PEAK driver John Force seeks 12th NHRA
victory at Brainerd from No. 3 qualifying spot
BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 19) – John Force delivered the strongest pass in 31 career race weekends at Brainerd International Raceway on Friday and earned the No. 3 qualifying position for Sunday’s NHRA Nationals.
Force took the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car down the drag strip at 3.852 seconds at 334.15 mph in Friday’s second session. That pass resulted in the fifth quickest elapsed time and third fastest speed of the 16-time Funny Car champion’s career. Overall, Force was the only driver of the 17 Funny Car drivers entered whom qualified under four seconds every run.
Force will face No. 14 Jim Campbell in Sunday’s first elimination round. Campbell turned in a pass of 4.079 seconds at 306.88 mph.
“We’ve got to try to win this race,” said Force, who has 11 victories at Brainerd, two of which have come from the No. 3 qualifying position. “My car is flying; it just keeps hurting itself at half-track. But it ran .85 Friday night. We’ll fix it. We’re following what (Auto Club of Southern California crew chief) Jimmy Prock is doing, and it just takes some more work. We’ll get there.”
Additionally, Force’s final qualifying run Saturday clinched a spot for him in the Countdown to the Championship, the final six races that make up NHRA’s version of the playoffs.
“We said we’d be ready for the Countdown, and here we are,” Force said. “The Monster car of Brittany Force is, Robert Hight in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet is, and so is Courtney. We told them we’d be ready by Indy.
“Getting into the Countdown, that’s what they pay me for. We’ll go in and try to win this race. I’ve got some good race cars, but so does the competition. But we’ve definitely rounded that corner we promised to Chevrolet.”
Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Central on Sunday. Television coverage begins at 1 p.m. Central on Fox Sports 1.
4-Second Reads:
Qualifying Round 1 (Right Lane): 3.963 seconds/296.11 mph; straight down the track for a solid pass (No. 7 of session and No. 7 overall; no bonus points in session)
Qualifying Round 2 (Left Lane): 3.852 seconds/334.15 mph; track career-bests on elapsed time and speed on great run; fifth quickest ET of career and third fastest speed of career (No. 3 of session and No. 3 overall; one bonus point in session and one bonus point overall)
Qualifying Round 3 (Left Lane): 3.950 seconds/316.75 mph; strong run down the middle (No. 6 of session and No. 3 overall; no bonus points in session and one bonus point overall)
Qualifying Round 4 (Right Lane): 3.996 seconds/270.97 mph; off the throttle early but good run nonetheless, and clinches a spot in the Countdown to the Championship in the process (No. 10 of session and No. 3 overall; no bonus points in session and one bonus point overall)
This is the fourth time this season and 84th time in his career Force has qualified No. 3. He is looking for his 25th victory from the No. 3 position.
Force’s last victory from the No. 3 position came last October at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is 181-59 in 240 elimination rounds from the No. 3 position.
This is the seventh time Force has qualified No. 3 at Brainerd International Raceway. He has won twice from the No. 3 position at Brainerd – in 1997 and 2000.
Force’s first-round matchup against Jim Campbell marks the first time the two will compete against each other. Campbell is Force’s 144th different opponent in his 40-year history in NHRA competition.