CHEVROLET AT BRAINERD
What:
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
When:
Friday, Aug. 18-Sunday, Aug. 20
Where:
Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota
TV:
FS1: Eliminations and finals live – 2 p.m. ET Sunday
FS1: Qualifications (taped) –10 p.m. ET Friday and 10 p.m. ET Saturday
Chevrolet Aiming to Continue Strong Performances in Minnesota Race
Team Chevy drivers carry high expectations into penultimate event of NHRA regular season
DETROIT (Aug. 16, 2017) – Chevrolet drivers Robert Hight and Drew Skillman roll into the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals – the penultimate regular-season race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar – with high expectations derived from momentum.
Both drivers won two of the three legs of the recent “western swing” in their respective pro categories, claiming No. 1 qualifier honors along the way, and will seek to continue their stout performances through this weekend’s 36th annual event at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota and into the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Sept. 1-4 in Indianapolis.
Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS for John Force Racing, opened and closed the western swing with Funny Car victories. Last week, he also won the special Night Under Fire match race at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Hight has two consecutive No. 1 qualifiers and has corralled three of the past four. His speed of 339.87 mph at Sonoma Raceway on the middle leg of the western swing was a national record.
“When you’re on roll like we’ve been on and the car’s running so well, this is what you want,” said Hight, who is eight points out of second place in the Funny Car standings. “Even though last week was a match race, we still got the win, and we ran great. You don’t want this to ever end. It’s going to at some point, but we want to roll into Brainerd and get right back in there.”
This weekend, Hight could join five other Funny Car drivers with 400 career elimination-round victories. He has 399 entering the event, along with 39 career wins.
“That’s big,” he said. “You’ve got to get round wins before you get race wins, and that’s how you get race wins. (Teammate) John (Force) has 1,278 round wins, so 400 doesn’t seem like very much. I don’t know how 400 stacks up to other guys who have raced the similar amount of time, but I’m happy that the round wins are coming more frequently than there were for us. That’s encouraging, and that’s exciting.”
Skillman also won the first and third rounds of the western swing in Pro Stock, driving the Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS, and reached the semifinals in the middle leg. Skillman, who had a runner-up finish at Phoenix to highlight the first half of the season, has qualified no lower than third in the past five events.
“The race at Norwalk (June 25), we had a car to win. We just couldn’t get all the pieces put together. We finally got the car to where we knew it could be, and the program just came together,” said Skillman, who earned one of his two victories in 2016 at Brainerd International Raceway. “We’ve always had the power; we just had a hard time getting everything to work together. We’ve had a really fast hot rod the past couple weeks, and we’re looking forward to continuing this streak the next couple of weeks in the Chevrolet Camaro.”
Chevrolet has won all 16 Pro Stock events, featuring nine different drivers visiting the winner’s circle. Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) controls the points lead based on three victories and four runner-up finishes. Rookie Tanner Gray (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Skillman have matched Butner with three trips to the winner’s circle.
Brittany Force, driving the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, will be aiming to compete in the Top Fuel final round for the third consecutive year. She won in 2016 as the No. 3 qualifier. Force, locked into the Countdown to the Championship, is fifth in Top Fuel points.
Dustin Nelson of New London, Minnesota, leads the Chevrolet COPO Camaro brigade in Stock Eliminator. Al Corda of Elk Mound, Wisconsin, Richard Bierie of Acworth, Georgia, and Dan Fletcher of Churchville, New York, also are entered in the 74-car field.
