Chevy Racing–NHRA–Bristol Post Race

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS
BRISTOL DRAGWAY AT BRISTOL, TENNESSEE
SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2017

Chevrolet Sweeps to 11th Pro Stock Victory in a Row to Start the Season

• No. 9 qualifier Alex Laughlin claims second career Pro Stock victory
• He is the eighth different Chevrolet winner in ultra-competitive pro class
• Brittany Force records 101st career Top Fuel elimination round victory
• Greg Stanfield is Super Stock runner-up in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 18, 2017) – Alex Laughlin hoisted the Wally in the winner’s circle for fans and photographers to join in his celebration, and then quietly presented it to his father offstage.

“What a Father’s Day gift this is,” Kenny Laughlin tearfully said after watching his son claim his second National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock national victory by defeating No. 2 qualifier and class points leader Bo Butner in the final of the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Laughlin, the No. 8 qualifier in the Gas Monkey Energy/360 Wraps Chevrolet Camaro SS, became the eighth different winner in 11 Pro Stock events this season. Every event has been won by Team Chevrolet, with Butner recording two of the victories.

Laughlin, of Granbury, Texas, record a .000 reaction time in his pass of 6.718 seconds – his quickest of the meet – to win by a car length. He previously won at St. Louis in 2016, also defeating Butner in the deciding race.

“It’s been an awesome day. First of all, happy Father’s Day to my dad. I just so thankful. This is the second dream come true,” said Laughlin, who was competing in his third event of the season.

Chevrolet drivers won every Pro Stock round on race day.

In the semifinals, Butner defeated two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders (Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS) for the third time in four meetings this season. Enders, the No. 3 qualifier, ousted Butner in the final at Epping, New Hampshire, two weeks ago for her first national event victory since 2015.

Laughlin ousted No. 11 qualifier Tanner Gray (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the other semifinal as Gray, a two-time winner in his rookie season, tripped the red light by .001 of a second. Gray, who beat his father Shane (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the second round, wore a cap and gown to driver introductions as he and his family marked his high school graduation.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS), who earned the 23rd No. 1 qualifier honor of his Pro Stock career, and No. 6 qualifier Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS), the runner-up the previous week at Englishtown, New Jersey, also won first-round matchups.

John Force earned his 1,275th Funny Car career elimination round victory but fell in the quarterfinals. The 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion, a four-time winner at Bristol Dragway, was the No. 6 qualifier in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS.

Robert Hight, the No. 2 qualifier for the second consecutive week in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, recorded the quickest pass in the first round of Funny Car eliminations to advance to the quarterfinals. A semifinalist in three of the past four races, he lost in the next round to points leader Ron Capps.

Courtney Force was the No. 4 qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, marking the 35th consecutive race she’s qualified in the top half of the field. It also was her highest qualifying spot in the Thunder Valley Nationals. For the second weekend in a row, Force fell to Jack Beckman (in the quarterfinals at Bristol and in the semifinals at Englishtown). In her 130th career Funny Car race, Force picked up her 144th round win.

Brittany Force, the No. 5 qualifier in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, recorded her 101st round victory by defeating Terry McMillan for the 12th time in 13 matchups. Force, who won at Epping two weeks earlier and advanced to the semifinals last week at Englishtown, fell in the quarterfinals to eventual event winner Clay Millican.

The four-week eastern swing concludes June 23-25 with the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Jason Line defeated KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock final at the home track of their primary sponsor Summit Racing Equipment to lead Chevrolet competitors. Courtney Force was the runner-up in Funny Car. FOX Sports 1 will telecast eliminations and finals at 6 p.m. ET Sunday.

Greg Stanfield of Bossier City, Louisiana, the No. 1 qualifier in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro in Super Stock, fell in the final to Marty Rinehart Jr., driving a ’69 Camaro. Stanfield’s son, Aaron, won the Top Dragster final.

“I couldn’t give my dad a better gift on Father’s Day,” said Aaron Stanfield, holding the Wally.

In Stock Eliminator, though A.J. Currie of Godwin, North Carolina, was the No. 51 qualifier of 54 entries in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, he won four rounds of eliminations before falling in the quarterfinals.

ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to Alex Laughlin for winning the exciting Pro Stock eliminations, and congratulations to all Chevrolet teams and drivers for exemplary competition in extreme track conditions and waiting out two rain delays. The John Force Racing Funny Car and Top Fuel programs continue to qualify in the top half of their respective fields, and the wins will roll in soon. Next up is the fourth of four weekends in a row of racing, with the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. It’s also the halfway point of the season, and we expect another exciting event.”

BO BUTNER, BUTNER AUTO SALES, JIM BUTNER AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, fell in final to Alex Laughlin): “It started in qualifying. When you get 11 bonus points out of 12, that’s huge. Today was a great day for points, and it’s time to start thinking about that. Of course, you just want to make the Countdown – but there is an advantage to being in the top spot. It was a good day, it was just frustrating. We did have the best car to beat, up until the final when magic dust happened. We’ll be OK; we’ll come to Norwalk and still have a good car.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner ALEX LAUGHLIN, LAUGHLIN RACING, GAS MONKEY ENERGY/360 WRAPS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; defeated No. 2 qualifier and Pro Stock points leader Bo Bunter in final; was competing in his third event of the season):
Q: YOU WERE OBVIOUSLY BEING AGGRESSIVE. WERE YOU BEING THAT AGGRESSIVE?
ALEX LAUGHLIN: After the semifinals, when I was .012 on the tree, for the first time in my life I felt that we actually needed to slow the pedal down a little bit because I’ve struggled forever on the tree. I see the light but something else isn’t working. We were making one change after another and incrementally we getting better every time, and after this last couple of changes we made I knew that we were on to something. Being .012 on the tree in the semifinals, I was nervous about going red because I knew I would be a little more amped up than I was before and that was cutting it close. But we did what we needed to do.

Q: STATISTICALLY, THE PRO STOCK IS THE MOST DIFFICULT TO WIN IN NHRA. DOES THIS VALIDATE YOU MORE?
ALEX LAUGHLIN: Absolutely. We didn’t have anything handed to us. We had some really good matchups all day. I was nervous going up against Jeg (Coughlin) in the second round, the No. 1 qualifier this weekend. He was .030 on the tree to my .032 and it was going to be a real good drag race. His car ended up shaking and so I got the win over him. As far as all four of us (Eleite Motorsports teammates) – me, Vincent (Nobile), Erica (Enders) and Jeg – I thought if one of us beats the other we much rather lose to each other than somebody else.

Q: IN TERMS OF EMOTIONS, YOU WENT UP AGAINST TANNER GRAY AFTER THAT SHOWDOWN IN HOUSTON AND YOU GOT CHOKED UP IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE.
ALEX LAUGHLIN: I definitely had a point to prove, and to go up there and be good on the tree against him even though he was going red, to still cut a good light against him still proves to the rest of them that there was something wrong with the car. The guys at Elite (Motorsports) found it, fixed it and we have a fast car. Now we have a competitive car on the starting line. I came into this weekend with the confidence to win. I actually believed that we would win this race, and we did. The fact that it’s Father’s Day. My dad is as passionate about this as I am. To be able to win with him here is awesome.

Q: HOW TOUGH IS IT FOR A PART-TIMER TO COME OUT HERE WITH THE WEATHER CONDITIONS?
ALEX LAUGHLIN: It is extremely difficult because as these races go on and on, the guys that go to all of them keep advancing and leaning the new technology, what works right, and their cars are dialed in perfectly. For us, when we show up for a race, it takes the first couple of qualifying rounds to even figure out the tune-up. We’re behind the eight ball when we show up. By the third or fourth round of qualifying or the first round of eliminations, we have it finally figured out but our confidence isn’t completely there. The guys at Elite, they go to all the races. It does help that they get to advance with this technology race to race and carry it on to our car. But it’s still not the same as if it would be when our car was there every week. We take a couple of races off and get behind the eight ball, and we show up and it’s the same all over again.

Q: ARE THERE MORE OPPORTUNITIES AFTER THIS WIN?
ALEX LAUGHLIN: I hope so. We wanted to be able to run all 24 this year. I’m not sure, I haven’t looked at the points, but it would be awesome if we ended up somehow in the top 10. We have some points accumulated. It would be interested to see if we landed in the top 10. We would just have to figure out how to be able to race in the Countdown.