pay for Goodyear tires to pay for a room or plane ticket or diesel fuel. Everything had a reason. Every step was an improvement. We had a one car team and we lived that life seven days a week. We went to a two car team then three and now four cars. I wouldn’t be thing big if it wasn’t for my family. Drivers like Robert Hight, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney and now looking at the future with my grandkids Autumn, Jacob and Noah,” concluded Force.
HIGHT EAGER TO GET BACK TO COUNTDOWN RACING IN ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS (September 23, 2015) — There are six races in the Countdown to the Championship but for Robert Hight and the AAA Insurance Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team there are only five that matter. The first of those five is the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals which begins this Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park. The 2010 Midwest Nationals champion went out early in Charlotte last weekend and the team is ready to put that weekend behind them.
“Our Countdown starts this Friday. We had a good race car in Charlotte and didn’t get the kind of results on race day we were expecting. If you have to have a short day in the Countdown I would prefer to get it out of the way early. This weekend we will be supporting AAA Missouri so we will get to spend a lot of time with AAA employees and support people. This weekend we will also be involved in NHRA Nitro School,” said Hight. “I am also going to make an appearance at the FanFest on Thursday night after spending some time with the media on Thursday at lunch.”
Coming into the Countdown Hight and the AAA Insurance team were one of the hottest Funny Cars in the category. They won the second to last regular season race in Brainerd and then they were runners-up in the $100,000 to win Traxxas Nitro Shootout and Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. That kind of dominance will serve the team well in the Countdown over the remaining five races.
“We have been working towards having one of the quickest and fastest Funny Car in the Countdown. We are right there with the top teams and you can see that from our recent performance. My crew chief Mike Neff has a plan and I have 100% confidence in him. I just spent three days at our shop in Brownsburg, Indiana and we worked every day on getting ready for St. Louis and the rest of the Countdown races. We had one of the quickest cars on Saturday in Charlotte and I think we can have one of the quickest cars in St. Louis this weekend,” said Hight.
With one win and two final round appearances this season Hight is working towards continuing a streak of winning at least two races every season of his racing career.
“When I won my championship in 2009 we didn’t start winning until the Countdown. I have said for a number of years a couple wins and some semi-final finishes would put you in a good spot to get a championship. As tough as the competition is now you need to get your wins early and be ready for every round of racing. From top to bottom the drivers and teams racing for this Funny Car championship are some of the best I have ever seen in the last ten years,” said Hight, who started his JFR career as a crewman on John Force championship Funny Car.
COURTNEY FORCE READY TO DEFEND MIDWEST NATIONALS TITLE
ST LOUIS (September 23, 2015) — NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force returns to a notable race track this weekend for the 4th Annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park. It’s not only the second stop along a three-race swing, but also the second play-off race in the 2015 Countdown to the Championship where she is the defending event champion.
“St. Louis has been a good track for our team because we have improved each year. Last year we pick up the win here and we are hoping to do it again this weekend,” Force said.
Force took advantage of her role as spoiler in the 2015 Countdown to the Championship when she dismissed NHRA Funny Car points leader Jack Beckman in the first round of eliminations. She left the starting line before the veteran driver and her 4.086 ET at 305.63 mph beat his tire-smoking effort of 9.391 seconds at 58.24 mph. She is now 6-6 to Beckman in eliminations. This was their fifth match-up this season.
“We started the Countdown on the right foot by becoming the spoiler in round one. We got the win against Beckman, which was huge for my Traxxas team and also my teammates. My crew chiefs gave me a fast race car; one that was quickest of the session in round one and able to get past the Funny Car points leader,” Force said.
Last year she qualified in the No. 4 spot for the third consecutive year at St. Louis and picked up her fourth Funny Car win of the season, a record for a female Funny Car driver. She dismissed Bob Tasca III, Del Worsham, John Force and finally Matt Hagan to move from the No. 4 spot in the Funny Car points to the No. 2 position, right behind her father. It was her seventh career victory and she became the first female to win back-to-back Funny Car races (Dallas and St. Louis). It was also her fourteenth final overall.