FS1 will telecast taped qualifications at 10 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday. FS1 will telecast eliminations and finals live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PREVIEW
ROGER ALLEN, CHEVROLET RACING NHRA PROGRAM MANAGER: “After a productive and exciting ‘western swing’ for Chevrolet teams and drivers, Team Chevy is looking forward to the penultimate event of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series regular season at Brainerd International Raceway. Brittany Force won the Top Fuel competition last year in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, while Drew Skillman earned the Pro Stock victory in his Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS. He’s on a hot streak, with two wins in the past three races. We’ll see if other Chevrolet competitors, potentially the 10th different Chevrolet winner, can outrun his Camaro. The event leads into the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and then the Countdown to the Championship rounds, so teams and drivers will be looking for top performances.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER (winner at New Hampshire and runner-up at Phoenix; semifinalist in three of past five events; No. 1 or 2 qualifier in three of past five events; won at track in 2016 and runner-up in ‘15; fifth in points): “Brainerd’s definitely been good to the Monster team. We seem to like that track, we seem to have been able to figure it out and run pretty well there. We did it last year and got to the winner’s circle and our plan is to do it again. We’ll get a few things figured out, and once Indy comes around, it’s game on.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 or 2 qualifier in nine of the 16 races; two-time runner-up and four-time semifinalist, including past two events; closing in on 150 round wins; semifinalist at track in 2016; sixth in points): “The biggest thing that has come out of the western swing is having our Advance Auto Parts team clinch a spot in the Countdown. Now, we can go into Brainerd with our heads cleared and just focus on that win and not think about trying to clinch a spot. We’re definitely in a good position after our last elimination round win at Seattle. I’m proud of my guys; they’ve done an unbelievable job so far. We’ve yet to get that win, but I know it’s right around the corner. I’d love for it to be in Brainerd. I hope we can get some good runs at Brainerd so we can be set up for the U.S. Nationals and the Countdown.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Gainesville and two-time semifinalist; will be competing in 725th career event; among 148 career wins, 11 have come at the track; has reached final round 15 times at track; seventh in points): “We know the racetrack well; there could be killer conditions. National records could be run there. I’m struggling, but Robert (Hight), Courtney and Brittany (Force) are fast. We’re going to be running a whole new combination here that we’ve been working on for months. It’s going to come together, and when it does, John Force will be there. We’re hoping to start at Brainerd. That’s what we plan on doing, going for the win.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (has won two of past three races; two-time runner-up; set Funny Car national speed record at Sonoma; has 399 round wins; won at track in 2015; third in points): “If conditions are good, Brainerd can be a fast racetrack. I’m looking forward to going there, having a successful weekend. We have a good shot at getting up to second in points, and going into Indy No. 2 would be pretty cool. We’re looking for another win.”
PRO STOCK:
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time winner and four-time runner-up, including two of past three events; three-time No. 1 qualifier; has 38-13 round record; sits atop point standings): “Brainerd is a lot of fun. I’ve raced there many times as a Sportsman, and it’s just a very cool atmosphere. It’s unlike anything else in the world, between ‘The Zoo’ and the low-key race, itself. I won’t be racing any Sportsman cars there this time, but I do remember winning there in 2005 in Comp. It was my first time in a clutch race car, so that made it pretty special. I’m going to stick with Pro Stock this weekend and concentrate on that. We need to do better than we did at the last race, and I know we’re capable of it.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Englishtown for second victory of season and 88th of career; four-time runner-up; closing in on 750 round wins; Duluth, Minnesota, native has two wins at track; second in points): “It’s great coming in there running well and we’ve got confidence everywhere we go. (Brainerd) is such a great atmosphere to race in. You’ve got ‘The Zoo’ there to entertain you and I have a lot of great memories at that place. I’ll have a lot of friends I grew up with and family come down for the weekend. Back in 2002, I did the full tour for the first time as a driver. I think that had to be my first time racing at Brainerd. Before that, I’d always just been a crew guy and never had the opportunity to drive. It’s difficult to remember what that felt like, but it had to be surreal. I had never even planned on being able to drive at Brainerd, let alone run a Pro Stock car there. I’m sure I was scared to death of embarrassing myself in front of friends and family, but that place is very, very special to me for a lot of reasons. Being able to race there, to drive a Pro Stock car down Brainerd International Raceway, was beyond anything I had ever imagined.