CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
63rd CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE U.S. NATIONALS
LUCAS OIL RACEWAY AT INDIANAPOLIS IN BROWNSBURG, INDIANA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
MONDAY, SEPT. 4, 2017
An interview with Pro Stock winner DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fourth victory of the season and fourth in the past six races; had been 0-2 versus Greg Anderson in prior finals; had lost on holeshot in 2015 Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals to Erica Enders; Indianapolis native and resident):
Q: DREW SKILLMAN, INDY WINNER. HOW DOES THAT SOUND?
DREW SKILLMAN: That’s a great achievement right there, winning the Chevy U.S. Nationals and my hometown race. Thanks to everyone who has supported us. This is unbelievable.
Q: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
DREW SKILLMAN: This is redemption for 2015. This has been a long time coming. I finally got a win at home. I was nervous this morning. It was just like being in the final round when you get Jeg Coughlin in the first round. I’m still shook.
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “We haven’t dropped a cylinder in 25, 30 runs and were feeling pretty good about that, and then second round it does. We have to work on that and may test now tomorrow and see if we can work on different things. That was our demise with the four in a row earlier this year. We have to get to the bottom of it because you’re not going to win the championship dropping cylinders. We have a great car, performance is there. We just have to keep it on eight cylinders and the driver do his job and we’ll win this thing.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in first round): “Indy wasn’t good to us and it’s our fault. We have no one to blame. We did the testing and it didn’t go our way. We will turn this thing around. The Countdown begins in Charlotte and we’ll be testing all day here tomorrow.”
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in first round): “It wasn’t the run we wanted. I was really feeling good and we had a consistent car through qualifying. Unfortunately, we had a hole out on the head, broke a crankshaft; we kind of had a mess of problems on that run. It was really unfortunate. I think we had a car to go rounds at this race, so disappointed that we didn’t have a longer day. But I’m really proud of my team. We’re locked into the Countdown to the Championship, where we need to turn our focus and stay positive and really get things together and get ready for Charlotte. We’ll have to focus on making the start to the Countdown to the Championship count and do well at Charlotte. Going after the championship is the most important thing at this point.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in final): “We were too conservative, but there is no excuse for me to have a .050 light. I have no earthly idea where it came from. That was my toughest loss ever right there. I just knew I was going to win this race today. It meant so much to me. I had all the confidence in the world and the best racecar out here. Everything all weekend was perfect, but I lost the race. I go into the Countdown with a lot of confidence in my Summit Racing Chevy Camaro, but this was a chink in my armor that bugs me to no end. You can’t have any hiccups in this class. One hiccup and you’re done.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Had a great weekend racing. My Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevy Camaro guys did an awesome job. Four days of racing is tough and to make it to the semifinal here at Indy really shows how hard they are working. I missed the tree today, thought I got it better than I did, but that’s racing. I am the hardest on myself. Both my dad and grandpa gave me words of encouragement when I came back to the trailer after the run. I am very competitive and come to the racetrack to win.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “We just want to be competitive, and I’ve made a few mistakes the last couple of races and I have to get that figured out. Of course, I wanted to win the Chevy U.S. Nationals. We have to get out act together and I have to get my act together and see what’s really going on in the car and get ready. We definitely have the car to win.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, GAS MONKEY RACING, GAS MONKEY ENERGY CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “The car is running good and it’s awesome to show up, roll it out the trailer and lay down some good passes. We ran with pretty much everybody out here but Greg (Anderson). I grew up idolizing this class and Greg Anderson was one of the biggest and best people in the business, and still is, and I lost to him at the Chevy U.S. Nationals in the semifinals. That’s cool. We’ll be back out at Charlotte with a little less pressure than the U.S. Nationals.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “I think we made some strides with my Summit Racing Chevrolet for sure. I’m disappointed I lost a spot in the Countdown, but we’ll just have to see what happens from here. We have a great team, and that’s one of the most important things to have when you’re fighting for a championship.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell quarterfinals): “The weekend overall wasn’t bad. I think we got a little conservative in the second round and I didn’t run the number. You have to go race the racetrack sometimes, and that’s what we did. (No. 10 in Countdown; keep going?) I’m going to keep going, and that was my plan. I skipped races, took care of business, be with the family. I said if I got in the top 10 I would go to Charlotte and see how it went and I would keep going. I’ll probably go through the finish.”
JOHNNY GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in first round): “We had a great time this weekend. I hadn’t been in a car in a long time and qualified seventh. I made a couple of decent runs, but I never did make a good run. We just totally missed it that run. I’m not upset. (Will this be an annual race for the three generations?) You never know. We’ll see.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 12 qualifier; fell in first round): “We had a good time racing with my dad and my son. The main thing is Tanner’s car is running pretty good and going rounds. My car and my dad’s car just didn’t run very well this weekend, but we sort of expected that when they are not the primary cars. The goal is to win the championship with (Tanner). (Will you compete in more races this season?) No, it’s Countdown time and we’ll focus on Tanner’s car.”
MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL/NITRO FISH CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; fell in first round): “It’s two years in a row that we’ve qualified here No. 8 and two years in a row we’ve lost first round, so it’s very discouraging. We’ll regroup and try to figure out a game plan to move forward. I won’t be going to Charlotte, and potentially the next race we’ll be going to is Reading.”
ERICA ENDERS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in first round): “We still have some issues but we are chipping away at them. We feel like together we can accomplish anything. This is the good stuff about this team that keeps us always going in the right direction. I say it every time but my money’s always on my guys because they’re the best in the business and we’ve proven that time after time. When they give me a car that goes A-to-B, nine times out of 10 we’ll turn the win light on.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round): “We made some headway our last run, but were just a little lazy. We made a lot of adjustments and the car seemed to really like it. It looks like we can get after it more and be aggressive. We’ll see what happens.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 14 qualifier; fell in first round): “It’s not been a big secret that we’ve struggled with just hit or miss success the last dozen races. We’re going to hit reset after this event and see if we can put the cars back in championship contention as we were in the first half of the season. Our Chevy Camaro is a beautiful car and we’re fast when we’re efficient with it. We have great horsepower and it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together, and I know this group is capable of it.”
SAM TECH FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN:
DAVID BARTON, WINNER, 2017 CHEVROLET COPO CAMARO: “It’s the greatest place on the earth for me right now. I’m the luckiest guy,” Barton said. “What’s really cool about these cars is you can buy them from a Chevrolet dealer. Any one of us can go to a dealership and buy one and race a car like this.”