CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN NORWALK, OHIO
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2018
Chevrolet Picks Up Pro Stock Victory to Close First Half of Season
• Tanner Gray earns Pro Stock-leading third win, takes over points lead
• No. 1 qualifier Courtney Force is Funny Car runner-up, retains points lead
• John Force closing in on 1,300 round victories with semifinal appearance
• Two drivers of Chevy COPO Camaro reach SAM Tech Showdown semifinals
NORWALK, Ohio (June 24, 2018) – Eighth in points after six races, Tanner Gray didn’t envision sitting atop the Pro Stock standings at the halfway mark of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
“Definitely not the way it started out,” said the sophomore racer, who won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals for his class-leading third victory of the season and eighth in 36 career events.
Gray, the No. 6 qualifier, defeated two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS) on a holeshot in their second final-round matchup in the past three weeks. Gray, who cut a .008 light, was clocked in 6.615 seconds at 209.62 mph in the Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS. Enders, making her fifth final-round appearance of the season, had a pass of 6.608 seconds.
“All the guys who work on this car dug down deep and have pulled out a very good race car for me,” said Gray, who won two races and was a semifinalist in the others during the four consecutive weekends of racing that concluded with the event at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. “It’s cool knowing you’re leading the points, but at the same time you know it’s early. We just have to keep the momentum rolling, and my goal is to be top three going into the Countdown (for the Championship).”
Through 12 of the 24 events, Chevrolet has racked up 18 victories in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock. Drivers of the Chevrolet COPO Camaro have also accumulated four wins in the Sportsman ranks.
Courtney Force, who owns four Funny Car wins, reached the final round again but fell to Matt Hagan. Force, driver of the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, expanded her Funny Car points lead.
“We were actually out ahead of Hagan on a good run in the final when it lost traction and he drove around me to get the win,” she said. “It was still a great race for the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro and my team did another phenomenal job.”
Force, the winningest female in NHRA Funny Car history, set the record for women racers with her eighth No. 1 qualifying effort of the season to break the tie with three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Angelle Sampey. It was the 25th low qualifier honor of Force’s career and first in Norwalk.
Force has reached at least the semifinals each time she has qualified No. 1 this season.
She advanced to the finals by defeating her father, No. 4 qualifier John Force, in a semifinal. She is 4-0 in head-to-head matchups versus the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion this season, including the final at Richmond (Va.) two weeks earlier. With two round victories, John Force has 1,298 in his career.
He defeated teammate and reigning Funny Car champion Robert Hight (Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS), the No. 5 qualifier, in the second round.
Reigning Top Fuel champion Brittany Force was the No. 2 qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. She fell in the first round of eliminations to finalist Terry McMillan. Last week, Force was nominated for the ESPY Award as Best Driver. The hardware will be distributed July 17.
At Norwalk, Pro Stock competitors had only one run in qualifications because of inclement weather. Gray ousted Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Enders knocked out reigning Pro Stock champion Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the semifinals.
No. 1 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com/Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS), a two-time winner this season, was a first-round winner. Other winners included Matt Hartford (Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro SS), Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS), and Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS).
Aaron Stanfield of Bossier City, Louisiana, and Stephen Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, advanced to the semifinals of the School of Automotive Machinists and Technology (SAM Tech) NHRA Factory Stock Showdown in their Chevrolet COPO Camaros.
Jeff Taylor of Sellersburg, Indiana, advanced to the quarterfinals in Stock Eliminator in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro. Taylor was the No. 10 qualifier of 64 entries. Reigning Stock Eliminator champion Jeff Lamb of Henderson, Nevada, lost in the fourth round.
Jeffery Myers of Decatur, Indiana, driving a Chevrolet COPO Camaro, was the No. 3 qualifier of 59 Super Stock entries. He lost in the first round.
The NHRA Mello Yello season continues July 6-8 with the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. FS1 will telecast qualifications live at 1:30 p.m. ET July 7 and eliminations and finals at 1 p.m. ET July 8. Team Chevy drivers Britany Force (Top Fuel) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) were winners at the track in 2017.
An interview with Pro Stock winner TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; earned class-high third victory of season and eighth in 36 starts; takes over points lead):
DID YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF AS THE POINTS LEADER AT THE HALFWAY POINT OF SEASON?
“Definitely not the way it started out. All the guys who work on this car dug down deep and have pulled out a very good race car for me. I couldn’t be more proud of them. This is all them. We’ve tested and they’ve worked their butts off to get us where we’re at. I can’t be more thankful for the opportunity to race. My grandma and grandpa, Valvoline and Chevy, it’s a dream come true. It’s cool knowing you’re leading the points but at the same time you know it’s early. We just have to keep the momentum rolling, and my goal is to be top three going into the Countdown.”
THAT WAS A GREAT FINAL ROUND
“We (Erica Enders and I) bring the best out of each other. My guys have given me a really good race car. It’s a testament to them to have only one (qualifying) run and dominate out here like this.”
YOU’RE THE FIRST TO GET THREE WINS IN SUCH A COMPETITIVE CLASS. TALK ABOUT THAT ACCOMPLISHMENT
“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment, but we struggled a lot at the beginning of the season. We did a lot of testing and I think we couldn’t see where that hard work was. The results weren’t showing. It feels good to finally turn the corner and be able to see how all the hard work has paid off. It’s finally making good, consistent runs and it’s showing us the same things every run, so it definitely feels good.”
ERICA IS KNOWN FOR WHAT SHE CAN DO AT THE STARTIG LINE AND YOU HOLESHOTTED HER
“She obviously just missed it right there. I felt like I had not struggled but I was missing it for what I should have been the first three rounds. I was .026, .022 and .022 and I felt like there was more there. I think right there I finally stepped up because I think she and I step up against each other when we race. It’s definitely cool to beat somebody on a holeshot who is known for leaving the starting line, but at the end of the day I know in the back of my mind that she just missed it. The thing I’m most proud of is the race car we have right now.”
TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGE YOU GUYS FACED OF HAVING ONLY ONE HIT DOING INTO TODAY
“That speaks volumes for what our guys do. Having one hit on a track that just got resurfaced and not really knowing what it’s going to throw at you is pretty big.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL ON THAT LAST RUN
“I felt pretty relaxed. Final rounds for me are very relaxing for whatever reason. The rounds that are tough are the first rounds and the semis for me. That’s where I seem to struggle a bit more. My confidence was pretty high going into that round. I knew we had a great race car. I went up there and hit the tree and felt like I killed it.”