BRITTANY FORCE NO. 1 AT ROUTE 66 NATIONALS

JOLIET, IL – The Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster held onto the No. 1 spot after all four qualifying sessions at the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals. In the first session on Saturday Brittany Force stayed near the top of the performance ladder. She made the third quickest run of the session beside Mac Tools teammate Doug Kalitta who was second quickest of the third session. Force’s 3.800 seconds was a good starting point going into the final qualifying session.

“Today’s conditions will be pretty similar to tomorrow. The main focus was getting two consistent runs down the track today. We got four runs all weekend so we are feeling pretty good. I think we are comfortable going into race day as No. 1. We are not over confident and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow,” said Force, who picked up her first No. 1at Route 66 Raceway.

“We were hoping to run in the low 4.70s today. That 3.69 run last night was just outstanding,” said a thrilled Force in the pressroom. “We had the conditions for it last night. The runs that we made today should set us up for tomorrow.”

In the final session Brittany Force stepped up her performance and ran the quickest elapsed time of the session, 3.731 seconds, equal to technical alliance teammate Steve Torrence. The Capco dragster and Torrence ran a faster speed of 327.03 mph to Force’s 325.69 mph to get the three qualifying bonus points and Force picked up two.

She held on as the No. 1 qualifier for the 6th time in her career and second time in 2016. The fourth year pro will face legendary driver Chris “The Greek” Karamesines in the opening round of eliminations. This is the third race in a row for Force to face Karamesines in the first round. She has a career 2-1 record against the veteran driver.

In a strong start on Saturday for the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car team Robert Hight made the second quickest run of the session, 3.931 seconds at 327.91 mph. Hight was pleased with the run and the continued positive performance of his Auto Funny Car.

Hight closed out qualifying with an aggressive run that overpowered the race track. The two-time finalist in Chicago will be racing for his first victory at Route 66 Raceway from the No. 6 qualified position in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history. He will start his eliminations with a tough race against Cruz Pedregon. This is the third time Hight has faced Pedregon in 2016 and he has won the previous two meetings.

“We were aggressive but the track also wasn’t quite as good as last night. We can run with anyone out here. This is the quickest field in Funny car history and we were one of the quickest Funny Cars this weekend. This Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team has a lot to be proud of and we will be ready to race tomorrow. Cruz is a tough competitor but I am going to be ready,” said Hight.

For the first time in 2016, No. 7 qualifier Courtney Force will line up her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car next to No. 10 qualifier Del Worsham in the opening round of eliminations. Tomorrow’s Route 66 Nationals will mark the 13th stop along a 24-race tour for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and Force plans to take her brand new 2016 Camaro all the way to claim her ninth professional Funny Car victory for Traxxas and team Chevy.

“We made four solid passes in qualifying and I think the consistency of this new Chevy Camaro is great. This is the first time I’ve ever raced this body so it’s pretty exciting how well it’s been working out for our Traxxas team. I think we’ve made some good headway throughout qualifying. WE definitely learned some things across those four runs,” said Force.

Although she is 6-9 overall to Worsham in previous events, Force has won five of their last six match-ups. Their last meeting was in Norwalk in 2015 with Force getting the win against the veteran driver in the semifinals. This is the first time they have raced each other at Chicago.

“I was excited to see that our Traxxas Chevy made it to the other end with a 3-second pass in the heat of the day earlier today. That gives us confidence for tomorrow. We ended up qualifying in the top half and picked up a few bonus points as well. Our Traxxas team is ready to go, but we’re going to have to put our game faces on and fight for it. We have a tough ladder ahead of us,” said Force.

Team leader John Force slipped back to the No. 11 qualifying position after the third qualifying session. Running beside long-time rival Cruz Pedregon Force posted a 4.141 second run. His PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car was skating around at the finish line. The three-time Route 66 NHRA Nationals champion was running his 2015 Camaro body today due to nose damage sustained in the last qualifying session on Friday.

John Force will head into the first round of eliminations as the No. 13 qualifier and will race Ron Capps. Force posted a 3.982 second run on his final qualifying run to position the winningest driver in NHRA history for his possible fourth win at Route 66 Raceway. This is only the third time Force has started from the bottom half of the field in his career racing at the K&N Filters Route 66 Nationals.

“We are going to try to take him out. You have to have that attitude and I have a job to do. We are in Old World Industries back yard with PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant,” said Force. “I know how to race Capps. He wasn’t low be he has one of the fastest hot rods out here and one of the most consistent. The way I look at it is hopefully take him out early and then keep going rounds.”

In addition to racing today Force was also hosting over 200 people from Old World Industries and primary sponsor PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant. Force was spending time with fans on the ropes plus both sides of the team’s new hospitality tents.

“This is a lot of fun. When you can entertain people and they can enjoy and appreciate that you are trying to run a race car and spend time with the fans. We had a huge turn out from PEAK today. I made a lot of new friends and met a lot of families,” added Force.

