COURTNEY FORCE RACES TO SEMIFINALS IN ATLANTA
COMMERCE, GA — Courtney Force’s consecutive round win streak ended at six in the semifinals today in Atlanta at the 36th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. This was the sixth race that John Force Racing advanced at least one Funny Car to the semifinals with the exception of the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. JFR has picked up two Funny Car wins so far this season.
“It was a great race day for our team. We didn’t go home with the win here in Atlanta but definitely made some really strong passes out here this weekend in the heat and in cooler conditions. Those kind of runs really excite this Traxxas team. We have a good car and we had some tough competitors today,” said Force.
Force, the 2012 rookie of the year, qualified in the No. 3 position for the second race in-a-row and went into race day with the points lead. This was the highest starting spot for the Traxxas Chevy Camaro team at Atlanta Dragway.
Force lined up beside her 32nd different Funny Car opponent, Jeff Diehl, in the opening round. She posted a 3.915 ET at 327.74 mph. Unfortunately the win put her beside her teammate Robert Hight in the second round. She advanced over Hight with a 3.950 ET at 327.35 mph to his tire-smoking 8.205 ET at 88.55 mph.
Force matched up against Matt Hagan in the semifinals without lane choice. Her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car smoked the tires and Hagan advanced. Force is leaving Atlanta with the points lead for the second race in-a-row.
“We laid down some pretty solid numbers but then lost lane choice going into the semifinals. We hit a bump in the left lane and spun the tires against Hagan. We were a little worried about it but we tried to put the same set-up we had for qualifying,” said Force. “We are going to just have to try and figure that lane out next year. We are going to move on to the next race in Topeka. We are just excited we are going home with the points lead and we learned a lot this weekend. I am really proud of how this Traxxas Chevy went down the track every run except for one this weekend.”
The winningest female Funny Car driver was tied with veteran Tim Wilkerson for the lead in the Funny Car point standings coming into the weekend, but was able to take the lead via bonus points on Friday. Force picked up a total of seven bonus points throughout qualifying for being the quickest of Q1, third-quickest of Q2, and quickest of Q3.
The 27-year-old driver went to the final round at Atlanta Dragway in 2014 after qualifying No. 8. It was her ninth career final round in Funny Car.
It was a tough second round for the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and driver Robert Hight. The three-time Southern Nationals winner was looking strong after beating Cruz Pedregon in the first round. Hight’s 3.953 second winning elapsed time was impressive but not enough to give him lane choice against teammate Courtney Force.
In the quarterfinals Hight left with Force but his Goodyear slicks lost traction at about 200 feet and the 2009 Funny Car world champion tried to pedal his 10,000 horsepower Funny Car but it was not enough to catch up to an accelerating Force in the right lane.
“The first round win showed what this Auto Club Chevrolet is capable of under really good conditions. We stepped up from our qualifying time and the racecar really felt good going down track. It is always tough to race your teammate and we just had to be aggressive in the left lane. The good news it we made more quality runs this weekend and we will be ready in Topeka,” said Hight.
Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster raced to the second round after outrunning Clay Millican in the first round. Force and Millican were the second pair of Top Fuelers to race today and she reached the finish line first with a winning elapsed time of 3.765 seconds in front of Millican’s 3.785 seconds. The run was Force’s quickest pass of the weekend and a one-hundredth of a second improvement over her No. 6 qualifying time of 3.777 seconds.
“This track has a special place in my heart. We announced our sponsorship with Monster Energy here last year so we would love to be in the winner’s circle here,” said Force from the top end after her round win.
In the second round the two-time winner in 2016 lost a close race to JR Todd who eventually raced to a runner-up finish today. The Monster Energy dragster was closing in on Todd at the finish line but Force’s time of 3.784 seconds was not enough for Todd’s 3.757 second run. It was a tough second round in Top Fuel dragster that saw equally quick elapsed times of 3.772, 3.822 and 3.789 from Force’s competitors bow out.
For the twentieth season in a row John Force raced Ron Capps at an NHRA national event. Over the course of those two decades Force had a winning advantage of 48-26 but today he was not able to add another round win to his record at the Southern Nationals. In a tough No. 8 versus No. 9 match-up Force, a seven-time Southern Nationals winner, was not able to upset the higher seeded Capps. When the tree activated Force and Capps left simultaneously but Force’s PEAK Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro slid just enough to the right that it smoked the tires and Force had to watch as Capps pulled away.
“We are leaving here with the points lead in Funny Car. We didn’t get a win today but the last couple of races have been really good. We have a big announcement on Tuesday and we’ll be back at it in Topeka. We are looking into testing after Topeka and get a better handle on this PEAK Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car. We are going to keep fighting the fight,” said John Force.
This was the first time the 143-time Funny Car national winner has lost to Capps at the Southern Nationals dropping his record against the veteran driver to 2-1.