CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
DENSO SPARK PLUGS NHRA NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
QUALIFYING RESULTS AND DRIVER QUOTES
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2017
Chevrolet Drivers Power Camaro SS to Challenge Race Win, Two No. 1 Qualifier Spots
· Greg Anderson earns sixth K&N Horsepower Challenge victory
· Courtney Force claims top qualifier honor, sets track record in Funny Car
· Jason Line races to fourth consecutive Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier spot
· Brittany Force ties season best by qualifying fourth in Top Fuel
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (April 1, 2017) – Greg Anderson says he’ll build a larger mantle, if necessary, to hold his collection of K&N Horsepower Challenge trophies.
“It doesn’t get old winning one of these,” said Anderson, who claimed the $50,000-to-win special Pro Stock race for the sixth time – and second year in a row — during the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
He also extracted a measure of revenge on longtime friend and competitor Shane Gray as the four-time Pro Stock champion’s Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS was a fender ahead at the line – 6.659 seconds elapsed time to Gray’s 6.684 – as reaction times were nearly identical. Gray, driving the Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS, got the better of Anderson in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Gatornationals final two weeks ago in Florida.
“It’s right up there (in career highlights),” Anderson said. “It’s the most fun race we have in the year. The pressure is off, you don’t worry about points. This is just a feel-good story, a fun race. Good times, K&N.”
Courtney Force also was having a good time during Funny Car qualifications in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS. Her first-round run of 3.871 seconds set the track elapsed time record and held up as the best speed through the four rounds.
It is the 11th No. 1 qualifier honor the John Force Racing driver and her first since Denver last year. Force has qualified in the top four in each of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events this season.
“It’s a tough track out there; we got down only two of the four passes. I’m really proud of my team that figured out a way to get in two solid passes to stay in the No. 1 spot in this Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro,” Force said. “It’s certainly the spot we want to be in on race day.”
John Force, who picked up his 148th career Funny Car victory two weeks ago at Gainesville Raceway, qualified No. 7 in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS. John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight (Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS) was the No. 14 qualifier.
Reigning Pro Stock champion Jason Line registered his fourth consecutive No.1 qualifier spot in as many NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events this season to lead a Chevrolet sweep of the top 11 positions.
Line, driving the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS, posted a best pass of 6.647 seconds for his 53rd career low qualifier honor. Line has not qualified outside the top eight since St. Louis in 2015.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com Elite Chevrolet Camaro SS) secured the No. 2 qualifier spot – a season high — with a pass of 6.652 seconds, followed by Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) at 6.655 seconds and Anderson at 6.660.
Tanner Gray (Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS), who is competing in his fourth Pro Stock event, was the No. 5 qualifier at 6.665 seconds. Earlier in the week, back in his home state of North Carolina, won the Ironman 50 at Milbridge Speedway in his winged Outlaw cart.
In Top Fuel, Brittany Force qualified fourth for the third time in the four races with a run of 3.760 seconds in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. She was the runner-up at Phoenix last month as the No. 7 qualifier.
FOX Sports 1 will telecast eliminations and finals live at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
CHEVROLET RACING POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner of Pro Stock $50,000-to-win K&N Horsepower Challenge for sixth time):
HOW DO YOU OWN THAT TROPHY?
GREG ANDERSON: “I don’t know, but isn’t it a beauty? It will fit perfectly on my mantle. I’ll make more room if I have to. I can’t thank K&N enough; I look forward to this race all year long. It’s just a blast to race to compete in the funnest race of the year, at my favorite racetrack, in front of (team owner) Ken Black, it doesn’t get any better. My Summit Chevy was flawless all day. I have to give this trophy to my crew chief Rob Downing and his guys. I had a dream ride today, and I’m telling you that starting line was tricky all day. Not one issue with this race car. She was a dream to drive today, and we’ll look to double it up tomorrow.”
THIS IS YOUR SIXTH TROPHY FROM K&N. HOW DOES THIS RANK IN TERMS OF CAREER SUCCESSES?
GREG ANDERSON: “It’s right up there. It’s the most fun race we have in the year. The pressure is off, you don’t worry about points. This is just a feel-good story, a fun race. Good times, K&N.”
Q: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM AS YOU START THE SEASON?
GREG ANDERSON: “It’s been a great start to the season but this day is all about fun. A big pile of cash at the end of the rainbow and we found our way there. That money is very important to us. It costs a lot of money to come out here and (compete). It will certainly help the team and give us a shot in the arm. Got a chance to double up tomorrow, so it adds more pressure but more fun for tomorrow. It’s great to come out here to have a doubleheader like this.”
