CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY IN EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE
SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2018
Chevrolet Opens Second Half of Season with Pro Stock Victory
• Chris McGaha claims second Pro Stock victory of the season
• Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders moves to top of standings
• John Force records Funny Car career elimination round win No. 1,299
• Thomas Fletcher reaches Stock Eliminator quarterfinals in COPO Camaro
EPPING, N.H. (July 8, 2018) – In an all-Chevrolet final round of Texans, Chris McGaha was the beneficiary of a red light by Erica Enders to win the Pro Stock division of the NHRA New England Nationals.
McGaha, driving the Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro SS, secured his second victory of the season and seventh of his Pro Stock career. His pass of 6.570 seconds at 211.10 mph at New England Dragway was moot after Enders tripped the red light by .015 of a second, but nonetheless impressive on a hot, slick racetrack.
“Friday, I was ready to take the awning down and go home. There looked like no hope at all (before an engine change). It was like no way it was going to happen and now here we are,” said McGaha, the No. 9 qualifier, who earlier in eliminations recorded his 100th career round win.
The day wasn’t totally disappointing for Enders, the No. 2 qualifier in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS. Enders rose to the top of the Pro Stock standings for the first time since winning the 2015 championship as her resurgence continues. She has advanced to the final round in four of the past six races, and an Elite Motorsports entry has reached the finals in each of the past 10 races.
Through 13 of the 24 events on the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar, Chevrolet has racked up 19 victories in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock. Drivers of the Chevrolet COPO Camaro have also accumulated four wins in the Sportsman ranks.
Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force picked up his 1,299th career round win before losing in the second round. Force, driving the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, was the No. 6 qualifier. Reigning Funny Car champion Robert Hight was the No. 5 qualifier in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS and collected his 436th career round win (20th all time) before falling in the second round.
Funny Car points leader Courtney Force, who won the inaugural event at New England Dragway in 2013 and was runner-up in ’17, fell in the first round of eliminations in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS. It was the first time in eight races that Force did not advance to the second round.
Reigning Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, the No. 4 qualifier in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, won her first-round matchup but lost in the second round. Force, the 2017 winner at the track, celebrated her 32nd birthday on race day.
McGaha, who turns 39 on July 16, defeated Enders for the first time in their three final-round matchups in posting his initial victory at New England Dragway. Enders dispatched Elite Motorsports teammate and No. 3 qualifier Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS) in one semifinal, while McGaha reached the finals when Kenny Delco (KD Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS), who earned his first round win of the season earlier in the day, red-lighted.
Greg Anderson, who notched his eighth No. 1 qualifier of the season in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell in the second round on a holeshot to McGaha. Anderson, who won at New England Dragway in 2015 and ’16, has 101 career low-qualifier honors at 31 different venues.
Drew Skillman, driving the Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS, had his streak of three semifinal appearances in a row ended with a second-round loss to Delco. Matt Hartford (Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) were also first-round winners.
Thomas Fletcher of Churchville, New York, driving a Chevrolet COPO Camaro, advanced to the quarterfinals of Stock Eliminator competition.
Bob Lettelier, who qualified 26th in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, advanced to the third round of Super Stock competition.
The NHRA Mello Yello season continues July 20-22 with the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado. FS1 will telecast qualifications live at 7:30 p.m. ET July 21 and FOX will telecast eliminations and finals live at 3 p.m. ET July 22. Team Chevy drivers Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) were winners at the track in 2017.
An interview with Pro Stock winner CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier; second win of season and seventh of career; recorded 100th career round win in semifinals; won semifinal and final via red light by opponent):
THIS WAS A CRAZY DAY
“Absolutely crazy. Who ever said Pro Stock wasn’t entertaining. The first two rounds were something and then I had to race Kenny Delco. I ain’t going to lie, I was more worried about that than anything that happened this weekend. I really didn’t want to go race this guy; it’s that bad. He’s beaten me on some of the stupidest things I’ve done. When I saw him red light, I felt like I was racing a Comp race because the tree was coming down and I saw a car go by the Christmas Tree and I thought ‘Is this Comp Eliminator again?’ Then it started shaking and everybody was worried I was going to pull a Sonoma and get back in it and hit the wall or take a cone out. I didn’t because I saw the light. So I just calmly went down to the end. Maybe the first two rounds helped the final because they probably knew we would come up there and try to swing, which we did, and more or less kind of hit a foul ball.”
YOU RAN 6.57 IN THE FINAL; WHAT WAS YOUR OPTIMAL RUN?
“That’s about what we thought we could run. After we shook, we went back and actually got more aggressive with it. I thought ‘What do we have to lose?’ It went and did .57, and (Erica Enders) did basically a .549. They definitely had us beat. They just didn’t get it done.”
YOUR WEEKEND DIDN’T START OUT GREAT
Friday, I was ready to take the awning down and go home. There looked like no hope at all (before an engine change). It was like no way it was going to happen and now here we are. (The car) came to life with the engine change. It still seems like it’s a little off. That one engine is a new development piece, so we’ll go back and work on it and see what happens. We have a lot of blown up stuff because our truck hasn’t been back home since Topeka. We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time for the Western Swing.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY INKLING THAT YOU WOULD BE SITTING HERE AT THE END OF THE DAY?
“No, I had no idea I would be sitting here. I probably need to go to Vegas and put some money down because it was pure luck.”
THIS RACETRACK SHOWED THAT YOU COULD RUN WELL ON IT, BUT IT WASN’T TOO TOUGH TO MAKE A MESS
“We definitely dodged a bullet in the semis (Kenny Delco red light). Kenny Delco is like my kryptonite. I’ve red-lighted against him before. For him to go red and for us to shake down the racetrack was definitely a freebie.”
IT’S BEEN A GREAT SEASON OF PRO STOCK RACING WITH EIGHT WINNERS IN 13 RACES. IS THIS WHAT THE CLASS IS SUPPOSED TO BE?
“Absolutely. You look at it and Greg (Anderson) and Jason (Line) haven’t won a race yet. That’s pretty serious after the dominant seasons they’ve had coming up to this point, so the fact they haven’t won says a lot. It says a guy like me even has a chance.”