CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA TOYOTA NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
QUALIFYING RESULTS AND DRIVER QUOTES
SATURDAY, OCT. 29, 2016
Chevrolet Races to No. 1 Pro Stock Qualifier Spot, Funny Car Track Record
· Greg Anderson records 87th career No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier honor
· Chevrolet earns the top eight spots in Pro Stock qualifications
· John Force resets Funny Car track speed record, earns No. 3 qualifier spot
· John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight is No. 5 Funny Car qualifier
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Oct. 29, 2016) – Chevrolet drivers Greg Anderson and John Force lit up The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during qualifications for the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Toyota Nationals.
Anderson, driving the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS, claimed his seventh No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier honor of the season and 87th of his career with a pass of 6.677 seconds in the third of four qualifying sessions in front of a sold-out venue.
Force, who holds a record 16 NHRA Funny Car championships, set the track speed record with a pass of 331.94 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS in earning the No. 3 qualifier spot.
Anderson entered the penultimate event of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship 26 points arrears of front-running KB Racing teammate Jason Line, who qualified sixth in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS. Anderson will aim to record career victory No. 86 on Sunday, which would break the tie with Bob Glidden for second on the all-time Pro Stock list. Warren Johnson has 97 career wins.
“We set the table. Now we need to have a big day at The Strip tomorrow and see if we can find a way to get this championship in our grasp,” said Anderson, who is chasing his fifth NHRA Pro Stock title.
Chevrolet drivers held the top eight qualifier spots and nine of the top 10.
Drew Skillman, who won the last event in Dallas driving the Ray Skillman Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS, tied his season high as the No. 2 qualifier at 6.679 seconds. St. Louis winner Alex Laughlin (Gas Monkey Garage Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified No. 3 for the second consecutive event, while Shane Gray (Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified No. 4.
Bo Butner, whose Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS is sporting an orange wrap that replicates the General Lee from the popular 1970s TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard,” qualified No. 5. Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS), Chris McGaha (Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro SS), and Matt Hartford (Total Seal/Nitro Fish Chevrolet Camaro SS) also qualified in the top 10.
As the No. 3 qualifier with a pass of 3.876 seconds, Force qualified in the top four for the sixth time this season. John Force Racing teammates Robert Hight, driving the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS, was the No. 5 qualifier at 3.885 seconds, and Courtney Force checked in No. 8 at 3.905 seconds in the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“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,” said John Force, who has won three times at The Strip. “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.”
Brittany Force, who has advanced to the final round in two of the past three Top Fuel events and is fourth in the standings, was the No. 7 qualifier in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster at 3.728 seconds.
FOX Sports 1 will telecast three hours of live eliminations and finals at 4 p.m. ET Sunday.
CHEVROLET RACING POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
An interview with Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: THIS NO. 1 QUALIFIER HAS TO MEAN A LOT TO YOU AND THE SUMMIT TEAM WITH (TEAM OWNER) KEN BLACK IN THE HOUSE?
GREG ANDERSON: “There’s no place like Vegas. It’s fun when we come out here, extra pressure but we love pressure. We love racing in front of Ken and his family. We all know we wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for him. He’s a great man; he’s made our lives, without a doubt. We love to come here and try to make him proud. So far, so good on that. We got the top spot and Jason (Line) and I are on opposite sides of the ladder. We set the table. Now we need to have a big day at The Strip tomorrow and see if we can find a way to get this championship in our grasp.”
Q: THAT LAST ROUND HELPED GET YOU THOSE EXTRA (QUALIFYING) POINTS THAT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATTER A LOT.
GREG ANDERSON: “We’ve learned over the years that those little points mean a lot. I want every one I can get; Jason wants every one he can get. We’re digging hard, and so are the other competitors for every point they can get. I think I’ve got more than the rest this weekend so so far, so good.”
Q: HOW ARE THE TRACK CONDITIONS?
GREG ANDERSON: “We had a little more humidity this week than we had last week and it’s thrown us for a curve. We made some adjustments overnight and we came in this morning and hit the bulls eye. Jason had a problem this morning when he broke an engine, or otherwise he would have been real fast, too. My car made two great runs today and I think it’s ready for race day. Great recovery after yesterday and we grabbed some of those qualifying points and those are good to have this time of year. So I feel great on Saturday night.”
Q; ARE YOU STARTING TO LOOK AT THOSE SMALL POINTS OR DO YOU GO OUT AND RACE THE TRACK AND IF YOU GET THEM YOU GET THEM?
GREG ANDERSON: “You definitely look at them and I have certainly gotten beat before because of not getting them. So it is important to be aggressive through qualifying. Our motivation through most of the season has not to be that aggressive during qualifying, but we had a little sit down a few weeks back with our crew chief and decided that we needed to be more aggressive through qualifying and we are going to need those small points. You never know what this deal could go down to. It could go down to the final round at Pomona like it did a couple of years ago. So we need to get every small point we can get and you are going to have to get more aggressive and more risky and take a chance. We have for a couple three races and its paid off. We have gotten a lot of small points and I hope that they are going to make a difference in the end.”
An interview with Pro Stock points leader JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified sixth):
Q: SO YOU GUYS DECIDED TO MAKE AN ENGINE CHANGE AFTER Q3?
JASON LINE: “We had to make an engine change and didn’t have much of an option. We broke it. It’s not what we wanted to do but it’s just part of the deal.”
