CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
TOYOTA NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA RACEWAY IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018
Chevrolet picks up Funny Car, Pro Stock wins at Sonoma
• Robert Hight wins 43rd career Funny Car race, ties for third all-time
• John Force advances to semifinals in 750th Funny Car race
• Jeg Coughlin Jr. prevails for 61st career Pro Stock victory
• No. 1 qualifier Courtney Force retains Funny Car points lead
SONOMA, Calif. (July 29, 2018) – For the first time in a decade, Robert Hight participated in a Sonoma Raceway winner’s circle tradition that quenched his competitive thirst and satisfied his spirit.
The reigning Funny Car champion, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, recorded a pass of 3.984 seconds at 319.75 mph to win the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at sold out Sonoma Raceway on the second leg of the annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Western Swing.
Jeg Coughlin Jr., who produced the 15th Chevrolet victory this season in Pro Stock competition, joined Hight in the winner’s circle to enjoy hearty sips of wine.
Hight’s victory, coupled with the win by John Force a week earlier at Bandimere Speedway, gave John Force Racing momentum to capture the three-race trek to Denver, Northern California and Seattle for the second time. In 2014, the team shared a sweep with Hight winning in Denver and Courtney Force winning in Sonoma, both with final-round victories over John Force, who went on to win in Seattle.
John Force is the only Funny Car driver to accomplish the sweep (1994).
Last year, Hight won at Denver and Seattle and looked strong entering eliminations at Sonoma Raceway as the No. 1 qualifier who set the NHRA Funny Car speed record with a blazing 339.87 mph run. On race day, he fell in the second round.
This year, as the No. 11 qualifier, he made a statement heard ‘round the paddock.
“We came up against tough competitors all day long and got the win light. This is the second race on the Swing and the Chevys are sweeping it right now,” said Hight, who tied Cruz Pedregon for third all-time in Funny Car wins with 43. “It’s pretty amazing, but we’re all chasing someone who we’ll never catch and that’s my boss John Force. He had a great day of racing and it was great to see him get a win in Denver. This is a big win for us.”
John Force, who marked his 750th career NHRA Funny Car race, advanced to the semifinals in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS. In a rematch of the final round at Bandimere Speedway, in which Force earned his NHRA record-extending 149th victory, the 16-time Funny Car champion lost to Ron Capps. It was the 96th time the racers had faced off.
Courtney Force, the Funny Car points leader who recorded her 10th low qualifier honor of the season and 27th of her career with a pass of 3.910 seconds, fell in the first round of eliminations. She tied for the fourth-most low qualifiers in a season in Funny Car history. The record is 13, set by John Force in 1996.
Reigning Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, the No. 5 qualifier in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, registered her quickest run of the weekend (3.759 seconds/329.91 mph) in a first-round victory. She fell in the second round.
Coughlin, driving the JEGS.com/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, earned his third victory of the season, the 61st in Pro Stock and 80th overall in seven classes by defeating Deric Kramer (American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro SS).
“We’ve been thrashing for a couple years. We had a little spell (teammate) Erica (Enders) and I. She was coming off two Pro Stock championships and we felt a little sting,” said Coughlin, the No. 5 qualifier who posted a final-round pass of 6.532 seconds at 212.16 mph. “Now we have a great group of people, have great chemistry and enjoy racing together. We got a breakthrough win at Chicago and have been rolling since.”
Coughlin’s previous event wins this season came against Greg Anderson at Chicago and Bristol. In the semifinals at Sonoma Raceway, Coughlin defeated No. 1 qualifier Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) in their 95th career matchup. Last week at Denver, Anderson won the matchup and went on to earn his first victory of the season and 91st of his Pro Stock career.
Kramer eliminated No. 2 qualifier Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS), the runner-up at Denver. Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS), Tanner Gray (Valvoline/Gray Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS), Alex Laughlin (Havoline Chevrolet Camaro SS), and Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS) were first-round winners.
The Western Swing concludes Aug. 3-5 with the CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. FS1 will telecast qualifications live at 7 p.m. ET Aug. 3. FOX will telecast eliminations and finals live at 4 p.m. ET Aug. 5.
An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; second victory of season and second at Sonoma Raceway; reigning Funny Car champion):
THIS IS PROBABLY A SPECIAL WIN FOR YOU – SECOND AT SONOMA AND FIRST IN 10 YEARS?
“It is. I grew up north of here and I’ve been to every single one of the national events at Sonoma Raceway either as a fan, a crew member and now as a driver. It’s hard to believe that a guy from a small town in Northern California can win here.”
