CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
CIRCLE K NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
AUTO CLUB RACEWAY AT POMONA, CALIFORNIA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
FEB. 12, 2017
An interview with Pro Stock winner JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: HOW DOES THIS FEEL TO WIN THE OPENER?
JASON LINE: “The Chevy Camaro is bad to the bone right now and I feel honored to be able to drive it and honored to have the No. 1 on it. Happy to be here and I thank all the California fans for coming out.”
Q: HOW DID YOU PULL OFF A .005 (OF A SECOND REACTION TIME)?
JASON LINE: “My foot slipped again. This win is for Melissa Davis. My friend and her husband Tommy passed away today and it was just a shock. My heart goes out to them. I know this doesn’t replace anything, but I just want her to know I’m thinking about her. Thanks to Summit, KB Racing, Chevy and everyone who contributed to this win.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 4 qualifier; fell in second round of eliminations): “Not the start we were looking for at the first event. We know that the championship starts here and we wanted to go as many rounds as possible and pick up some points. We lost a qualifying round and smoked the tires there in the second round, so not what we wanted. We just have to get re-focused for Phoenix now.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in final): “We had a solid first outing here Obviously, it’s the kickoff to the 2017 NHRA season here at the Winternationals, our home track. We came right off of testing and continued the momentum over here in Pomona. We’re really excited. Our Advance Auto Parts team is performing well, our Chevy Camaro is running fast, and these guys did an amazing job. We got lucky in our first run, and it really set us off for the rest of the day. Second round, we laid down a solid number. Then going up against my dad, it was a close side-by-side run, and luckily we were able to get that win over him. Tough final round against Matt Hagan. We gave him a run for his money and had a close run. It tried to pull me toward the inside and I came close to the centerline, but I stayed in it, looking to get that win. Just wasn’t enough. We’re going to get after it in Phoenix in a couple weeks. It’s definitely a great start for kicking off the new season for our Advance Auto Parts team. I’m really looking forward to being in the No. 2 spot going into the second race of the season.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “I couldn’t get the job done. The car’s running really good. It went down the racetrack every run. Courtney just ran quicker. She’s my youngest daughter of four, and she lives it and loves it just like Brittany and just like Ashley did. We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us, but we showed this weekend that our cars will run. She showed at Phoenix that she could out-run them. They’ve had more time together as a team, and we’ve made a lot of changes in our strategy, in our engine program. We’ll see how this comes out.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in first round): “Our clutch package isn’t very friendly right now. Our car doesn’t lock the clutch up like our other two do, so we are going to change some stuff in the clutch. We are going to do that and we are probably going to change most of the clutch to where they are more like what our other teams are running. So then when we get to Phoenix next week we can share more information with our teammates. We made a decent run last night to get in the show but it wasn’t a good weekend for the Auto Club Chevrolet. One run down the track – that is not going to cut it. We are going to work hard and get back at it in Phoenix.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, SUMMIT RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in final): “It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. We qualified in the top four cars, ended up one and two in qualifying, and to run better than the rest of the cars did on race day and to do a good enough job of driving to put them away – that was great. The field has tightened up without a doubt and you are going to have to do a good job driving this year. Luckily, we did a good enough job today, the drivers were good, and we got the job done. It was a great day but I don’t want to hear people saying that we have a huge advantage. You are going to have to win with all three of the major ingredients: the motor is going to have to run better than the other guys, the driver is going to have to drive better, and the chassis is going to have to work better or you are going to lose. That is the way Pro Stock is going to be this year, it’s going to be a dog fight, and we will take round one.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM ELITE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in second round): “We were extremely happy with our new Chevrolet Camaro coming into Pomona. We basically only had a couple of days testing in Phoenix, which is nothing new to the Elite group or myself. We ran a different brand last year and we struggled the entire season. With a limited amount of testing on track, we couldn’t be any happier. We were pretty quick in Phoenix and we knew we would have to be on our best behavior when we got here. The plan was to stay up front with the KB Racing group and with the Gray group and it looks like we fared pretty well. Vince (Nobile) qualified fourth, Erica (Enders) was sixth, and I was seventh. All of us got one round win and Erica made it to the semis, so we are pretty pumped for the season because I have a car that is extremely drivable. Even on a so-so run it’s still pretty darn competitive. We are looking to have just a banner year and I haven’t been this excited in a number of years.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “I would give us an A. Of course, we come out here to win races, but after the year that we had last year and how much effort went into getting these Chevrolet race cars prepared and to come out here and run with these guys, I am very pleased. They know that we are here and we are only going to get better. I am very optimistic about the year. It will be a dog fight, everybody is very close, but I would put our money on us. I want to reiterate that I am very pleased to be back in a Camaro and back to winning some rounds.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier, fell in second round): “I think with every pass you get better. With more seat time, the better feel you get and the more information you can get back to the crew chief. I think with more laps we will get better and better.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, GRAY MANUFACTURING TECH CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier, fell in second round): “I think we had a good weekend all-in-all for this being Tanner’s (Gray) first race and I think our team as a group we just need to tighten the screws up a little bit. I wish we could have given him a little bit better car than we gave him, but we will be better in Phoenix. We are learning every run so we will be all right.”
BO BUTNER, BUTNER AUTO SALES, JIM BUTNER CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “Unfortunately, if we had been in the other pair, we would have been in the final. But that is just the way it goes and it’s going to be tougher this year. This is a new car that has been sitting for a while that they put together. This car hasn’t even been out since like 2014, so a very good first race for it. This may be my best weekend since I have raced Pro Stock. I didn’t vary much on the tree and I was a lot better. So I feel like we have a really good shot and it’s going to be tough on the rest of the field. Not going to be like it was last year, but it will be tough.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN RACING, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 12 qualifier, fell in first round): “It was just a little too late. We were trying some stuff because we knew we were a little down on power with the car setup, and not power really. We made some bad calls early and we got behind the eight ball. Next week in Phoenix we will be a lot more competitive. We just tried something that didn’t work.”