“We’ve qualified 4th every year at St. Louis and we hope to keep the streak going. Our Traxxas Chevy Camaro SS showed a lot of consistency last weekend in Charlotte and we hope to carry that momentum over to this weekend. We are focused on the first two qualifying passes where we hope to put some good numbers on the board to put us in that top half of the field early,” Force said.
After Force’s 2014 St. Louis win was the first time a father and daughter have been No. 1 and No. 2 in Mello Yello Series point standings.
“Last year was a huge win for me at Gateway Motorsports Park because it was the first time a female Funny Car driver had won back-to-back races and I became the winningest female in a single season. There have been a lot of great things to happen at this track so we hope the positive vibes continue this weekend.”
BRITTANY FORCE AND MONSTER ENERGY READY TO HIT HOME RUN IN ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS (September 23, 2015) — Brittany Force has been around sports dominance her whole life. She was a high school cheerleader for Esperanza High School, one of the most dominant high school football programs in Southern California. She graduated from Cal-State Fullerton, one of the most successful college baseball programs in the nation to pursue a degree in teaching. Her father is 16-time Funny Car world champion John Force and while she is still looking for her first Top Fuel victory she has achieved many goals in three years racing the quickest and fastest race cars on the planet.
“I love driving this Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster. My team is awesome and I have two great crew chiefs with Todd Smith and Ronnie Thompson. The guys that work on the car are super supportive and I know our first win is right around the corner. We are in The Countdown for the Championship so our focus is winning rounds to get to that first winner’s circle,” said Force, who has raced to five final rounds in her career.
The third year pro entered the 2015 Countdown No. 5 in the points and was ousted in the first round at the Carolina Nationals after a tough two days of qualifying. One positive outcome was it was a tough day for many of the Countdown Top Fuel teams and she only slipped to No. 6 in the Mello Yello point standings with five play-off races remaining.
“It was a tough weekend for us. Qualifying was a challenge and we ended up No. 12 going into race day. That is not where we are used to being for qualifying. We came up short in the first round but luckily the way everything fell we didn’t get hurt too bad in the points,” said Force, who raced to the quarterfinals at the Midwest Nationals in 2013. “We are No. 6 and we are still in the championship mix. We can have a good race in St. Louis and be right in the championship hunt. The best part about this is in a couple of days we will be in St. Louis racing again.”
In May John Force Racing announced Monster Energy as the primary sponsor for Brittany Force Top Fueler and since that race in Atlanta the team has been on a constant move up the point standings. They raced to their first final round of the season in Englishtown two races after the announcement and since the Western Swing the team has jumped from No. 8 to No. 5 in the Mello Yello point standings. The team has qualified for every race this season and Force feels that the addition of Monster Energy has really helped motivate everyone on her team.
“When Monster Energy came on board it gave everyone a huge boost. It was great financially because we had a primary sponsor and that helped with the budget. We could race harder and be more aggressive. It also really got everyone on the team excited because we are all fans of Monster Energy products and their slogan ‘Unleash the Beast.’ These Top Fuel dragsters are 10,000 horsepower beasts and trust me when you are going nearly 330 mph you feel it. We have had a lot of success this season and we want to get that win and do well in the Countdown,” said Force.
In advance of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals Force will spend some time with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Thursday night. The Cardinals are also having another dominant season and Force is looking forward to experiencing the excitement of a big league baseball game from field level.
“I have been to MLB games in California and my teammate and brother-in-law Robert Hight is a huge Dodgers fans so this should be a fun experience. After the Charlotte race I was practicing pitching in the pits with our JFR marketing director Kelly Antonelli and the fans were really encouraging. Getting to throw out the first pitch will hopefully catch the attention of some fans who might come out to the races this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park,” said Force.