CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
DODGE MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY IN MORRISON, COLORADO
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2018

An interview with Funny Car winner JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; first win of season and 149th of Funny Car career; eighth win at Bandimere Speedway; surpassed 1,300 elimination round wins; competed in his 749th Funny Car race):
EVERY SEASON HAS UPS AND DOWNS, BUT I DON’T THINK THE DOWNS HAVE EVER BEEN AS FAR AS THEY WERE EARLIER THIS SEASON. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE HIGHEST OF THE UPS
“I found myself with all the crashes and everything that happened probably at the lowest – worse than ’07 when I crashed — fighting to get back. I never let on to anybody but it showed that I looked like a mess. Then, after my last crash – I had four of them – John Bandimere calls me and says ‘We’ve got to talk.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I know you love God and I know where you want to go. And I love Him, too, don’t get me wrong.’ He said, ‘You have to listen.’ He sent me stuff and I started reading. And he took me down this road and I said I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to get back ever and win a race. He said, ‘You can.’ He said, ‘When you get to Denver you’ll be fixed.’ He didn’t say I was going to win Denver. He said when you get there you’ll be fixed. ‘Now go out there and show me who John Force is.’ I found myself.”

YOU BEAT SOME GREAT RACERS
“All great racers. I love them all. The fire was in me. I’m fighting. I got tired of hearing me snivel to myself. My wife didn’t even want to talk to me. She said, ‘I know you more than that. I know what you’re going through. I don’t know why I won this race. Maybe God is just showing me.”

An interview with Pro Stock winner GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; first win of season and 91st of career; ninth different Chevrolet Pro Stock winner in 14 races; Pro Stock points leader):
IN THE 14TH RACE OF THE SEASON YOU GET THE WALLY. WHAT KEPT YOU PUSHING?
“This team never gives up. This KB Racing team is the greatest. Even in losing efforts you learn. You have to learn from your losses; you have to learn from your wins. Wonderful weekend. We had a great car here right from the start. Both of our Summit Racing Chevys were wonderful. Can’t thank the guys enough. They did it for me. Thank the Lord we’re back. Two Summit cars in the final. It doesn’t get any better than that. Love this place.”

YOU WANT TO WIN EVERYTHING YOU DO. HOW DOES THIS FEEL?
“I do want to win. This class is surrounded by people like that. That’s what makes Pro Stock so great. For those who have been watching this year, it’s been a knock-down-drag-out fight. Every Sunday we lock horns. Everybody can win; nobody’s a favorite. To win one feels so great; it’s just so tough.”

ALL-TIME WINNERS ON THE WESTERN SWING, YOU JUST TIED WARREN JOHNSON WITH 11
“That’s pretty cool. I spent a lot of years with Warren. I learned a ton from the man. I respect him, but this is a different life right here and we’re going to try to beat some of those fantastic records he set. He set the bar high and I’m still digging. Some day maybe and that will be a hell of an honor.”

AFTER WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH THE LAST THREE YEARS, IT MUST FEEL LIKE FOREVER THAT YOU STOOD IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
“I just knew when and if I got back up here I would definitely be the oldest man on the stage and I look next to me and there’s John Force. I’m not even close. It’s just an honor to be on the stage with him. What a great racer. NHRA Mello Yello drag racing is just the best it’s ever been right now. You saw it today. And it has a great future. I’m just happy to be a part of it”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, CARQUEST BRAKES MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier; fell in first round): “It’s definitely tough leaving Denver with a first-round loss. Our team has been struggling. We can’t seem to go rounds. One thing I’ve learned from Alan Johnson is right now we’re getting ready for the Countdown. As long as we stay in that top 10, that’s the most important thing. And then we have to be ready and bring it when the Countdown begins, and then we have six races in the Countdown to move up as high as we can. That’s what we did last year. When we do go rounds and bring home another win, it will make all these rough days worth it.”

FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in semifinals to John Force): “It was a good weekend for the Advance Auto Parts team, clinching a spot (in the Countdown to the Championship) knowing we don’t have to worry about trying to fight to get into that top 10 by Indy. We can just go out there and focus on doing the best job that we can to perform and to win races. I think we definitely had a pretty good comeback from a race where we struggled in qualifying and on race day. To come out here and to have three of the four runs of the (qualifying) sessions I think is incredible. It says a lot about my team and what we’ve got going on. For all of our Chevys, they’ve been strong all weekend here. We were obviously hoping for a longer day. (In the semifinals) The car got a little to the outside and dropped a cylinder. I tried to pedal it but he had already turned on that win light.”

ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We has a great race car today. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) got it figured out just in time and we won some rounds. I would have liked to have lined up against John (Force) in the final but we will get our stuff together and get ready for Sonoma. It was a lot of fun to have Autumn here today. I feel like we had the race car to win this race and it just didn’t work out. This is a tough sport and I am going to put this race behind me and focus on the next one.”

PRO STOCK:
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in final): “Today was a good day. I would have liked to have won, obviously, but it was a great day for our KB Racing team and the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros. It feels good to leave the track saying we finally did a good job. I hope it’s a good indication for the rest of the year. Bandimere Speedway is very unique, so it will be different going back down to sea level. It was pretty happy here, and it felt good to win a few rounds today, for sure.”

DERIC KRAMER, KRAMER RACING, AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “It is a great feeling coming at your home track (Sterling, Colorado, resident) and doing as good as we did. I have a ton of laps here so I feel that probably helped a little bit (in qualifying). Obviously, I’ve got the new Chevy Camaro from KB Racing supplying the horsepower, but it was a lot of fun and it’s something I’ll remember a long, long time. I said once before that this is where our season really began. We were originally supposed to start our season in Topeka and every race prior to that was kind of our pre-season testing. So, Topeka, the Western Swing and Indy was our real racing schedule. So, we’ve got a lot of experience now.”

TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in second round): “I think we’re still struggling to get a good handle on the car in qualifying and on race day. Obviously, I need to do a better job of stepping up when I need to.”

DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in first round on holeshot): “We didn’t get the job done in our Pro Stock car like we did last year, but we did get the national event win in Stock Eliminator. That was a big deal. In our Pro Stock first round, I just didn’t hit the Tree and we lost on a holeshot. It doesn’t take much to find yourself on the wrong end of the win light.”

JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “The Pro Stock car has been strong and really the entire Elite program has been extremely competitive. It’s been a thrill ride, for sure, with an Elite driver in the final of 10 races in a row. We’re definitely making a statement.”

MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round): “I love these three races (Western Swing). We’re really happy with the progress we’ve made this season and if we keep marching forward I really think we’ll get more wins this season. We’ve raced so much in Denver over the years, we like all the rest of the teams, feel we have a good baseline on our product.”