Post Qualifying Quotes – Sonoma Raceway, July 30, 2016
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT – TOYOTA NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER: “It is always good to end qualifying on a good note. Tomorrow’s conditions will be very similar to this afternoon. That was an important run for us. It went right down the race track. We have TJ Zizzo in the first round and we have never raced him before. Our goal will be to get that first round win and then go more rounds after that. Brian Husen and Alan Johnson have given me a great race car and I am excited to get to the race tomorrow with this Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, REALTREE PEAK ANTIFREEZE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 6th) “(crew chief) Jon Schaffer is doing a really good job and working with everybody. We put the Peak/Realtree body back on it because we crashed the other Chevrolet Camaro body. We came here with Auto Club to Southern California and I am really excited about the fans in the stands. It’s unbelievable that you pack it in here for us because the race teams love you. Coke-Cola and Mello Yello, God bless you for what you do for NHRA.”
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 2nd) “I have been having to really work the wheel to keep it off the center line but it’s a lot of fun driving these cars because they are so unpredictable and you never know what they are going to do. Man this Chevy Camaro has been flying down that track and it has been a lot of fun to drive for me. But for Traxxas and all of our sponsors, being on the line and having “The Snake” (Don Prudhomme) come up and give me the thumbs up is the coolest feeling as a driver. I get so thrown off, but its so awesome that it pumps me up even more to have a solid pass. To get those three points is huge for us right now and we are hoping to keep on climbing up that ladder and excited to get this car qualified.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 3rd) “That was a nice perfect run for this Auto Club Camaro. I was able to launch straight and that made a big difference. We have been making runs and not going straight but that run there was perfect. Great job by the guys. I love always coming to Sonoma and I have been to every single race here either as a fan, a crew member or as a driver.”
PRO STOCK:
BO BUTNER, KB RACING, JIM BUTNER AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 1st)
THIS IS YOUR SECOND NO. 1 QUALIFYING EFFORT OF THE SEASON. AS WE GET TO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON AND CLOSER TO THE COUNTDOWN, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE TEAM IS GETTING IN A GROOVE?
“Yes. I have had a bad start all year and that is no surprise. We had four good runs so far this weekend, and we were closer today than I thought we would be. I thought we would be a couple hundredths off. It was pretty close but we had four good runs and that is tough for me to do. The team had been great all weekend and they have powered us right to the top.”
BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCH A FAST CAR, HOW DO YOU KEEP FROM OVER-THINKING THIS THING TOMORROW?
“The last few races I kind of tried some stuff on the starting line. Just go in with the same deal no matter who was on the other side. I feel like if I leave with them, I can win. So it shouldn’t be hard, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
“Like I said earlier, it was four good runs in a row and we didn’t make a lot of changes. We actually didn’t change a lot from Denver, which is amazing tune-up-wise. But yep, four good runs and we need four more tomorrow.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS WORKING FOR YOU LAST NIGHT? WAS IT THE COOLER TEMPERATURES OR SOMETHING ELSE?
“I actually drove decent and managed to hit my shift points pretty good. But yes, cool temperatures helped. The track was pretty good and we actually could have gained a little more. We were a little soft down low and if I had it to do over again we could have gotten a little more if we would have gone after it more.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 2nd)
KB RACING IS LOOKING PRETTY GOOD SO FAR AT SONOMA WITH YOU AND BO UP FRONT, BUT JASON IS STRUGGLING A LITTLE BIT
“Yeah, I have basically been a number two car all weekend and the only thing better is number one and that happens to be our team car and Bo Butner. It’s all good and Bo is showing us what we can do with these things. We have had some issues with Jason’s car. We have had a bit of a motor issue and have broken a couple of five cent parts. So that’s cost us three runs so far with his car. So we have to get back to something that lives. But he will be fine tomorrow. The good news is we have Bo Butner leading the charge, I am number two, and Jason is fully qualified to be either one, two or three tomorrow. Another great day weather-wise out here in Sonoma and at this race track and we expect a great day tomorrow. We expect to run really well tomorrow and make amends for what we did last week. We didn’t get the job done as drivers so I have something to prove tomorrow and we know the horses will be there.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODEESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: (Qualified 4th) “We’ve made some progress. We qualified No. 4 and we’ve got a Mopar in the first round and we know our Harlow Sammons Chevrolet Camaro has great power. He better watch out for us. Lane choice is going to be very important. We won this race last year and there’s a lot of self-inflicted pressure to win again tomorrow.”