JOHN FORCE SETS TRACK SPEED RECORD ON FRIDAY AT THE STRIP

JOHN FORCE SETS TRACK SPEED RECORD ON FRIDAY AT THE STRIP

LAS VEGAS – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro led the way for John Force Racing on the first day of qualifying at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals. Force finished the day as the No. 2 qualifier, two spots in front of teammate Robert Hight and the Auto Club Camaro. The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster finished the day as the No. 4 quickest dragster and the Traxxas Funny Car will be looking to step up into the field of sixteen when qualifying resumes tomorrow at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at noon.

In the second Funny Car session John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car blasted to the top of the Funny Car class with a track record 3.876 second, 331.94 mph pass. The three-time NHRA Toyota Nationals winner held onto the No. 1 position until the last pair of Funny Cars when Matt Hagan slipped past him by .004 seconds and shifted Force back to the provisional No. 2 spot. The speed on that run was a career fastest for the winningest driver in NHRA history and fired up the 146-time Funny Car winner going into Saturday.

“I love it and this Chevrolet Camaro body is really fast. It ran 331 mph and I don’t even know if the dragster ran that fast. I’m still learning the visual with this Camaro. We are going to fight to win this race and then we are going to fight to win Pomona. We have to keep running good tomorrow with this PEAK Chevrolet,” said Force from his PEAK pit area. “Robert is running great with the Auto Club Chevy and we need to get that Traxxas Funny Car and Courtney in the show. Monster Energy is in and Brittany is doing her job. We are going after wins this weekend in Las Vegas.”

In the opening session Force’s PEAK Camaro smoked the tire at half-track and crossed the finish line with an elapsed time of 6.540 seconds at 100.00 mph.

The most consistent John Force Racing Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car was the Automobile Club of Southern California Camaro driven by Robert Hight. In the opening session Hight was the third quickest driver with a 3.913 second run at 323.81 mph. It was a strong start for Hight who was able to run later in the second session and more importantly picked up a qualifying bonus point.

In the second session Hight running beside Hagan launched hard and was side by side with Hagan all the way down the track. At the finish line stripe it appeared Hight might have shut off the motor a few feet before the finish line but the two-time Toyota Nationals winner still posted a 3.885 second run, the fourth quickest of the session. Hight will go into Saturday as the provisional No. 4 qualifier.

Courtney Force and the Traxxas Camaro Funny Car will have two shots on Saturday to earn one of the sixteen spots in the field. Today the fifth year pro smoked the tires on both of her qualifying runs and finished the day as the 21st quickest Funny Car. Only the top twelve quickest times carry over to Saturday so the two-time Toyota Nationals finalist will attempt to race her way into the field.

The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster made the fourth quickest run of each session today in qualifying at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brittany Force’s first run was 3.774 seconds at 320.81 mph and had her positioned right behind Steve Torrence, Tony Schumacher and Doug Kalitta.

In the second session one driver moved around Force and shuffled the Monster Energy team back to the No. 5 position. The team stepped up on the performance front with a 3.728 second at 323.89 mph and will go into Saturday with confidence and a consistent race car.