CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS
VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK IN NORTH DINWIDDIE, VIRGINIA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 2018
An interview with Funny Car winner COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier for sixth time this season and 23rd of career; fourth win of season – all as low qualifier – and 12th of career in 153 races; class points leader):
FOUR TIMES YOU’VE WON THIS YEAR, ALL FROM THE NO. 1 SPOT
“I just have to say thank you to all the fans that are out here this weekend. To pull up and see just a packed house is incredible. Just the support that you guys gave our team. Every single crew guy on my Advance Auto Parts Chevy, Brian Corradi and Dan Hood who are turning this thing, they are the ones who gave me a fast hot rod all weekend long and I am just so proud to be in that driver’s seat. It was a lot of fun to be able to race my dad in the final round.”
HOW MUCH EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE SEMFINALS AND FINAL DID YOU HAVE AND DID HE TRY TO GET INTO YOUR HEAD?
“He tried to get in my head a little bit at the top end. He’s telling old stories and the last time I was here in Virginia I was in the winner’s circle with my dad celebrating his win and I was wearing a (Virginia is for Lovers) T-shirt. My goal was to be wearing it today. I’m so excited I was able to and take him out in the final round. I love my dad and the PEAK team but it was so awesome to get that win and celebrate here in Virginia in the winner’s circle. That team has done a phenomenal job. I’m proud of all those guys. They’ve made some moves in points and our team definitely stayed up there in points.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; second win of season and seventh in 34 career races):
YOU HAD A HECK OF A DAY AT THE OFFICE
“I did. (Crew chief) Dave (Connelly) and the guys saved me in two rounds today. I only did my job twice — in the first round and final. They gave me a fast race car and I think that made the difference on the day.”
IS THE MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN YOU AND ERICA (ENDERS) BEHIND YOU GUYS?
“She is obviously a great racer and has done more than me and you have to respect what she’s done so far in the class. I’m looking forward to the next time we race against each other.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier; fell in first round): “The first round we were back and forth on which lane to run. We were looking to try and get the best opportunity to give us lane choice for the next run. I think we just pushed it too hard and blew the tires off it. We lost traction about 80 feet out just past the Christmas Tree. I pedaled it but (Bill) Litton was on a decent run and got the win light. Pedaling these race cars is all about letting them settle down and being patient enough to wait before getting back on the throttle. I was able to get it under control again and get it going again but we just ran out of racetrack.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in first round): “We haven’t dropped any cylinders all weekend. There was really pretty bad air today. You were seeing a lot of dropped cylinders out there. We are going to test tomorrow and then head to Bristol. We didn’t get hurt to badly in the points. We were trying to make a good run like we did in Q1. We were looking to run 4.07 and we could win all day long with that kind of ET.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in final): “Any time you can win that is a good day. My team is coming around. I am really proud of this PEAK team led by Jon Schaffer and Ronnie Thompson. We moved up to eighth in the points. I have been spending time with my team all day and they give me energy. We are battling and I am still in the fight. The fans have been great here and I have to thank the Franklins for giving us a great race.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “We had a great weekend, we just didn’t get the job done on Sunday again. We’re not making the right calls on raceday, but we seem to manage the assessment of the racetrack well in qualifying. Somehow, we aren’t doing the right thing on raceday. It’s been a pattern, but we’re going to clean it up. Unfortunately, this was another tough one. It was ugly. But we’ll keep digging. The power is there, the performance is there, we just have to figure out how to manage the racetrack on Sunday. It was a tough day today, but the good news is that we get to try again in four days.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “It was just instant tire shake again. Every team struggled; it wasn’t just us. There is a learning curve with the way the track is being prepped, and it isn’t a bad thing, it’s just going to take a little while for everyone to get it figured out. You have to have patience. I’m very happy with our car in qualifying this week, and now we have something we can win with. That’s a great feeling.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “It feels great to get a huge win last week in Pro Stock and come back this weekend and win Super Comp. It feels equally as good, without question. The Sportsman racers are a tough as any racers in the country and I take great, great pride in being able to race alongside them.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “I’ve got a fast race car, it’s really consistent, and keeping up there in the points. Now we just gotta stay focused. A lot of fans have come up who remember my father and have thanked me for coming back out, which is really cool. The fans are great here, this is a place I call a home track because I grew up on the East Coast.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; fell in first round): “We just shook the tires. We tried a few things, and we made some progress this weekend, but today we certainly wanted to do better. We’ll be ready for Bristol, though. We have everything we need, we just need to do a better job.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We didn’t have a good qualifying weekend but made our way through to the semifinals, which is a big step in the right direction. I cut a good light (.015 of a second) in the semis against Tanner (Gray) but the car broke right off the line and I couldn’t get it in the groove. We’ll go on to Bristol with renewed optimism.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in final): “We’re excited to put this Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevy in the final round. The Grays are tough competitors.”