CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
FITZGERALD USA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS
BRISTOL DRAGWAY IN BRISTOL, TENNESSEE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2018
An interview with Pro Stock winner JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; 60th Pro Stock win and 79th national event win in seven classes; also beat Greg Anderson at Chicago two weeks earlier; cut an .023 light and ran 6.709 seconds at 205.10):
YOU’RE ON A ROLL
“It feels great and it’s a testament to our team. We showed our way right to the checkers in Chicago and then came back here in Bristol with another win. It felt fantastic from behind the wheel.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE INSIDE THAT CAR SITTING IN THE SUN. IT’S NOT THE MOST COMFORTABLE CAMARO YOU’VE BEEN IN
“It’s my home away from home being behind the wheel of the Chevy Camaro SS. Rick and Rickie Jones and the entire Elite team today figured out the track extremely well. Our car was fast three of the four rounds and had lane choice against Greg (Anderson) in the final round. It felt fantastic. I let the clutch out, I hit the tree pretty well and I thought, ‘C’mon, baby, hit the finish line first.’ Thanks to everybody on the Elite crew.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 5 qualifier; fell in first round): “I always try to stay positive and upbeat about everything. What I’ve learned especially from last year, is to take this run and learn from it. It’ll make me a better driver. My team brought a car that could win on race day and I didn’t give them a driver. So we’ll go on to the next one and hopefully improve from there.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Going from qualifying and not being able to get this Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro down (the track under power) in the heat to coming into race day and taking it all the way to the semifinals. It’s just a huge testament to what my team can achieve, especially under pressure. It was just a great job. My guys just did awesome working on this car in the heat. I know it was brutal out here for them, but they got their job done. Brian Corradi and Dan Hood tuned this car and got us some rounds and helped us stay in that points lead. It was still a good day for us, leaving with the points lead from Bristol. We’ve learned a lot this weekend and we’re going to be ready for Norwalk, Ohio, and another hot track.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in second round): “We were debating on that run. First they told me we were going to line the car out to the outside of the groove where the rubber was but then, when I backed up, they realized the rubber was kind of gone from the pair ahead of us so they switched it. My radio wasn’t working but I finally figured out what they were trying to tell me and they got on the inside of the groove where I was the last round. We changed some stuff and sent the car down there. I kept it straight in the groove until it dropped a cylinder and then I had my hands full. I was just holding. I wasn’t going to give up. I kept my foot in the throttle down there even though it was dancing and still managed to get it down there and give him a close race.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in first round): “We’ve still got a lot to learn. She got loose out there. Couldn’t get through the clutch. Guys said what worked last week didn’t work this week. We’re just going to go on and run in Norwalk and then test of Monday. Still trying to learn. We stayed in the top 10 (in points).”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in final): “We had a good run going, and we’re definitely getting better. We’re still not able to make four perfectly clean rounds on Sunday, and that’s what it takes to win, but we’re a lot closer than we’ve been. We think we learned some things today that will help us next weekend, and it should be warm again, so we go to Summit Motorsports Park knowing what worked and what didn’t. It’s just a matter of putting the round pegs in the round holes and the square pegs in the square holes on Sunday. Today we made major strides towards making that happen, we just fell one step short.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals – red light): “We finally made some decent runs. This car has been better than what it’s shown. We had some engine trouble in Richmond, but I probably should have been in the final round. We have the car and we have the power to get it done.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We had a good car all weekend, but it was tough to get a handle on this track. I was a little late on the tree (.030) against Greg (Anderson, .007) in that round and you can’t do that and expect to win. We’ve had two good weekends (win at Richmond), which gives us confidence heading to Norwalk.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, GAS MONKEY ENERGY, FITZGERALD USA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in first round): “It takes you just the tiniest amount to get you out of the groove here. The car left and moved to the right a little bit. I tried to bring it back in and was fighting it all the way. We’ve lost first round five times in a row and I’m kind of beat down. It’s harder to go up there for first round every single time. It would have been cool to win (the race) two years in a row. When it’s not your day, it’s not your day.”
DERIC KRAMER, KRAMER RACING, AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in first round): “I’m really happy with where the car is performance-wise. We definitely want to be a little more consistent than where we are. We joked the last time out that we either qualify No. 1 or we qualify No. 8. We don’t really have a lot of experience in between those two and we’d like to try to work on that a little bit and consistently be a top four car.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; fell in second round): “We just goofed up in qualifying. Had we figured out what we needed to do earlier on we would have qualified better. Typically, if you don’t have lane choice here it’s really tough to win unless you get lucky. That wasn’t the case for us today. We just have to focus on qualifying better so you have lane choice in the first round.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier; fell in first round): “It’s a tricky track but tricky for everybody. This (losing early) is getting old. Last year, everywhere I went I was in at least the semifinals. I don;’t know what our struggle is. I hope we figure it out soon. Chevrolet has been great to me. Chevrolet, along with and Summit (Racing Equipment), is one of the main reasons why I come out here. I want to do the best I can do for them.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in second round): “The track has been the tricky deal this weekend. I even said before the second round that this was going to be about survival. We won the first round, which is something.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in second round): “I feel like we’re performing a lot better. Where we’re struggling is we’re missing the best qualifying session. We’re screwing up when it’s the best session and getting behind the eight ball, qualifying on the bottom half of the ladder. If we can get that going better, we’ll be better set for Sunday. Having said that, there are 12 cars out here that can win the race. So it doesn’t really matter where you qualify, you’re going to have a tough first round. Our Elite Chevy Camaro team will keep swinging at it.”
JOHN GAYDOSH JR., GAYDOSH RACING, PYPES PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round – red light): “We made five good passes this weekend and I’m happy with that. Our Pypes Performance Camaro is running good. We’re working on the suspension, trying to get the chassis better. Trying to make it so it travels a little easier. We found a couple of things this weekend that seemed to help. We’ll keep on plugging away.”