CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS
SUMMIT MOTORPORTS PARK AT NORWALK, OHIO
SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2017
Chevrolet Sweeps to 11th Pro Stock Victory in a Row to Start the Season
• Bo Butner defeats KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson in Pro Stock final
• No. 2 qualifier Robert Hight is runner-up in Funny Car
• No. 2 qualifier Brittany Force advances to Top Fuel semifinals
• Jeff Strickland wins Stock Eliminator class in Chevrolet COPO Camaro
NORWALK, Ohio (June 25, 2017) – Perfection, elusive but often needed to win in the National Hot Rod Association, fell in Bo Butner’s lane in the Pro Stock final of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Butner cut a .000 light and ran 6.601 seconds in the Jim Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS to win on a holeshot over KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson. The margin of victory was .0018 of a second (about 7 inches).
“It was just a great day. We made four pretty consistent runs and was good when I needed to be,” said Butner, who has reached the final round five times this season. “That was my first triple-zip light in a final in any class. He had a faster car and he was making better runs, so the only shot you have is to leave first. I’m not known for that yet, but I’ve been working on it.”
Chevrolet drivers have won every Pro Stock race this season, led by Butner with three victories. Butner increased his points advantage through 12 of 24 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events.
In Funny Car competition, John Force Racing’s Robert Hight was runner-up in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS for the first time this season and 88th in his career, advanced to the Pro Stock final for the 144th time in his career. He is a three-time winner at Summit Motorsports Park.
“Summit is it. They make it happen for the KB team,“ Butner added. “If it’s not for Summit, there’s no Bo Butner up here (in winner’s circle). Thank you, Chevrolet. Chevrolet has been behind me and it’s been great and we’re getting it done.”
Butner, the No. 2 qualifier, ended the breakout day of John Gaydosh Jr. in the semifinals. Gaydosh, who underwent knee surgery earlier this year, did not qualify last weekend at Bristol, Tennessee, as the Pypes Performance Exhaust Chevrolet Camaro SS lost an engine.
Gray Motorsports provided an experimental engine for Gaydosh to use this weekend, but the car had to be retrofitted to accept the power plant. Then Gaydosh received word early in the week that longtime crew member and mentor Brad “Pops” Wallace had passed away. Gaydosh entered the race as a tribute to Wallace.
He was the No. 14 qualifier of 16 entries, and the team received the Edelbrock Never Rest Performer of the Race award. Gadson handled No. 3 qualifier Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the first round and five-time Pro Stock champion and No. 6 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the quarterfinals.
“This is awesome,” said Gaydosh, who reached the semifinals for the first time in 78 career Pro Stock races. “I have to say thanks to Shane (Gray) for letting us be here. I can’t be more excited than this. Thanks, Brad, for everything you’ve ever done for me to keep me out here racing.”
Anderson dispatched KB Racing teammate and reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the other semifinal. It was the 71st time they faced off in eliminations. First-round winners included Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS), Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS), and Tanner Gray (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS).
Hight, the No. 2 qualifier for the third consecutive week and fifth overall, advanced to the Funny Car final for the second time this season. He has advanced to the final or semifinals in four of the past six races.
John Force was the No. 3 qualifier for the third time this season in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS. The 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion lost in the quarterfinals. Courtney Force (Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS), who qualified in the top four in each of the previous 11 races – including a class-high five No. 1s – did not crack the top 16 entries for the event for the first time in her career 131 races. She was a semifinalist the past two years at Norwalk.
Brittany Force, the No. 2 qualifier in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, fell in the Top Fuel semifinals to eventual event winner and points leader Steve Torrence. Force, who won at Epping, New Hampshire, at the start of the four-race Eastern swing, was a semifinalist at Englishtown, New Jersey, the next week and a quarterfinalist at Bristol, Tennessee, last week.