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Las Vegas to become youngest winner in NHRA history; also won at Topeka and Sonoma; runner-up at New Hampshire; third in points; leading candidate for rookie of year): “I always look forward to race weekend, especially at new tracks that I haven’t been to. This weekend I’ll be racing with my dad. I am looking forward to meeting him in the final. Our Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevy Camaro is running really good. Qualifying No. 1 and making it to the semis in Seattle proves that our team has what it takes to be a threat to every other team out there. Our guys at the engine shop are all doing a great job and producing awesome Gray Power. Drew (Skillman) winning the race in Seattle proves that.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning Pro Stock champion; won season opener at Pomona; five-time semifinalist; four-time No. 1 qualifier; native of Wright, Minnesota; fourth in points): “The first time I raced (a national event) was at Brainerd in probably 1989 in an R/SA ’66 Bel Air wagon. That’s the very first Stocker I ever raced, and I struggled hard with it – I was not good. But it was exciting to race a national event as a Sportsman racer. We weren’t traveling Sportsman racers – we went to one national event a year, and our whole year revolved around preparing for that one weekend. Heck, I’m not sure back in the day that any of us even expected to win. We wanted to, of course, and we always hoped we would do well enough to race on Sunday and have a chance to win, but we just wanted to be part of it. Brainerd was a huge event for our family and friends back then, and it still is. No matter what, it’s fun to go home and watch those folks I grew up with race.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time runner-up and four-time semifinalist; three-time No. 1 qualifier; competing in 398th career event; four-time Pro Stock winner at track): “My race car has undergone a 100 percent makeover since the last race in Seattle. It was absolutely dissected from front to back and top to bottom, with the guys literally checking every single inch of this car. They found some things that were wearing in a suspect way that they repaired, and some other components here and there that needed attention. They ended up feeling very confident this thing will be back to the way it was at the start of the year. We’ve had great success at Brainerd in the past and we’d love to find some more this weekend. We’re closing in on the Countdown to the Championship so it’ll be nice to have Brainerd and Indy to get completely up to speed for the playoffs.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up at Topeka; closing in on 200 round wins; competing in 162nd career event): “Coming into Brainerd, my team and I know we need to build the momentum now if we want a chance at the championship. We got locked in the Countdown. Now we have get the consistency, which we have struggled to find. I’m confident with all the brain trust Elite Motorsports has, our Chevrolet Camaro will turn the corner and we will have a good outing in Brainerd.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (competing in limited schedule – this is eighth race – this season and 171st of career; won at Gainesville): “I’ve chosen to run a limited schedule this season. My dad (Johnny), (son) Tanner and I are all going to run Indy together and what better time than Brainerd to get some seat time. I always look forward to racing at Brainerd. I haven’t won there so it would be nice to get a Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro in the winner’s circle this weekend. Our Gray power has been impressive that last several races. Between Tanner and Drew (Skillman), we’ve won the last three races. Racing this weekend will provide more data for all three cars in preparation for Indy.”
JOHN GAYDOSH JR., GAYDOSH PERFORMANCE, GAYDOSH PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (competing in limited schedule – this is seventh race of season and 79th of career; semifinalist in last race, at Norwalk; first time competing at Brainerd): “We’ve always wanted to compete at the races in Brainerd; it’s been on our bucket list. So, this year we decided we were finally going to make the trip. Thanks to the support of Gray Motorsports, Pypes, RJS Safety and Weldon High Performance, we are able to make this happen. We are coming off a strong performance in Norwalk and we want to keep the momentum going in Brainerd.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time winner this season, including two of past three races; No 1 qualifier in two of past three races; 2016 winner at track): “We’re very lucky to be with Gray Motorsports. Their personalities fit with ours perfectly. It’s hard to get that many people on the same page and going in the same direction. They are extremely competitive people and want to win. I race because I love to race and I want to win. That’s why I’m our here, first and foremost. We spend countless hours coming up with ideas to improve. We’re passionate about this job and it shows.”
ERICA ENDERS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time Pro Stock champion; won at New Hampshire; three-time runner-up, including last event; has 250 round wins; holds track Pro Stock elapsed time record): “It was cool to be in the closest race of the year (lost by .0006 of a second to Drew Skillman in Seattle final) and really cool to make a little personal history in the semifinals (her 250th round win). Saying 250 rounds wins is pretty crazy because it was so hard to get there. But it’s also been so rewarding. We still have plenty to do to these Elite cars, but we’re chipping away at it.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Charlotte and semifinalist at Gainesville; competing in 111th career event)