CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
AAA INSURANCE NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK AT MADISON, ILLINOIS
QUALIFYING RESULTS AND DRIVER QUOTES
SATURDAY, SEPT. 24, 2016
Chevrolet Drivers Race to No. 1 qualifier spots in Funny Car, Pro Stock
· Robert Hight in Auto Club Camaro SS records 48th top qualifier honor of career
· Chevrolet drivers secure top eight positions in Pro Stock qualifying
· Top four are separated by two-thousandths of a second
· Shane Gray in Valvoline/Nova Services Camaro SS earns top honor
MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 24, 2016) – An extra day at zMAX Dragway following last weekend’s National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) event paid dividends for Robert Hight and Shane Gray.
The Chevrolet drivers tested at the racetrack on Monday, and both wound up with No. 1 qualifier honors five days later at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Hight’s pass of 3.893 seconds at 328.38 mph in the second round of qualifications Friday night withstood all Funny Car challengers in the next two rounds. Hight, who entered the second event of the Countdown to the Championship seventh in the standings driving the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS, earned his first No. 1 qualifier spot of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and 48th of his Funny Car career.
Hight posted the best runs in three of the four Funny Car qualifying sessions.
John Force Racing teammates Courtney Force qualified sixth at 3.918 seconds in the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS, and John Force, who won the opener of the Countdown and moved to third in the standings, was the No. 10 qualifier in the PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS.
The top four qualifiers in Pro Stock – all Chevrolet drivers – were separated by two-thousandths of a second.
Gray, driving the Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet Camaro SS, led the way with a pass of 6.604 seconds in the third round for his second No. 1 qualifier honor of the season and seventh of his career. Bo Butner (Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS) jumped from sixth to second with the best pass of Round 4 at 6.605 seconds. He tied in elapsed time with KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS), but earned the higher seed based on better mph.
Vincent Nobile, driving the Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS, was fourth at 6.606 seconds. Alex Laughlin (Gas Monkey Energy Chevrolet Camaro SS) was the No. 5 qualifier and Countdown Round 1 winner Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) is sixth. Chris McGaha (Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified No. 7 and Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) was No. 8.
The KB Racing cars of Anderson, Line, and Butner – which have combined to win 15 of the 19 races this season – are on the same side of the eliminations ladder Sunday. Last Sunday at zMAX Dragway, Line defeated Anderson in the Pro Stock final for his NHRA-leading eighth victory of the season.
In Top Fuel, Brittany Force qualified eighth with a pass of 3.778 seconds at 323.35 mph in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. She posted the best pass of Round 1 and improved her position in Round 3. Force, a three-time winner during the 18-race regular season, entered the weekend fourth in the Countdown standings.
Jeff Strickland of Red Bay, Alabama, a two-time Stock Eliminator winner this season in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, was the No. 13 qualifier of 61 entrants to lead five Chevy COPO Camaro drivers in the class.
FOX Sports 1 will telecast three hours of live eliminations and finals at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
CHEVROLET RACING POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
An interview with Funny Car No. 1 qualifier ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: WHEN YOU GET A GOOD RUN ON FRIDAY NIGHT, WHAT IS YOUR GAMEPLAN COMING INTO SATURDAY?
ROBERT HIGHT: “Definitely Saturday is more conducive to what you’re going to race on Sunday, especially if you look at the weather forecast. Three of the four runs we were low ET and that gives you a lot of confidence. That third run we were still pushing hard. We were still trying to get after it. Sometimes it’s nice to know what your limit is going into Sunday so you don’t find that limit on Sunday. It was a great weekend, perfectly planned. I’m more excited about race day tomorrow thank I have been in a long time.”
Q: HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO THE EDGE ON THAT LAST RUN?
ROBERT HIGHT: “I haven’t looked at the data, but here’s the truth: It was going to run in the 80s again and it shut off at 3.5 seconds because the belt came off. So it was running right with our 89 last night, and I believe if it had just finished – I don’t believe it had any cylinders out or anything because it was going straight – but it broke the belt real early.”
Q: ROBERT, THIS HAS YOU ALL PUMPEDUP. BUT ISN’T THIS WHAT YOU EXPECT EVERY TIME YOU GO TO A RACETRACK?
ROBERT HIGHT: “You get spoiled. For a lot of years, I had a car like this and right at the top every weekend. We struggled, but the changes we made in Charlotte definitely woke my car up and it’s a contender. But it is one race and we have to take it one round at a time tomorrow. John Hale first round; we’re going to go out there and have to earn it. He’s a tough racer.”
Q: YOU PROBABLY CAN’T WAIT FOR THAT FIRST ROUND?
