63rd Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals notebook
Hight a favorite to win Funny Car; Anderson moves to provisional No. 1 in Pro Stock
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 2, 2017) – Robert Hight’s Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS is quick and consistent, with the latter potentially being the determinant in Funny Car eliminations at the 63rd Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.
Hight set National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car national elapsed time and speed records in two of the previous three events on the NHRA Mello Yello Series calendar. He’s also made sub-4-second passes in nine of his past 10 runs and 14 of 16, including all three rounds of qualifications this weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. On Saturday night, Hight remained the provisional No. 2 qualifier following his fourth-round pass of 3.807 seconds, which was four-hundredths of a second better than the first round on Friday, at 333.91 mph.
“That’s what we came here to do. The only thing we’ve missed out on so far is one bonus point,” said Hight, who claimed the last of his three Funny Car wins in the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in 2013. “We ran in the .80s in the cool and in the heat. Good job to the team.”
Courtney Force also improved her elapsed time to 3.837 seconds in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS to retain third. John Force remained fourth in the order with a best pass of 3.849 seconds Friday in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS.
John Force Racing teammate Brittany Force improved from 12th after the first round to sixth among provisional Top Fuel qualifiers with a pass of 3.734 seconds in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster.
Six-time Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals Pro Stock winner Greg Anderson supplanted 18-year-old Pro Stock rookie Tanner Gray (Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS) as the provisional No. 1 qualifier with a third-round pass of 6.561 seconds at 210.11 mph in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“I thought the weather was bad enough compared to yesterday that nobody was going to surpass what happened yesterday, and we made just that much better of a quality run than we did last night,” Anderson said. “I’m pleasantly surprised, and tomorrow is supposed to get warmer so it definitely could hold up.”
Gray, winner of two of the past three races and the No. 1 qualifier the past two events, had posted a 6.566-second run in the first session Friday night. The rest of the top half of the 16-car field – all Chevrolet Camaros — was not altered. Drew Skillman, who has won three of the past five races in the Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS, is third, while class points leader Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) is fourth.
Drivers in all three classes will have two additional qualifying sessions Sunday afternoon to set the ladders for Monday’s eliminations.
John Force Racing turns to Funny Car competition in Traxxas Nitro Shootout
Brittany Force fell in the first round of the Traxxas Nitro Top Fuel Shootout – a special one-day event that paid $100,000 to the winner — on a holeshot to Tony Schumacher.
Both drivers recorded 3.747-second passes, but Schumacher’s .013-of-a-second reaction time advantage was the difference. Schumacher, the 2016 event winner, finished runner-up to Steve Torrence.
Courtney Force, Hight and John Force qualified for the Traxxas Funny Car Nitro Shootout that will be contested Sunday. Courtney Force defeated Hight to win the $100,00 top prize in 2016.
“I’ve been in the Traxxas Shootout final the last three years; it’s time to win this thing,” Hight said.
Chevrolet Performance from 1967 to 2017
Ben Wenzel won the Stock class at the 1967 NHRA Nationals at Indianapolis with his brand-new Chevrolet Z-28 Camaro, and is competing this weekend at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in the same car.
“I still love this car and I’m glad it’s been with me the whole time,” said Wenzel, who participated Saturday in an exhibition race against two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders driving a 2017 Chevrolet COPO Camaro.
The match race recognized Wenzel’s 50 years of racing and the golden anniversary of the Camaro. The COPO (Central Office Production Order) Camaro is a special-order, factory-built race car that is a descendant of the ZL-1 COPO Camaros introduced in 1969.
“These COPOs are just amazing cars that you can buy through the dealership,” said Enders, who qualified for the 16-entry SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown in the super car in addition to competing in Pro Stock in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS. “To run a ’67 Camaro against a ’17 is cool to see come full circle.”
Added Wenzel: “I tried to sell the car in ’68. I thought I would get a ’68 and just keep on going. It didn’t work out that way and I still have it.”
The Camaro has been the most successful car in NHRA drag racing history over the past half-century with more than 1,000 victories and numerous championships. Most recently, Jeff Strickland won the 2016 Stock national championship with a COPO Camaro.