CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY IN EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2018
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. 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.”
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.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 4 qualifier; fell in second round): “Overall, we had a good day. We struggled a little bit in qualifying getting the car down there. Came out on race day first round and had to pedal it but got the win light. Second round, we had an awesome run. It’s just that Antron (Brown) had us beat, he had a little bit better car. But the Monster team we’re happy. We went rounds on race day, which is an improvement from the last two weekends where we’ve been struggling that first round. So we’ll pack up and head to Denver.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round): “Great to be back here at New England Dragway. We’ve won this race before and were in the final round last year here and were really hoping for a good weekend. Unfortunately, throughout qualifying our Advance Auto Parts team struggled to get the car down there. I feel like we lost out on a run in Q2 when I got out of the throttle early because I felt like the car was a little bit too far on the inside. But we were hoping for some good luck in Round 1 and I think we gave it all we got. I think we were on a solid pass until the tires came loose down track, and unfortunately we weren’t able to turn on the win light against Ron Capps. I feel like we did our best to give him a run for his money and I feel like we can learn something from that run and take it with us to the Western Swing. We’ll have a weekend off, fix our focus and get after it in the Western Swing to get back on track.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in second round): “We had a decent weekend. We qualified well and found a little consistency. We’re still trying to get the clutch right. We’ve gone from the clutch not wearing at all to it wearing completely out, which is what happened to us in Saturday qualifying. It’s frustrating, but Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham are smart guys and they’ll figure it out. They’ve got an extra week to get this Auto Club Camaro ready for Denver and we usually do pretty well on top of the mountain.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in second round): “We went a couple more rounds today and kept ourselves in the Top 10. We’ll be alright. (Crew chiefs) Jon Schaffer and Ronnie Thompson are getting a handle on things. We were solid in qualifying and we had top speed of the weekend so we know we’ve got a dog that’ll hunt. Looking forward to a week off and then hitting the Western Swing. These young guys are working hard; us old guys, too.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “It was certainly a disappointing end to the day, especially when our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro showed so much promise on the first day of qualifying and then made a really good run in the first round. Again, we had a good car in the second round, but we didn’t win this time, and it hurts. We want that win. It’s so tough out here, but today showed once again that you really have to have the whole package every time – there is no room for error. We’ll go on to Denver, and I can promise you that this team won’t rest. We’ll get back to the winner’s circle.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We had a fast hot rod all weekend and just came up short to Erica (Enders) in the semifinals. At least one Elite (Motorsports) car reached the final round for the 10th race in a row. I just wish it would have been me.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in first round): “Our car is better right now, but it’s far from perfect. We’re still trying to find the sweet spot. We’ve made some nice runs lately but not enough of them. Or at least not when they counted the most. We just need for things to fall into place. Maybe a little bit of luck wouldn’t hurt.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in first round): “I felt like we were a little bit off all weekend. I felt like we were never really aggressive enough. I think we just have to work on dialing this track in a little bit more for our set-up, figure out what we need here to be fast. You can’t afford to go out there and lose in the first round when you’re running for a championship.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, GAS MONKEY ENERGY, FITZGERALD USA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in first round): “I really think that I just need to get a break and get to the semifinals or a final round and we’ll snap out of this and have a good Western Swing. I’m not about to give up on this season. I know I’m the only Elite driver that hasn’t won a race this season and that hurts, but at the same time, I’d rather hit my stride at the last six races than the first six.”
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in first round): “It was a struggle this weekend, but on a positive note, it has to get better. My absolute positive from this weekend is that my fiancé, Randi Lyn, won the race in Stock Eliminator. It was great to see her get it done, and she’s part of the KB Racing team too, so that was great.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in second round): “Again, we’re moving in the right direction with my Summit Racing Chevy, but we’re looking forward to making greater gains and getting a win for this team soon. It’s been too long since we’ve been to the winner’s circle, and we want to get that done for Summit Racing and for all of our guys who work so hard. That didn’t happen this weekend, but it will happen.”