B. FORCE, J. FORCE STARS OF FRIDAY AT NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
EPPING, NH – Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team picked up the performance numbers once again at New England Dragway. In the first session Force blasted to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 3.729 second run at 327.19 mph. The three qualifying bonus points were a nice addition to her points total and the fourth year pro was pleased to come out of the hauler with such a strong effort.
In the second session Force once again made a strong run lighting up the scoreboard with a 3.736 second pass at 325.06 mph to solidify her spot in the No. 2 position behind technical alliance teammate Steve Torrence. As the national record holder for elapsed time Force will build on her quick times and look to pick up more qualifying points and earn on-track data that can help her make a strong run on race day.
“This is still a new track for everybody. This is our fourth year racing at New England Dragway so we are learning on every run. To come right out of the hauler and go No. 1 with a 3.72 and then right behind it run a 3.73 puts us right up at the top of the field,” said Force, who is No. 3 in the Top Fuel point standings. “That is pretty awesome and I have to thank (crew chiefs) Brian Husen and Alan Johnson plus all these Monster Energy crew guys. I am feeling confident about this weekend. To start off qualifying like we did today and head into Saturday I am feeling good.”
Two weeks after John Force unveiled the new 2016 PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car he posted career best numbers for elapsed time and speed at the 4th annual NHRA New England Nationals. In the second session Force powered his PEAK Antifreeze Camaro to the No. 4 spot with a time of 3.886 seconds at 329.75 mph. The run was the third quickest of the session and earned the defending event winner one qualifying bonus point.
“We finally got that Chevrolet to go down the race track. We didn’t get many chances with it since I crashed it in Topeka,” explained Force. “To come back out here and run a 3.88 which is my quickest ever, I feel good. Courtney ran 3.91 and I think the balance on the weight is really good. As a group we are doing OK.”
In the second qualifying session of the Kansas Nationals Force brushed the wall and had to retire his brand new car after only one and a half runs. His team immediately jumped into action to repair his damaged car body and the 16-time champion was back in action today. Force spent every day between Topeka and this weekend’s race working with his team and JFR engineers at the Brownsburg, Indiana shop.“I learned a lot about my race car after Topeka. If there has been any fault it is with me because I haven’t been with my team. My job as the driver is to drive not chase money all day long. I got to work with my team and we had a great team dinner last night. We worked so hard to get weight off the car and to get it ready to compete. They got me on a diet. We are going to be OK,” said Force.
The two-time New England Nationals finalist knows his recent success at the Epping, New Hampshire track will not just magically equate to success this season.
“It is a whole new year and a whole new game with this new Camaro. All those wins and championships are in the past and we start all over every year. I am starting here today. I have great guys like (PEAK crew chief) Jon Schaffer who is working really close with (Auto Club crew chief) Mike Neff and (Traxxas crew chiefs) Danny Hood with Ronnie Thompson. We have a good group,” summed up Force.
Driver of the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and NHRA Funny Car points leader Courtney Force qualified in the provisional No. 8 position after two qualifying passes. Force went up in tire smoke at the hit in the first session, but her Traxxas team rallied and raced to a 3.915 elapsed time at over 317 mph in second session to move into the top half of the field.
“We came into this weekend at New England Dragway in the points lead. We struggled on the first qualifying pass. We couldn’t get the car down there. It went pretty much right into tire smoke, but my Traxxas team got us all ready to go and when we came back up for Q2 we made a pretty solid pass and posted a 3.91 ET. We had a little fire at the top end, but that pass put us in the No. 8 spot for today. The guy are working hard to get this car put back together and ready for our last two qualifying sessions tomorrow. We’re really excited to be in the show here in Epping. We’re just going to push it a little harder and hope for some good track conditions so we can run a little better tomorrow,” said Force.
Force won the inaugural New England Nationals in 2013 by dismissing her father John Force in the final round. It was the 2012 Auto Club Rookie of the Year’s seventh final round of her Funny Car career and third victory of her career. It was also the 220th Funny Car win for John Force Racing and was the 38th time JFR had two Funny Cars in a final. Force raced to her eighth win in Funny Car at Houston this season and is the winningest female Funny Car driver.
The Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS team and driver Robert Hight battled through two tough sessions today with his brand new 2016 Camaro body. In the first session Hight was on a strong run but overpowered the track and crossed the finish line with a pedestrian 6.957 second run. His time was not one of the twelve quickest runs so the 2009 Funny Car champion will start with a clean slate for tomorrow’s two qualifying sessions.
“Today was tough for the Auto Club Chevy Camaro team. We ran the new 2016 Camaro body for the first time and we are definitely figuring some things out. We made some changes after Topeka and I have a lot of confidence tomorrow will be a much better day,” said Hight. “It was on a good run in the first session but we just overpowered the track. We had a mechanical issue in the night session that cost us a run. My guys are working on the car now and we will have two more shots tomorrow. This track is really strong and you have seen some record times. I think we will be able to jump right into the middle of qualifying tomorrow.”