Jeff Strickland, driving his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, won the Stock Eliminator class for his 15th national victory by defeating Jim Boburka, also driving a Chevrolet COPO Camaro, in the final. The resident of Red Bay, Alabama, who was the 2016 Stock Eliminator champion, also won the Top Dragster final. It is the 37th time that a driver has doubled up on an NHRA race weekend. Gary Wolkwitz, driving his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, was the No. 2 qualifier of the 70 Stock Eliminator entries.
Stephen Bell was the No. 2 qualifier in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro of 61 Super Stock entries. Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, advanced to the third round of eliminations.
Two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders and David Barton, driving Chevrolet COPO Camaros, lost in the semifinals of the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown. Barton, of Robesonia, Pennsylvania, was the top qualifier. He won the season opener of the five-race series at Gainesville, Florida, and three of the four races in 2016.
After a week’s respite, the Fallen Patriots Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by K&N is on tap July 6-9 at Route 66 Raceway in Elwood, Illinois. Greg Anderson defeated KB Racing teammate Bo Butner in the Pro Stock final and Brittany Force was the No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier to lead Team Chevy at the event in 2016.
FOX Sports 1 will telecast qualifications live at 5 p.m. ET July 8 and eliminations and finals live at 3 p.m. July 9.
ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to all the Chevrolet teams and drivers for a productive and exciting weekend of racing to wrap up the four-week stint and the first half of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Along with the all-Chevrolet Pro Stock final-round matchup of Bo Butner and Greg Anderson, there was the heartwarming and tenacious story of John Gaydosh, who overcame adversity and the loss of a longtime friend and mentor to reach the semifinals for the first time in his Pro Stock career. And John Force Racing’s Robert Hight in Funny Car and Brittany Force in Top Fuel continue to display speed with No. 2 qualifier spots and round victories. We’re looking forward to what the second half of the season holds for all the Chevrolet teams.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner BO BUTNER, BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; won class-high third race of the season and increased his Pro Stock points lead; all three victories have come this season):
Q: PERFECT LIGHT IN THE FINAL IS LIKE A WALK-OFF HOME RUN.
BO BUTNER: I was on the other side of the triple-zero light last week. It was just a great day. We made four pretty consistent runs and was good when I needed to be. That was my first triple-zip light in a final in any class, so that’s cool.
Q: IS THERE A LITTLE SWAGGER HERE?
BO BUTNER: It’s a good car and I seem to fit in it good, and we try a lot of different stuff on all three cars. There were eight cars this week that could have won, and it has to go your way. You have to be good when you need it, and you have to be lucky when you need that, too.
Q: DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THINGS LIKE JOHN GAYDOSH HAVING A SORT OF CINDERELLA DAY AND IT’S NOT A GOOD TIME TO GET IN THE WAY OF THAT STORY?
BO BUNTER: I’m very proud of John. He’s come a long way and he’s a hard worker. To see him get to the semis is great. I get a soft spot at certain times for different people, and you tell yourself if you have to lose today maybe to somebody like this guy who really busts his (butt), it would be OK.
Q: THIS IS A SUMMIT RACE AND YOU HAD TO PUT ON A LOT OF HATS IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE.
BO BUTNER: I got here a little early this week and got to visit (Summit Racing Equipment personnel) over at the big shop in Akron. A great group of people, and the bottom line is they support KB Racing and they support me also. We can’t do it without them. They are a great group of guys and they love to win.
Q: KNOWING YOU WERE GOING AGAINST GREG, DID THAT CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU NEEDED TO GET THE BEST LIGHT?
BO BUTNER: It’s kind of like history. We all look back through Friday, Saturday and today and he had a faster car and he was making better runs, so the only shot you have is to leave first. I’m not known for that yet, but I’ve been working on it.
Q: WHAT DID HE SAY TO YOU AT THE TOP END?
BO BUTNER: Something about picking his pockets. He’s competitive and I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s happy for me to win as I would be for him. It’s a great team.