JOLIET, IL – The Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster held onto the No. 1 spot after all four qualifying sessions at the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals. In the first session on Saturday Brittany Force stayed near the top of the performance ladder. She made the third quickest run of the session beside Mac Tools teammate Doug Kalitta who was second quickest of the third session. Force’s 3.800 seconds was a good starting point going into the final qualifying session.

“Today’s conditions will be pretty similar to tomorrow. The main focus was getting two consistent runs down the track today. We got four runs all weekend so we are feeling pretty good. I think we are comfortable going into race day as No. 1. We are not over confident and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow,” said Force, who picked up her first No. 1at Route 66 Raceway.

“We were hoping to run in the low 4.70s today. That 3.69 run last night was just outstanding,” said a thrilled Force in the pressroom. “We had the conditions for it last night. The runs that we made today should set us up for tomorrow.”

In the final session Brittany Force stepped up her performance and ran the quickest elapsed time of the session, 3.731 seconds, equal to technical alliance teammate Steve Torrence. The Capco dragster and Torrence ran a faster speed of 327.03 mph to Force’s 325.69 mph to get the three qualifying bonus points and Force picked up two.

She held on as the No. 1 qualifier for the 6th time in her career and second time in 2016. The fourth year pro will face legendary driver Chris “The Greek” Karamesines in the opening round of eliminations. This is the third race in a row for Force to face Karamesines in the first round. She has a career 2-1 record against the veteran driver.

In a strong start on Saturday for the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car team Robert Hight made the second quickest run of the session, 3.931 seconds at 327.91 mph. Hight was pleased with the run and the continued positive performance of his Auto Funny Car.

Hight closed out qualifying with an aggressive run that overpowered the race track. The two-time finalist in Chicago will be racing for his first victory at Route 66 Raceway from the No. 6 qualified position in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history. He will start his eliminations with a tough race against Cruz Pedregon. This is the third time Hight has faced Pedregon in 2016 and he has won the previous two meetings.

“We were aggressive but the track also wasn’t quite as good as last night. We can run with anyone out here. This is the quickest field in Funny car history and we were one of the quickest Funny Cars this weekend. This Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team has a lot to be proud of and we will be ready to race tomorrow. Cruz is a tough competitor but I am going to be ready,” said Hight.

For the first time in 2016, No. 7 qualifier Courtney Force will line up her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car next to No. 10 qualifier Del Worsham in the opening round of eliminations. Tomorrow’s Route 66 Nationals will mark the 13th stop along a 24-race tour for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and Force plans to take her brand new 2016 Camaro all the way to claim her ninth professional Funny Car victory for Traxxas and team Chevy.

“We made four solid passes in qualifying and I think the consistency of this new Chevy Camaro is great. This is the first time I’ve ever raced this body so it’s pretty exciting how well it’s been working out for our Traxxas team. I think we’ve made some good headway throughout qualifying. WE definitely learned some things across those four runs,” said Force.

Although she is 6-9 overall to Worsham in previous events, Force has won five of their last six match-ups. Their last meeting was in Norwalk in 2015 with Force getting the win against the veteran driver in the semifinals. This is the first time they have raced each other at Chicago.

“I was excited to see that our Traxxas Chevy made it to the other end with a 3-second pass in the heat of the day earlier today. That gives us confidence for tomorrow. We ended up qualifying in the top half and picked up a few bonus points as well. Our Traxxas team is ready to go, but we’re going to have to put our game faces on and fight for it. We have a tough ladder ahead of us,” said Force.

Team leader John Force slipped back to the No. 11 qualifying position after the third qualifying session. Running beside long-time rival Cruz Pedregon Force posted a 4.141 second run. His PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car was skating around at the finish line. The three-time Route 66 NHRA Nationals champion was running his 2015 Camaro body today due to nose damage sustained in the last qualifying session on Friday.

John Force will head into the first round of eliminations as the No. 13 qualifier and will race Ron Capps. Force posted a 3.982 second run on his final qualifying run to position the winningest driver in NHRA history for his possible fourth win at Route 66 Raceway. This is only the third time Force has started from the bottom half of the field in his career racing at the K&N Filters Route 66 Nationals.

“We are going to try to take him out. You have to have that attitude and I have a job to do. We are in Old World Industries back yard with PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant,” said Force. “I know how to race Capps. He wasn’t low be he has one of the fastest hot rods out here and one of the most consistent. The way I look at it is hopefully take him out early and then keep going rounds.”

In addition to racing today Force was also hosting over 200 people from Old World Industries and primary sponsor PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant. Force was spending time with fans on the ropes plus both sides of the team’s new hospitality tents.

“This is a lot of fun. When you can entertain people and they can enjoy and appreciate that you are trying to run a race car and spend time with the fans. We had a huge turn out from PEAK today. I made a lot of new friends and met a lot of families,” added Force.