CHEVROLET AT SONOMA
Final Round Qualifying Driver Quotes – NHRA Sonoma Nationals
SONOMA, Calif. (July 29, 2017) – Drivers Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) led the way for Team Chevy in qualifying at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday. Hight and Skillman earn No. 1 starting spots in their respective categories while Force is second in hers.
Brittany Force stood on her impressive qualifying run of 3.689 seconds and 330.63 mph from Friday night to start second in Sunday’s final Top Fuel eliminations. Her John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight cruised to a Funny Car track record run of 3.807 seconds and a track and national speed record of 339.87 mph. It is Hight’s third No. 1 qualifier spot of the year.
Skillman earned his second top qualifier spot of the year in Pro Stock and second in a row with a run of 6.538 seconds and speed of 211.36 mph. He sits seventh in points with two race wins so far this year and will be looking for back-to-back wins with a victory at Sonoma as well tomorrow.
FS1 will telecast eliminations and finals live at 4 p.m. ET Sunday.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER (Qualified second):
YOU GUYS ARE REALLY FAST, BUT TODAY WASN’T AS GOOD FOR YOU
“No, today was really frustrating. That first run we didn’t even get past the Christmas Tree. We blew the tires off the thing trying to push it too hard. We were trying to make a run in the heat, which is where we have really been struggling. That is the most important thing going into Sunday, so it was frustrating to lose that run. Then on the last run we had an oil leak on the starting line and they are all still in meetings trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. They had to shut the car off and you don’t want to end qualifying on that. It’s tough, especially losing that Q4 run because it’s not night out, it’s still warm and it will be comparable to tomorrow. We really needed that. The way I look at it is that you just have to throw the runs away, throw them behind you, you can’t do anything about it and you have to keep moving forward. We have an awesome Monster Energy team and we are just going to throw down tomorrow. We will figure it out because I have Alan Johnson and Brian Husen and we will come together as a team.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 Qualifier):
WITH THE WIN LAST WEEK AND THE RECORDS YOU SET HERE TODAY YOU HAVE TO BE FEELING PRETTY GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF
“Yeah, things are definitely going the right direction for us. It’s a big deal because everybody always talks about sweeping the Swing. We got one leg down and to come in here and get low E.T. and to set the quickest run in history. That is pretty awesome. What makes it even more special though, and I didn’t mention it last night, is that this really is my home track. I grew up about six hours north of here in northern California and the first national event I ever attended was right here. So I have been to every single national event here either as a fan, a crew member and now as a driver. I have only won it once as a driver and I want to do it again. But I also won it with Jimmy Prock and we are back together. That last run you could see that John Force was the class of the field with that impressive run that he put down. But I am just glad our Auto Club Chevy made it down the track this last run because you don’t want to go into Sunday, no matter what position you are in, making only one great run like that moonshot that we took last night. So it was a good baseline run for us tomorrow and we are going to take them one at a time and see how it goes.
I hope there are plenty more of these green hats because I want to give them to the great California Highway Patrol guys that have been hanging around with us all weekend. I want to hopefully give each one of them a green hat and with a little luck, give them a yellow one at the end of the day tomorrow.”
LAST WEEK YOU WERE A MILE HIGH AND NOW YOU ARE AT SEA LEVEL. IS THAT A HUGE ADJUSTMENT FOR YOUR CREW AND YOU AS A DRIVER?
“Yeah, that is what makes this western swing so grueling. We race four in a row from time-to-time during the season but I honestly think it’s more work and more preparation to go to these three races in a row, the western swing. In Denver you have to change everything. Everything. Your spare engines have to be changed and when you get back from there you have to put everything back to a sea-level tune-up. I think it’s almost 2,000 miles after you drive to California and then we go on up to Seattle which is another great race track where you have great air, lot of trees, lot of oxygen. And then, we are based in Indianapolis; so they have a big, long hike back to Brownsburg, Indiana – to get ready for the next race. These guys earn their money. And what is cool is to start out that western swing with a win and get some momentum, get everyone’s attitude up, and on a high note. Our guys couldn’t wait to roll in to Sonoma, get set up, and get out here on this race track.”
HOW IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL? YOU SOUND LIKE YOU ARE READY TO ROLL?
“This is the third No. 1 I have had this year, and in both previous No. 1s we have dropped a cylinder in the first round and lost. So we are going to turn that around tomorrow.”
PRO STOCK:
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 Qualifier):
YOU ARE KIND OF KEEPING THE MOMENTUM GOING, YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY WITH THAT
“Yeah, momentum is the word of the week for us. The team is really positive, momentum is really moving forward, and the engine is really strong. Everyone at Gray Motorsports is doing a great job with the engines and our Chevrolet Camaro is running really strong. Ray Skillman Motorsports is killing it and we are just really happy right now.”