CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
AAA TEXAS NHRA FALLNATIONALS
TEXAS MOTORPLEX AT ENNIS, TEXAS
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
OCT. 16, 2016
An interview with Pro Stock winner Drew Skillman, Ray Skillman Racing, Ray Skillman Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS (No. 9 qualifier):
Q: HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO YOU?
DREW SKILLMAN: “This is huge for us. What a great day for our Ray Skillman Camaro. We’re just blessed. We were down in the points (eighth) and we rallied. We had a great race car this weekend and have a great team. Everyone at Ray Skillman pitched in to make this happen. It can’t thank enough people. It’s exciting.”
Q: YOU WERE CONCERNED ABOUT RUNNING DOWN LOW. IT LOOKS LIKE THE CHEVY CAMARO WAS ABLE TO RUN DOWN LOW TODAY?
DREW SKILLMAN: “It did struggle all day; we had one good 60-foot (start) all day. But our team fought and we ended up getting it done.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 5 qualifier; fell in second round): “I wasn’t going to drive through it. It hazed the tires, it nosed over, threw me forward in the seat, and at that point the only thing to do is pull your foot out of it, wait until it calms down and jump back on it. I did that and it hooked up, and it went straight down there. But JR Todd in the lane next to us was on a decent run straight down, so there was no catching him no matter what we did. It’s unfortunate we went out in the second round. We have two more races, and our goal is for two more wins for the Monster team.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in second round): “My Traxxas team did a great job; they’ve given me a good race car here in Texas. It screwed up in the second round against (Matt)Hagan. I felt like a long light for me and my foot just wanted to leave. But being able to move up a position in the points it’s still accomplishment leaving Texas this weekend. We have two more races to go and we’re definitely motivated to go out there and continue to move up in the points and see if we can end this season on a high note.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We have a great race car. We made six runs in the 3.8s in a row. That is outstanding on a cool and hot track. I felt it slip a little in the second round when it came off the starting line but it stayed hooked up. In the semis it slipped and I jerked the steering wheel to catch it. It hooked up and I stayed with it but it just hazed the tires for the first time. It was a tough break but this AAA Texas Camaro was so good all weekend. We are running with the top cars out here and there are two races left. I want to win those races and see what happens.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS PEAK CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier, fell in first round): “I thought I needed a Hail Mary and now I need two. I didn’t do my job and they gave me a good race car. That is the bottom line. You can’t win championships by making that mistake. My brain just faded and I put a red light out there. I apologized to my team, my fans and the sponsors. That is all I can do. We are turning that corner on the performance with this Advance Auto Parts PEAK Camaro in the heat. We were low of one session and in the top three on another session. John Schaffer and Jason McCulloch have this Funny Car doing what it is supposed to do. This whole team is working together. We ran 3.88 yesterday and it would have run 3.88 again and I would have been in the ballgame. My foot got happy and it cost us.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We just missed on the last run. The racetrack has been really good all weekend up until it disappeared around the semifinals. The starting line went away. We spun the tires too hard. It’s disappointing; we had a great chance to win the race today and gave it away. It looks like we’ll make things interesting for the rest of the year. We can’t seem to close the deal.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “My car was good al weekend. I just didn’t do as good a job of driving this weekend. It’s really disappointing that we didn’t capitalize on other people’s misfortune. We’ll be testing before Vegas.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, LAUGHLIN MOTORSPORTS, GAS MONKEY GARAGE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in final): “Here we are in our hometown and I couldn’t be happier with how the car ran. It’s been a great weekend for our team.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE/NOVASERVIES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “We’ve become a semifinal machine, which is great in one sense because that means we’re winning rounds. But it also means we’re coming up a little short of our goal, which is winning races. If we keep knocking on that door, we’ll knock it down one of these days. A couple more rounds and maybe we get in the middle of this championship fight, but that’s not our focus. We’ll keep grinding away, trying to get better, and we’ll see if we can knock off a win in Vegas and Pomona.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier, fell in first round): “Something went wrong with our motor that round and we couldn’t compensate for it on track. Sadly, running at home hasn’t gone how we wanted again but we will come back swinging in Vegas.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in first round): “Coming off such a high from our win in Reading to lose in first round, yeah, that stings a little. We need a miracle to happen if we want any shot at the championship. Our car didn’t perform like we wanted it to this weekend and with Shane Tucker having a .000, it’s just tough to beat.”
BO BUTNER, BUTNER AUTO SALES, JIM BUTNER CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier, sell in second round): “I have a new bullet in the car, so come in with a new bullet is a new tune. (Tuner/driver) Jason (Line) keeps tinkering away. We’ll get one of ‘em soon.”