ROBERT HIGH: “These next 12 hours are going to go pretty slow. That’s what I hate about first round. Once you race and win first round, you get in a groove. But 12 hours is a long time for first round. I hate the tho0ught of waiting and thinking about it.”
An interview with Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE/NOVA SERVICES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: YOU GOT NO. 1 ON A HOT TRACK TODAY. DOES THAT GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE GOING INTO TOMORROW, WHEN WE’LL HAVE MORE HOT CONDITIONS?
SHANE GRAY: “I’m real confident with the car for tomorrow. The way I see it now, the only person who can screw this up is me. We have a good car and it’s making good runs. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Q: DOES THAT MAKE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE NERVOUS IF YOU’RE THE FLY IN THE OINTMENT?
SHANE GRAY: “I try not to think about it. You just go do what you can do and take it one round at a time.”
Q: HOW FUN WAS IT TO OUT-QUALIFYING THE KB RACING CARS?
SHANE GRAY: “I always like to out-qualify my buddy Greg (Anderson). He and I are great friends off the racetrack, and anytime you can run with those guys you know your organization is doing a good job.”
Q: DOES THIS FEEL LIKE THE PRO STOCK OF OLD WITH EIGHT CARS WITHIN TWO-HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND?
SHANE GRAY: “I think it’s getting back. The class is still shy on cars, and maybe time will fix that. I do think the class is starting to move forward a little bit, and all these teams are starting to get a better handle on the set-up. Every team that is out here racing works just as hard as the next guy does and everybody deserves success at some point. I think everybody is getting there.”
Q: WHAT DOES THAT RUN DO FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE?
SHANE GRAY: “obviously, it jacks it up with the type of race car we have. I just think we take it one round at a time tomorrow and see how many rounds we can go.”
Q: DO YOU FEEL CONFIDENT YOU FOUND EVRYTHING, OR ALMOST EVERYTHING (IN THE RACE CAR)?
SHANE GRAY: “I feel confident we found everything today. The weather can change tomorrow and it can make things difficult. I don’t think anybody is going to feel confident they have this deal down for a couple of years until they have a pretty thick notebook.”
Top Fuel
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (qualified eighth): “We struggled a little bit this weekend. Qualifying in the No. 8 spot is not typical for us. Our plan for tomorrow is to turn on those win lights and go to the winner’s circle. It’s tough out here in the heat, and we do struggle in the heat but we made some decent runs. It gets you set up for race day.”
Funny Car
COURTNERY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified fifth): “I think we are in a pretty good position. Qualifying in the top half of the field definitely feels great. I think we learned a lot through the passes we made during qualifying and I think it definitely will help us running in the heat tomorrow. Matching up against Chad Head; he’s a tough competitor. We’ll definitely have to push the Chevy Camaro hard and see if we can get it to run steady through the heat and hopefully go rounds on race day. It’s a hot track for everyone racing on it. It’s just a matter of figuring things out.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE & COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified 10th): “This weekend didn’t go as smooth as Charlotte. We had a few problems but we will figure them out. (Del) Worsham is a great racer and we’ll be ready for him in the first round. We made a great run today and I have a lot of confidence in my guys. I am excited to get to the race.”
Pro Stock
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified second): “They (KB Racing) gave me a great car. Let’s keep it going. We need to earn a few of those ‘little points’ if we’re going to make a run at this championship. The one good thing is that I made a run that we can repeat on race day. We have a car we can race with.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified third): “We (KB Racing) did OK, but I would have to give it an A-minus because we screwed up the ladder with all three of our Summit Chevys on the same side of the ladder. We have to collide in the second round already. Not the way you want to draw it up. We gave up the pole by a thousandth (of a second) and we have to tangle with each other, and that’s not what you want to do when you’re all fighting for points. Somebody is going to go home very unhappy tomorrow.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified sixth): “(I would grade) the Summit Chevy Camaro good. The driver and tuner not so good. We just didn’t do a great job. We have a really good car; we just have to get it tuned up for tomorrow. We just missed on a couple of things, but we will be fast tomorrow.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified seventh): “We made changes to the car this weekend that I’ve been wanting to make for a while. We finally did it and it is the right direction. Qualifying for this Harlow Sammons Chevrolet Camaro went really well and I don’t want to speak too soon but I think we’ve got even more in it for tomorrow.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN RACING, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified eighth): “We made some significant changes (this past week). We had a few electrical woes, and that was our biggest problem. I had a shift light that was bad for probably the last two or three races. That alone was enough to really hurt us. We fixed enough things that we should be better off this week