C. FORCE, B. FORCE LEAD JFR TEAMS ON FRIDAY IN LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS – Courtney Force and Brittany Force led the way for John Force Racing at the 17th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals today at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Courtney Force and the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS team put three bonus points in their pocket today after two rounds of qualifying. They were the third quickest car in the first session and the second quickest car in the second session, narrowly missing a track elapsed time record. If Force holds on to the No. 2 position through Saturday’s additional sessions, this will be the third race in a row that she has qualified No. 2.
In the first round of qualifying, Force posted a 4.017 ET at 303.98 mph. She followed that up with a 3.928 ET at 326.08 mph, setting the track speed record at The Strip.
“We had a great start out here at The Strip. Our Traxxas car is really making some big strides this weekend so far. Going into the first round of qualifying we had a hole out so we were only running on seven cylinders and still managed to run a 4.01 and pick up a bonus point.
“We fixed the problem and went back out for Q2 and were really prepared to push it hard because the conditions were so good. It was the perfect time to see what kind of numbers we could get up on the scoreboard. We ran a 3.928 and barely missed the No. 1 spot, but we set the track speed record at 326.08 mph. This is a track for our team for sure. We’ve always had really good luck with big speeds here so I’m looking forward to pushing this car even harder and seeing what we can do before Sunday,” said Force.
Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team continued their streak of consistency on the track recording two quality elapsed times today. In the first session Force was the fifth quickest dragster and as the close of Friday qualifying the Gatornationals winning team stepped up to the provisional No. 3 spot with a strong 3.768 second run at 316.90 mph. Force picked up one qualifying bonus point.
“I just feel so confident with this team I have behind me. The way our Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster has been running so consistently makes me really proud to these guys,” said Force at the end of the day. “They have put together a bad ass race car and they know what they are doing. To come out here to The Strip at Las Vegas and put more good numbers on the scoreboard makes me feel pretty good. We are the number three qualifier right now and we have two more shots tomorrow.”
The Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team and driver Robert Hight also kept their performance streak alive making the quickest run of the first qualifying session. Hight tripped the timing beams with an elapsed time of 4.007 seconds and picked up three qualifying bonus points.
“That was a great run. It just seems like Mike Neff has a handle on this Auto Club Chevy in all different conditions. It wasn’t the same up there. Mark Lyle always pointed at me after I did my burnouts and it is just not the same,” said Hight from the top end.
In the final session of the day the Auto Club Chevy made an improved run of 3.980 seconds but slipped back in the pack to wind up No. 7 going into Saturday.
“I think there is more out there for this Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro. We would have liked to have run quicker in that last session but we’ll get two more shots tomorrow. I have a lot of confidence in Mike Neff and this Auto Club team. They will look at the data from today as well as the info from the PEAK and Traxxas teams. We got three bonus points in the first round and we’ll try and get some more tomorrow.”
Right behind Hight in the Funny Car qualifying order is John Force the defending DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals winner. Force also improved in the second qualifying session with a 3.987 second run and also be looking to improve on Saturday. After the first run of the day Force’s crew chief Jon Schaffer was optimistic that the opportunity to improve on his first run was out there for the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant team.
“I was hoping it would run a little quicker than that. I am glad it went down the track. There are a lot of good cars back there. We’ll see what everybody else will do,” said Schaffer.
At the top end after the first run Force a five time winner at The Strip knew he needed to get an elapsed time even though he came close to losing his first run. On the pass Force’s Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car made a hard move to the right and barley brushed the guard wall after the finish line.
“I felt it spinning at the top end. I could see the lights and I wanted to get a time so we could have a good position for the next qualifying session. It just made a hard right turn at the finish line. We are OK. We’ll put new headers on this PEAK Chevrolet Camaro and be fine,” said Force.