Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force leads a
1-2-3 JFR sweep of Funny Car qualifying in Denver

DENVER (July 21) – Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force led a John Force Racing 1-2-3 sweep of Funny Car qualifying on Friday at Bandimere Speedway, as her Chevrolet Camaro SS set both ends of the track record.
Force’s pass of 3.889 seconds at 328.30 mph was No. 1, with her dad, PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil driver John Force, sitting No. 2 and Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight No. 3.
“Really cool to see JFR in the 1-2-3 spot,” Courtney Force said. “Really proud of our teams, and we’re hoping to make it a great weekend here.”
Force’s run came immediately after she watched her dad snare the track record in the first qualifying session with a run of 3.899 seconds at 301.87 mph.

“The cool thing is (crew chief) Dan Hood, (co-crew chief) Ronnie Thompson, my entire team taking full advantage of the great conditions that we had in Q1,” Force said. “We were able to watch my dad lay down that 3.89, and we knew the track could handle it, so it was cool to watch him lay that down and then be able to run right after him with a 3.88 and get that top spot.”
Q2 was a struggle for most teams, as only one driver made it down the track unscathed in the second session. That allowed Force to hang on to the No. 1 position.
“I’m really proud of my guys,” Force said. “They’ve done an amazing job. Obviously, we were going for it on that last run. Our car tried to drop a hole, picked it back up, and then it shook really hard. We couldn’t get the numbers we wanted on the board for that run, but we had to go for it.”
Force has five No. 1 qualifiers this season, along with five track elapsed-time records (should she leave Denver with the record).
“It never gets old, for sure,” Force said. “It definitely makes our entire Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro team feel motivated and makes us feel good going into qualifying tomorrow. We’ll see if we can hang on to it, but I’m excited to so far be in that top spot.
“Even though we’ve gotten a lot of No. 1 qualifiers this year, we’re definitely looking to get that win. We need to get it done. This is the start of the Western Swing, and we’ve got to start it off right and pick up on those points.”
Hight’s run of 3.973 seconds at 315.56 mph came in the first session, slotting him in the No. 3 spot.
Brittany Force took the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster to the provisional No. 4 spot, making a pass of 3.782 seconds at 318.84 mph.
Qualifying continues Saturday with two sessions, at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Mountain time. Fox Sports 1 will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. Mountain time.