CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY AT EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE
SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 2017
Chevrolet Claims Two of Three Pro Class Wins in New Hampshire
• Brittany Force earns first Top Fuel victory of the season
• Erica Enders scores first Pro Stock victory since Las Vegas in 2015
• Courtney Force is runner-up for the second time this season in Funny Car
• Robert Hight becomes 13th driver to claim 50 No. 1 qualifier honors
EPPING, N.H. (June 4, 2017) – It was Ladies Day on a sunny Sunday afternoon in New England.
Chevrolet drivers Brittany Force in Top Fuel and Erica Enders in Pro Stock won their respective classes, and Courtney Force claimed her second runner-up Funny Car finish of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season to highlight the fifth annual New England Nationals.
All three competitors entered race day as the No. 2 qualifier, and all were aiming for their first victory of the season.
Brittany Force’s 98th career elimination round win, which also was her fourth career Top Fuel victory in 13 finals appearances, exceptionally satisfying. In dispatching reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the final with a pass of 3.716 seconds at 328.62 mph in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, Force qualified for the lucrative Traxxas Top Fuel Showdown during the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend.
“We had really been struggling and we got lost for a while but we really seemed to figure it out last week at Topeka,” said Force, who had recorded a runner-up finish at Phoenix in February but hadn’t won since Brainerd last August. “I knew we had a good race car, we had our Monster car back, our team back, and I knew that first win was right around the corner.
“Our last final round was Phoenix and that whole time in between was tough for the team. But we never lost focus, and we never gave up and that was what was important. That is what held us together as a team and got us here today.”
Enders became the seventh different winner – all by Team Chevy competitors – through nine Pro Stock races, and registered her first victory since late in the 2015 season in Las Vegas. The two-time Pro Stock champion, whose Elite Motorsports team rejoined Chevrolet Racing for the 2017 season, picked up her 22nd win in 232 career races.
Her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS cruised to a 6.534-second run at 213.16 seconds, which tied the top speed of the event, to knock out Tanner Gray.
“It’s kind of a culmination of everything that’s happened over the past year and a half,” Enders said. “2016 was nothing short of a challenge for us, but we stayed together. It’s going back to a proven combination, which is our Chevy power plant at Elite Performance and I’m actually driving my 2014 championship car with a new front end on it.
“I’m super proud. I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg for us.”
Chevrolet swept the elimination rounds. Gray, who in March became the youngest winner in NHRA history, added the first No. 1 qualifier honor and first runner-up finish to his career stats in the Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS. He defeated Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS), the No. 4 qualifier, by four-thousandths of a second in one semifinal. Enders ousted No. 3 qualifier and pro Stock points leader Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) on a holeshot in the other semi. Butner, a two-time winner this season, marked his 50th Pro Stock event.
Kenny Delco (JCM Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS) picked up his first round win of the season. Reigning Pro Stock champion Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS) also were first-round winners.
Courtney Force, who has qualified No. 1 or 2 the past six races in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell for the second time this season in the final round to Matt Hagan. She ended the 17-round winning streak of Ron Capps in the semifinals, and also defeated Cruz Pedregon and Jim Campbell. Force’s semifinal run of 3.895 seconds was low elapsed time of the class on race day.
John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight, who became the 13th driver to earn 50 No. 1 qualifier honors in the NHRA history, smoked the tires of the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS and fell in the first round. His first No. 1 came March 19, 2005, in only his third career NHRA race, at Gainesville Raceway. John Force, the No. 13 qualifier in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, also lost in the first round of eliminations.
The four-week swing east of the Mississippi River continues June 9-11 with the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. Greg Anderson defeated KB Racing teammate and No. 1 qualifier in the Pro Stock final last year to pace Team Chevy. FOX Sports 1 will telecast qualifications live at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, along with eliminations and finals at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
Bob Lettelier of Biddeford, Maine, was the No. 52 qualifier of 57 entries in Stock Eliminator and drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to two round victories. Letellier, who started racing at New England Dragway when he was 17 years old and won his first NHRA national event in 1984 with his 1969 Chevrolet Nova, was the No. 27 qualifier in Super Stock in his Chevy COPO Camaro.
ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to all the Chevrolet competitors for an exciting weekend of racing at New England Dragway, which was sold out Saturday and Sunday. Race day culminated with wins by Chevrolet in Top Fuel with Brittany Force and Pro Stock with Erica Enders. Both have come close to standing in the winner’s circle earlier this season, and their determination and skills certainly helped them today against tough competition. And Courtney Force nearly made it an all-female Chevrolet winner’s circle. Her runner-up finish, after the incident in qualifications Friday, is a testament to her fortitude and the John Force Racing crew’s abilities. Now it’s on to New Jersey for the second round of this four consecutive weekends of racing.”
An interview with Top Fuel winner BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier; fourth career win in 105 races):
Q: YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON STUFF AND WORKING ON STUFF, AND NOW ITS PAYING DIVIDENDS AS THE CAR HAS BEEN VERY CONSISTENT THE LAST FEW RACES.
BRITTANY FORCE: “We had really been struggling and we got lost for a while but we really seemed to figure it out last week at Topeka. I knew we had a good race car, we had our Monster car back, our team back, and I knew that first win was right around the corner. Our last final round was Phoenix and that whole time in between was tough for the team. But we never lost focus, and we never gave up and that was what was important. That is what held us together as a team and got us here today.”
Q: HOW IMPORTANT WAS THAT INDY TEST?