IT WAS A VERY INCONSISTENT WEEKEND AS FAR AS THE TRACK CONDITIONS, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE CREW CHIEFS IN HAVING A HANDLE ON THINGS
“Oh definitely. This place is unbelievable. The weather we had this weekend, as you know, can be real hot here, but we had three great days of racing. Then when you put a night session here where it cools down, well, you saw what we did last year. We ran 339.87 mph on Friday night last year. So, you know when that marine layer comes in and it cools down, the conditions are crazy, it cools down and this is a fast race track where anything can happen. But, we missed it on that run. We blew it up at about 200 feet. When you do that, it puts you behind the rest of the weekend. Then we go out there and we test a little bit on Saturday because Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham have not been happy with our set up. So, they tried some things yesterday…and they will both tell you, what they tried, didn’t work. Okay. So they go into race day with more testing, and more things. But they have a good feel for what these cars need and they gave me a lot of confidence going into first round. Normally as the 11th qualifier, you aren’t real confident. But they told me this thing was going to be just fine, it will run good, and it did. We ran in the threes all day and I think we had low E.T. in the semis with a 3.95. Matt Hagan ran a 3.95 first round. In the semis we ran a quicker 3.95 in tougher conditions. That to me was the run of the day in Funny Car and that was kind of what set us up to win this thing.”
IT REALLY SEEMS LIKE THE FUNNY CAR SIDE OF THINGS FOR JFR IS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
“Yeah, we are. This is the time of the year that you have to get it together. If you want to win a championship, now you are looking forward to the Countdown, because its only three races away. We go to Seattle next weekend, then Brainerd, then Indy and then the Countdown starts. So, you better have your act together and we are starting to gel, starting to click. There has only been one guy to ever sweep the Western Swing, and that is my boss John Force. Back when he just dominated the sport. But right now, as a team, Chevrolet is dominating the Swing with two wins. We have one more in Seattle and hopefully one of these Chevrolets can pull it off and we can say we swept the Swing.”
WALK US THROUGH THE FINAL RUN
“As the day goes on, my confidence gets better and better – especially the way our car was running. But, I will be honest, I had my worst light of the day in the final against (Ron) Capps. If he would have just made a good run, he probably would have got us because I didn’t have a great light. That bothers me because you have to have good lights all day and you have to step it up in the finals. You have to dig deep, and have your A game, and I didn’t. Luckily we got the win, but next final, I am not going to let that happen. I am going to step it up, and I am going to be on my game.”
CAPPS WAS FRUSTRATED BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE HAD YOU, SAID YOU CUT A BETTER LIGHT
“Yeah, but he also rolled her in there pretty good. He wasn’t as good as what the time slip showed and I don’t think he was ever ahead in the run because of his light. I was ahead of him the whole way, and my car ran better. So, if he had just run right with me, he would have beat me because of his reaction time. I am sure he is a little dejected from losing last week. He lost in the final last week to the boss.”
YOU ARE TIED FOR THIRD ON THE ALL-TIME FUNNY CAR WIN LIST. HOW ABOUT THAT?
“It’s pretty amazing, but we’re all chasing someone who we’ll never catch and that’s my boss John Force. He had a great day of racing and it was great to see him get a win in Denver. This is a big win for us.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; third victory of the season and 61st in Pro Stock; has 80 career wins in seven classes):
THIS LOOKS TO BE AN IMPORTANT WIN FOR YOU. IS IT?
“Definitely. We’ve been thrashing for a couple years. We had a little spell (teammate) Erica (Enders) and I. She was coming off two Pro Stock championships and we felt a little sting. Now we have a great group of people, have great chemistry and enjoy racing together. We got a breakthrough win at Chicago and have been rolling since.”
YOU HAD THREE KB RACING CARS IN THE SEMIFINALS. DID YOU THINK THEY HAD YOU SURROUNDED?
“They’ve been doing a great job. We stuck to our game and had a little help from our competitors. I was driving OK and wound up here in the winner’s circle. It feels great to win here at Sonoma. It’s been a couple of years. We’re proud to win this race today for the whole Elite team.”
IT LOOKS TO BE A GOOD TIME TO BE JEG
“It’s certainly not a bad time. We’ve weathered a pretty good storm the last couple of years. This Elite team has been a lot of fun the last couple of years and we keep saying things are going to turn for us. We showed a little bit of brilliance throughout the year last year, but nothing stuck the way we really wanted it to. We made some transitions under the awning this year and I’ve been a threat the rest of the year. It’s a testament to Richard Freeman our team owner, our crew chiefs and the crews on the five cars. I was just cracking the whip on the yellow and black JEGS.com car and fortunately we were able to cross the finish line first.”
YOU’VE RACED GREAG ANDERSON 95 TIMES NOW, AND ON MORE EVEN-FOOTING THE LAST CUPLE OF YEARS. WHAT’S THAT LIKE?
“It’s nicer with even-footing. Today in Pro Stock you have to be on your best behavior. I kind of kidded around post-race that my reaction time today wasn’t the best but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. I was trying to saw the tree down each and every round and was off from where I wanted to be after first round. First round it was great. That Greg and Jeg rivalry – we’ve run each other for 15, 16 years – and it feels good to see the win light turn on. We have a lot of racing to do on this 2018 season, just a couple of races left before we head into the Countdown, and this win certainly helps our case to further seeding ourselves into the Countdown. On the Swing so far, we’ve had a win today and the semifinals last week, so we hope to see this momentum continue into Washington.”