Q: YOU GUYS STILL WENT OUT AND MADE A GOOD RUN IN Q4 AFTER THRASHING TO CHANGE THE ENGINE.
JASON LINE: “It was a good run. The driver messed it up a little bit and it could have been a better run for sure. But, yeah, overall it was a good run.”
Q: ANY PARTICULAR PLANS FOR THE FINALS TOMORROW?
JASON LINE: “Win. Just win. That’s it and it’s pretty simple. Need to have a good day tomorrow.”
Top Fuel
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (qualified seventh): “Definitely glad to be out here in Vegas. Only two races left in our season, which is just crazy to hear. This year has just flown by. We want two more wins if we could have them. Two more races left and that is what we are going after even though we are in a tough spot. With this Monster Energy team behind me we can do anything and we are going after that win tomorrow.”
Funny Car
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO ZONE PEAK CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified third): “I feel really good. If you look at us at Dallas and Robert (Hight) ran a .93 in qualifying and we don’t have the consistency they have got in looking at the Schumacher team. They have a four-car team and we have a three-car team so they got more shots. But we are right there in the game. We ran a .87 last night and .88 today. So we are turning the corner, and training these people and that is what we are trying to do. We are getting back in good financial shape so I can’t cry about that any more. But I am excited about the dragster because it has a shot at the title. I never quit thinking championships and neither has Robert or Courtney (Force). Right now we are pretty excited and my energy was up pretty much all day. I am working on some things like all the drivers do. I had Ron Armstrong in here looking at the way we eat, the way we sleep and the way we react inside the car. I had my energy up all day but I think that is because Mark Kent (Director of Chevrolet Racing) beat me up in the negotiations. I said, ‘OK, Mark, I give up, you won.’ Love the guy and he does a great job for Chevrolet but also does a great job to keep us in business. I really look forward to a big future with Chevrolet.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified fifth): “We were pushing pretty hard that run and we felt like we could have been No. 1 qualifier real easy last night. We were just having trouble keeping the blower belt on the thing. We were the quickest car to half-track last night and right after that the blower belt came off and I was fourth. So it was definitely on a good run and right there the 330 time was right where it needed to be to run an .85. We were trying but it just wouldn’t hold. Tomorrow is going to be a different set of conditions but we are just going to get out there and take it one round at a time. We know these Chevrolet Camaros can win and that is what we are here to do.”
COURTNERY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified eighth): “I think we definitely pushed the Chevy Camaro SS pretty hard on that (fourth) run because we saw some of the runs the guys were making out there. When we were lined up against my dad (John Force) in the other lane he made a killer run with an .88 and our 60-foot time was even better than his. If we could have had it go through there and had a solid run it would have been a good one. You know what, we still had a great pass today in Q3 with a 3.90 and grabbed three bonus points, which was huge for our Traxxas team. I am really excited going into race day. Our team didn’t make the consistent runs that we would have liked to feel a little more comfortable going into tomorrow but you know I have the confidence in my team and crew chiefs that we will get this thing figured out and be ready for first round.”
Pro Stock
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN RACING, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified second): “We finally got the car working again. So coming off the win in Dallas with kind of a mediocre car and coming here with a good car I think we have a great shot to win this race. Everyone working on this Chevrolet Camaro has done a great job. Everyone at Gray Motorsports and Ray Skillman Motorsports has done a great job. We have a great chance and we are just going to go out there and race our own lane all day tomorrow.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, LAUGHLIN RACING, GAS MONKEY GARAGE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified third): “We really turned it on in the Countdown that we are not getting to count down in. The car is running great and we have learned some new stuff with the car, we have learned some new stuff with our clutch position, new stuff with the pedal linkage and everything. I am a lot better off the starting line now. Erica (Enders) has told me a thousand times to not get bummed out because it comes in waves and when it’s bad its real bad and when it’s good it’s really good. Right now, we are on a good streak and hopefully we can carry that out through the end of the year and start next year with the momentum that we have picked up since four races ago.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE/NOVA SERVICES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified fourth): “We’ve been very close so many times this year but we haven’t found a way to take that last step and get to the winner’s circle. History tells us that consistency is the No. 1 thing you need to win at this level and I believe we’ve shown everyone this Valvoline/Nova Services Chevrolet Camaro is very consistent. Our turn will come, hopefully tomorrow. There’s really not more we can do and there aren’t any big tune-up changes of engine adjustments we feel like we need to make. I think we need to be patient, keep hammering away, and let it come to us.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified fifth): “Shame we don’t have another day of qualifying. But I am happy with the car. Of course, we can always make better runs but we made two good runs today. Jason (Line) had some mechanical issues earlier today and he made a very good run for what I call an off-the-wall kind of run. I am real happy and one of us should be able to win and hopefully we all can be in the semis.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified seventh): “We are going to have to analyze the run because we changed a bunch of stuff from Q3 to Q4 obviously trying to improve. I think we made a little headway but we are definitely have to tweak it for tomorrow because the track is going to be a little bit worse and what not. We are just going to have to analyze the run and go from there.”
SHANE TUCKER, TUCKER RACING, AUZMET ARCHITECHTURAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified 15th): “I have a lot of Australians in the stands with smiles on their faces. I believe we can represent them on Sunday and go some rounds.”