ROBERT HIGHT, AUTO CLUB CAMARO TOPS FOR JFR ON FRIDAY
ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – The first day of qualifying wrapped up at the 47th annual NHRA SummerNationals with Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car in the provisional No. 3 spot in Funny Car. Courtney Force and John Force will move into Saturday as the No. 8 and No. 9 provisional qualifiers. In Top Fuel Brittany Force and the Monster Energy dragster held onto the provisional No. 4 spot after a strong run in the second session.
Robert Hight and John Force ran beside each other in the first qualifying session. Hight and the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car blasted down the track with a then track record elapsed time of 3.915 seconds at a track speed record of 323.74 mph. Force and the PEAK/Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car were right beside him posting a 3.967 second run at 316.90 mph. They were both tremendous runs and it was the first time two Funny Cars have made side by side three second runs at Old Bridge Township Raceway. Hight’s elapsed time was the second quickest of the session and earned him two qualifying bonus points.
“That is how you want to start the race with a great run in the first session. We were being aggressive in the second session. I think we can make a couple more good runs like that and be in a nice position for race day. The 3.91 run felt really smooth and I think this Auto Club team can build on that. I am looking forward to two more qualifying sessions tomorrow,” said Hight.
In the night session at Old Bridge Township Raceway the conditions were ideal for epic runs and the PEAK/Advance Auto Parts and Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Cars were gunning for record times. John Force and Robert Hight both launched aggressively but both 10,000 hp Funny Cars lost traction almost at the same time at half-track. They will stay in the top half of the field on the strength of their first session runs but Hight relinquished the track speed record when Matt Hagan ran 326.71 mph in the night session.
“Not a lot of cars went down either lane in the second session. (Provisional No.1 qualifier Ron) Capps is hot right now so he can go down a dirt road. We are OK. We are ninth and I don’t like being in that spot. We have another day of qualifying tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do. The Monster dragster ran good and Robert ran good,” said Force. “We had pretty good conditions on that first run. We might get some rain tomorrow but we are going to get the qualifying in. That could bring humidity and that could change everything. Right now what I have to do is get off that No. 9 spot. I am up against Courtney in that Traxxas Chevy and I am Advance Auto this weekend with PEAK and that is pretty awesome.”
Courtney Force opened qualifying with a 3.947 elapsed time at 319.29 mph in her Traxxas Chevy Camaro today. The pass put her in the No. 5 position going into tonight’s second session on a much cooler race track at Old Bridge Township Raceway. The 27-year-old Funny Car pilot geared up for round two, but shook the tires. With no improvement in that session, she slipped a few spots, but managed to stay in the top half of the field in the No. 8 position.
“We ran a 3.94 in Q1. That got us qualified in the No. 5 spot. We weren’t able to pick up any points, unfortunately, but we tried to push the car harder tonight and it immediately went out there and shook really hard so I had to get out of it so we weren’t able to improve tonight. We still managed to qualify in the No. 8 spot going into tomorrow,” said Force.
“We’re going to push it tomorrow. Obviously it’s going to be a little bit hotter track since we’re running earlier in the day. Our main goal is at least to be one of the three quickest cars out there because we really need to focus on picking up those bonus points. That’s what we’re going to work on tomorrow in this Traxxas Chevy Camaro. We’re excited to be back here in Englishtown, New Jersey. It’s going to be a hot race this weekend, but I think our guys are up for it. We’ve got a big job hanging onto the No. 1 spot in the points next to the competitors.”
The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster surprisingly smoked the tires in the first session. Brittany Force was running beside technical alliance teammate Steve Torrence. Both dragsters launched aggressively and at about 200 feet Force’s Goodyear slicks lost traction with the track while Torrence’s CAPCO dragster blasted down the track with a 3.766 second run. Force wound up in the provisional No. 10 spot after the opening qualifying runs.
Brittany Force took full advantage of the improved track conditions and drove her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster to the top of the field at the time during the second session. She posted a 3.753 second time at 323.66 mph. It was a solid bounce-back effort by Force and the Monster Energy team that eventually had the 2016 two-time winner in the provisional No. 4 spot going into Saturday. If Force holds onto this position it would be her best starting effort at the SummerNationals.
“It was definitely a strong pass. I felt it in the car. I could just feel it in my chest. I knew the 60 foot time was going to be outrageous and it was. We put a 3.75 on the board and we got moved back to No. 4. I don’t care and that is a good number for this Monster Energy team,” summed up Force at the end of the day.