An interview with COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 Funny Car qualifier at track-record 3.867 seconds; 11th of career):
Q: THIS IS YOUR 11TH NO. 1 QUALIFIER AND FIRST OF THE SEASON. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
COURTNEY FORCE: “It’s an awesome run for our team and the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro. To head down there and run a 3.86, to set the track record definitely felt good. It was a great run for us and we’re excited about it. My crew chiefs have done an incredible job, and like we said after Phoenix and Gainesville, we definitely needed to change things around. We are qualified in the top half where we like to be, but it all comes down to tomorrow. This is a great start for the weekend for our team.”
Q: THE WEATHER WAS DIFFERENT TODAY. WHAT WAS YOUR TEAM ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH?
COURTNEY FORCE: “The conditions today are probably comparable to what they are going to be tomorrow for race day, so it always puts a smile on my face when we get a run down there when the sun is still out. That means you’ve got a pretty good race car. I’m happy about it. To be wearing this green hat going into race day feels great. But our main focus is definitely going rounds tomorrow and hopefully ending up in the winner’s circle here in Las Vegas.”
An interview with JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier at 6.476 seconds; fourth in a row and 53rd of career):
Q: WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THIS?
JASON LINE: “I have no strategy. My strategy is go as fast as you can every time. Obviously, try to do the best job you can to get every bit of performance out of the race car. I’m just one small part of it. I’m the guy who can mess it up. (Crew chief) Rob (Downing) and the guys do a great job getting the race car on the racetrack and it’s a very good hot rod right now.”
Q: DESPITE THE RED LIGHT (IN THE K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENEGE), WAS THE TEAM ABLE TO GET THE DATA TODAY?
JASON LINE: “We were able to get down the track the last run and that helped us. We had to do a motor change yesterday so that first run this morning was important to me. Unfortunately, not only did I red light but I didn’t make it down the racetrack so that was a little painful. But we did make a decent run the last run and should have some good data for tomorrow. We should have a good hot rod for tomorrow.”
Q: IS THERE AN ANGRY PUSH TO GET THAT WIN NOW?
JASON LINE: “If I got angry every time I lost, I would walk around angry all the time. You let it go and move on. I wanted to win, of course, but it makes it easier when my teammate wins.”
Top Fuel
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (qualified fourth): “It’s been a little bit of a struggle in Vegas in that we only got down the track once. We just haven’t been able to get the car down the racetrack. But I have all the faith in the Monster team, that we’ll crack down tomorrow and we’ll get it figured out and have smooth runs all the way down the racetrack. We ended up No. 4, which isn’t a bad place to be. We’re going to go out and win the whole thing tomorrow, surprise everybody.”
Funny Car
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified seventh): “Not where we want to end up for where we were at Gainesville. But I’m glad to be in the show, and all of my teammates as well. We’ll see where it goes tomorrow. We only got a few runs down the racetrack. It was going to run 3.88, 3.89 that last run, but I let it out of the groove, got me over near the wall, so I shut it off early, and only ran 290 mph. So I’m running with them.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified 14th): “Everything still goes back to Q1. Every weekend proves just how important Q1 is. The racetrack was definitely tricky on Friday, with the frequency of the cars going down very, very few. Today, it was totally the opposite. We were jacked up a little bit, going a little too fast and the car couldn’t take it – spun the tires. Then tonight, we probably would have had it right on the money and dropped a cylinder right when I hit the gas. There’s a cause for that; we just hadn’t figured it out. Luckily, our two teammates went down the track, so we’ll have their data. We’re racing from a tough spot tomorrow, from the bottom half, but when we get our act together and we get this car running right – which hopefully is first round – we can beat anybody. We’re all ready. We’re going to work hard tonight to make it quick, and be out in the morning and ready to win this race.”
Pro Stock
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM ELITE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified second): “To earn the No. 2 spot and finish qualifying just five-thousandths of a second off the top spot is very encouraging for all of us at Elite Motorsports. We’ve been getting better and better each race and I don’t think anyone in this pit is surprised. Still, it’s nice to get it done. Today we were a little more sluggish both passes — we had a 6.722 and then a 6.695 — and it was basically a product of our starts. They just weren’t as clean as we would have liked. We were a bit too conservative. But that’s an easy fix; we’ll just crank up the power for tomorrow and see if we can’t turn on some win lights.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified third): “It was great to win a round in our first shot at the K&N Horsepower Challenge. It was a lot of fun today – different, but fun. Any time you get two races in a weekend, it’s a blast. Right now, I think my Chevy Camaro is the best on the planet. It’s really fast, and if we could all just come together – the car and myself – I think we’ll put the Chevy in the winner’s circle for once. I’ve been to a few finals here in Vegas, and it’s definitely our race to win tomorrow. If I don’t win it, one of the other two KB Racing cars should. These guys do their homework.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (qualified fifth): “I’m very happy where I’m at. If I get by the first round, I will get to run Greg Anderson and I think that will be a good race. I think we are doing great. We are slowly catching up to the KB cars and making nice, consistent runs.”