BRITTANY FORCE: “The Indy test turned everything around. Really after Atlanta, we already knew what the problem was and we were going to prove it on the racetrack in testing. We knew we were right, and that we had a problem with the clutch and we were good after that.”
Q: THIS WEEKEND FOR THE FAMILY WAS CRAZY. THE DEAL WITH COURTNEY ON FRIDAY, GRAHAM (RAHAL) WINNING THE RACE ON SATURDAY, HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH ALL THOSE DISTRACTIONS?
BRITTANY FORCE: “You know, there are so many distractions and when you pull up there in that starting line you have to eliminate everything. Really, my sister was sitting there right in front of me in the starting lane and I didn’t want to watch. I had to keep my focus where I was and obviously I could see the team celebrating but I was focused on what I was doing. I was hoping it was just going to be us ladies in the winner’s circle, but we take it one step at a time.”
Q: HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT FOR YOU GUYS AS A TEAM TO BOUNCE BACK THIS WEEKEND?
BRITTANY FORCE: “You know, it’s all about the team. They are the ones that put this whole car into motion. They are the ones that turn those win lights on and got us here today. Alan Johnson, Brian Husen and my entire team……the key to it all was sticking together. We kept our eye on the prize and never backed away from it, kept fighting for it and that is what we did.”
Q: YOU AND STEVE TORRENCE SO FAR ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT HAVE PUT THE BRAKES ON THE DSR CARS
BRITTANY FORCE: “Working with Alan Johnson has been awesome. You know, he pulled me aside before the final round and he said ‘you know Antron, he is going to bring it. He always does but we got something for him and I know you have got something for him too.’ So I knew it was going to be a good race and we went straight down there and turned that win light on. I lost focus for a second because I knew he got in trouble next to us and I thought I saw the win light, but there is a lot going on and it was a sweet turnaround getting off the race track and I was proud. I knew we got our job done.”
Q: YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA GIRL BUT YOU HAVE GOT A FEW EAST COAST WINS NOW
BRITTANY FORCE: “Absolutely. I don’t care where we bring home the win. I don’t care if we are east coast or west coast as long as we get the job done.”
Q: ITS BECOMING A FAMILY TRADITION TO WIN HERE. YOUR DAD, COURTNEY ALL HAVE ONE HERE
BRITTANY FORCE: “It is pretty cool to see that Courtney won the first one here and my dad won one here and to be able to line up and do it with them is pretty awesome.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; 22nd career victory, first since Las Vegas in 2015):
Q: WAS IT RELIEF, ELATION. WHAT WAS THE IMMEDIATE EMOTION OF SEEING THE WIN LIGHT?
ERICA ENDERS: “C, all of the above. It’s kind of a culmination of everything that’s happened over the past year and a half. 2016 was nothing short of a challenge for us, but we stayed together. I keep talking about my team, but I have the most unique group of individuals, and it’s so awesome to have a group that has my back. That’s 100 percent of the reason I am able to drive the way I do just because I have their support and their confidence. Throughout those trials and tribulations, the challenges and adversity that we faced, they always rose to the top. We might have turned on many win lights in 2016 or yet this year, but we still had a blast together and they still dug deep, gave it all the heart that they had and stayed positive. That’s what is so awesome. I wished my entire career for a group like I have, and I intend to keep them for as long as I can.
Q: THIS IS YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON, BUT YOU’VE HAD A COMPETITIVE CAR AND HAVE BEEN IN THE THICK OF THINGS.
ERICA ENDERS: We really have and it’s going back to a proven combination, which is our Chevy power plant at Elite Performance and I’m actually driving my 2014 championship car with a new front end on it. I’m super proud. I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg for us. We needed some things to fall our way. We were fortunate in 2014 and 2015. We had a fast car, we drove well, we had things fall our way as well. Maybe this is the turning point for us.
Q: CAN YOU HAVE THE MENTALITY OF THE ONLY THING A DRIVER CAN DO IS SCREW THE CAR UP?
ERICA ENDERS: No. My sisters, brother and I have been fortunate to have a dad who is super smart and has a positive mental attitude and us at a young age that you speak the things you want into existence. So when you pull up out here with the baddest race team on the planet, you have to believe with all your heart that you’re the baddest there is also. It’s not being cocky; it’s being confident in what you have. You have to believe it to achieve it. It’s hard to keep that in mind when you’re going through the valleys because there are way more valleys than there are peaks.
Q: HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WIN FOR YOU?
ERICA ENDERS: “I’ve loved coming here since NHRA brought us back. It’s something to coming back to sort of the grassroots side of things. Richard Freeman my team owner and I were talking about it on the way in the gate this morning. We really do love racing here. We had a good run in 2015; I lost in the semis to Allen Johnson, but we had the car to beat that day. I’m super excited to get it done here in Epping. This track means a lot to our sport and it certainly means a lot to the fans. I get to feel their enthusiasm and their excitement of being here.
Q: DID YOU MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS GOING INTO THE FINAL?
ERICA ENDERS: “I did slow up my clutch pedal. I go up there knowing all the adjustments (the crew) made to the car and I make my adjustments accordingly. Cloud cover plays a role, track conditions play a role, leave RPM plays a role. I hit it on the head both runs before, being .008 twice. My guys gave me a great hot rod and all three of our crew chiefs were back there working before the finals and they said we’re going to go after it right now. We’re going to go a (6.52) .52 or (6.53) .53 and we went a .53, so thank God.
Q: THIS IS THE FIRST OF FOUR IN A ROW; HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET UP FOR THIS TYPE OF A START?
ERICA ENDERS: It’s definitely huge.