CHEVROLET AT NEW JERSEY
What:
NHRA Summernationals
When:
Friday, June 9-Sunday, June 11
Where:
Old Bridge Township Raceway, Englishtown, New Jersey
TV:
FS1: Eliminations and finals – 6 p.m. ET Sunday
FS1: Qualifications live – 2 p.m. ET Saturday
Chevrolet Drivers Seek to Collect more Wallys at Old Bridge Township Raceway
48th NHRA Summernationals is the Second Stop on Four-Race Eastern Swing
DETROIT (June 7, 2017) – Chevrolet National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drivers Brittany Force and Erica Enders share the trait of determination. Without it, of course, they wouldn’t have been as successful in their respective professional classes.
It has been stretched, though, early in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season with mechanical hiccups, early-round exits, starting line fouls, and adjusting to a year-old technical package with a different manufacturer. So when Force won the Top Fuel event in her Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster and Enders won the Pro Stock race in her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS last week at Epping, New Hampshire, emotions ran high.
Now, both seek to continue the momentum this weekend at the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway in Englishtown, New Jersey. It’s the second of four consecutive weekends of racing leading to the halfway mark of the season.
“Keeping the momentum going after a huge win like that is pretty easy,” said Force, who was the No. 2 qualifier and defeated reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the final. “We’re all pumped, we’re all excited. The whole team is still on the high from that win, and to be able to go back-to-back right into the next one, you’re going to be able to feel it in our pits, for sure.”
Force’s team knew after a test in Indianapolis in late May that her Monster Energy car was back to its form of 2016, when she earned three victories.
“Claiming a win in Epping just boosts everyone’s confidence,” added Force, who was runner-up in Phoenix but went through a three-race stretch of first-round elimination losses in April and early May. “It just gives them that push, that drive. Really, it’s about how hard the whole team has worked, how much they put into this car over the last few months through the ups and downs we’ve had. It paid off, and that’s what makes it all worth it, knowing that all that hard work paid off.”
Enders, whose Elite Motorsports team rejoined Chevrolet for the 2017 season after a year absence, dispatched reigning Pro Stock champion Jason Line and then two-time winners Bo Butner and Tanner Gray to secure her 22nd career national Pro Stock victory. Chevrolet has won every Pro Stock event this season.
It’s been an up and down season for the two-time Pro Stock champion. Though qualifying second and fourth, she endured first-round exits at Houston and Charlotte. The following week, Enders lost in the final to Butner, the Pro Stock points leader, but then fell in the first round at Topeka. The victory, after earning the No. 2 qualifier spot, significantly upped her morale.
“We’re all really excited coming off of the win in Epping,” Enders said. “It certainly gives all of us on this Elite Motorsports team a boost of confidence and everyone knows momentum is important in this game so we’ll see if we can carry it into E-town. I’m so ready to race; I wish qualifying started today.”
Courtney Force, driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, also was the No. 2 qualifier at Epping and just fell short of joining her sister in the winner’s circle. Force, who has qualified either No. 1 or 2 the past six races, moved to third in the Funny Car standings with her second runner-up finish of the season.
FOX Sports 1 will telecast qualifications live at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, along with eliminations and finals at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
Representing the host state in Super Stock in their Chevrolet COPO Camaros will be Jerry Noonan of Monroe Township and Edward Schrader of Paramus. Bob Letellier of Biddeford, Maine; his son, Mike Lettelier of New York City; and Allen George of Coplay, Pennsylvania, also will compete in their Chevrolet COPO Camaros.
Competing in Stock Eliminator in their Chevrolet COPO Camaros will be David Barton of Robesonia, Pennsylvania, Dan Fletcher of Churchville, New York, Philip Lankford of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, Victor Cagnazzi of New York City, Jack Matyas of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Letellier.
CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PREVIEW
ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGRAM MANAGER: “As we move into the second round of the Eastern swing and move closer to the halfway point of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, Chevrolet teams and drivers are making their mark in the pro classes. Last weekend at New England Dragway, Brittany Force won in Top Fuel, Erica Enders claimed the Pro Stock victory, and Courtney Force was runner-up in Funny Car. Chevrolet has won all nine Pro Stock events, and John Force Racing continues to make inroads with its Funny Car and Top Fuel programs. Old Bridge Township Raceway always produces exciting racing, and we’re looking forward to seeing Team Chevy drivers in the winner’s circle again.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER (winner at New Hampshire; runner-up at Phoenix; set career best for ET and speed at Topeka; semifinalist in 2016 at Englishtown and runner-up in ‘15): “I’d love to go back-to-back and bring home another win. That’s what we’re going for, that’s what we’re going to try to do. I’ve had some success there in A-Fuel, but we’re going after that win. We won last weekend, and we want to do it again.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 or 2 qualifier the past six races; two-time runner-up this season; third in point standings): “I’m feeling really good going into Englishtown. I’m actually very confident about this car, this spare car, and how it’s running, compared to the one we had before. So really feeling positive. I’m excited for my Advance Auto Parts team. My crew has put together an incredible race car, and I can’t wait to get there and see how we can do. I’m very confident going into Englishtown, and hope we can take home the win.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (four-time winner in 10 finals appearances at the track; won at Gainesville this season; has 1,274 career round victories): “I want to perform. It’s a long way to the Countdown. I’m fifth in the points, and I don’t like being fifth. I can keep talking, keep making statements, but we’ve got to turn it around. We’re right there. We look in the computer, and it’s there. We couldn’t get it done in Epping. We tried to run .86, and we thought it would do it, and all of a sudden, everybody is running .95s. I don’t think anybody ran .80s, so we shouldn’t have tried. I started at Englishtown with the Napp family with Jungle Jim, match racing. Great place. Great air there, if the weather’s good to us. Don’t worry about John Force. I’ll get there.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier at New Hampshire; fourth in point standings): “I call this one of the majors. A lot of history there, years and years that that racetrack’s been there. A lot of the greats have won it, and you don’t want to go down and say you never won Englishtown. Gainesville, Englishtown, Reading, Pomona, Indy – Englishtown is the one I haven’t one. It’s a major like one of the golf majors. It’s one I want to win, and this year we need to do it. We have a real good car. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock’s) won it before with other drivers. We’ve got to go get the job done.”
PRO STOCK:
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (has won twice and been runner-up once this season; two-time No. 1 qualifier; sits atop point standings): “The really cool thing about racing in Englishtown is that they are huge, huge fans of Pro Stock – maybe even the biggest I’ve ever seen. It’s fun, and we get along pretty good with everyone up there. There is a lot of pride being associated with this team. Ken Black is a legend, and of course so is Greg Anderson. Jason Line, he’s not too bad, either. You sleep well at night being part of KB Racing, because you know you’re going to have a good car. We’ll have a good weekend, we just have to focus on getting the KB Racing cars back 1-2-3.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time Pro Stock champion; won at New Hampshire; holds track ET and speed records, set in 2014): “I’m so proud of the way my team performed on race day. We had quick turnarounds because of TV and a lot of work had to get done every round. I had Kyle (Bates) and Casey (Gardner) from my teammate Jeg Coughlin’s team jump right in and help us on Sunday. It was a real team effort to get to the winner’s circle. I think it’s so awesome that we have three different jerseys at Elite Motorsports but it’s truly one team. It’s a unique atmosphere to work in, for sure. I’m so blessed to be one of the drivers. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. That’s what we have at Elite. We are Elite for a reason.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (seven-time winner at the track, including 2016): “You go in there confident because you have history there, but we have to make better decisions throughout the weekend than we did last week in Epping. Looking back at winning there for the first time in 2002, it was beyond fantastic. Every win is great, but some of them sure standout, and that was one of them. A lot of neat things have happened for the KB Racing team at Raceway Park, and for me, personally. It’s a very special place for me, and if there is such a thing as a great Pro Stock track, that’s what Englishtown is. That one is a great feather in the cap, and it was just a great, great feeling to get that first win. It’s fun to go back to racetracks like that.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Las Vegas to become youngest winner in NHRA history; also won at Topeka and runner-up at New Hampshire; second in point standings): “The new Gray Motorsports Valvoline 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS has led to one victory, a No. 1 qualifier, and a runner-up. I would say my crew chief Dave (Connolly) really has figured out the rhythm to this car. We have gotten better at manipulating data that makes the car happy and produced the desired results we are looking for on race day. I do not think about how fast I have experienced success because my own expectation it to run up front. We have a great car. A great team. And I have a lot of great people around me watching and helping me improve.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (four-time winner at the track; two-time runner-up and two-time semifinalist this season; two-time No. 1 qualifier): “We’re kind of in this up-down deal lately where one race we seem to do really well and the next one something happens and we’re out earlier than we want to be. We lost a close one to our teammate Vincent Nobile last weekend in Epping (N.H.) so I have to assume we’re due for another ‘up’ weekend. Certainly we have the car and the people here at Elite Motorsports to get the job done. Seeing my other teammate Erica Enders breakthrough and win Epping was a huge boost for all of us and combined with the success our JEGS.com part of the team has enjoyed this year, we feel very, very optimistic.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning Pro Stock champion; won season opener at Pomona; two-time semifinalist; four-time No. 1 qualifier): “I remember my first Englishtown win – I made a terrible run and was over by the wall, and I was very shocked when my win light came on. But it was fun, and I remember that it was a big deal to win Englishtown for the first time. It was a fun race, and I think I won there the next two years in a row. It was my favorite track for a long time, but it’s been a challenge for me in recent times. I’d sure like to win there again. I have some good memories at Raceway Park, we’ve just been in a little bit of a slump here lately. I’d like to think I’m due to have a good weekend.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up at Phoenix; finalist at Charlotte; competing in 56th career Pro Stock event): “Qualifying fourth and reaching the semifinals at Epping was a starting point for our Chevy program after some early season ups and downs. We continue to learn about our new Chevy Camaro and we’re looking forward to taking data we collected last week to Englishtown and hopefully have a successful weekend.”
JOHN GAYDOSH JR., GAYDOSH PERFORMANCE, GAYDOSH PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (competing in his fifth Pro Stock race of the season and 77th in career): “We’re going to take the data from last weekend at Epping and using it towards Englishtown. The first three runs were great data. We just got lost with the tire shake and tried to do something we don’t normally do. So we know not to do that anymore. We’ll put that in the do-not-do list. We make mistakes were just trying to see what you can do. We’re going to build off our runs.”