CHEVROLET AT SEATTLE
What: 31st CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals
When: Friday, Aug. 3-Sunday, Aug. 5
Where: Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington
TV: FS1 live qualifications, 7 p.m. ET Aug. 3
FOX live eliminations and finals, 4 p.m. ET Aug. 5
Chevrolet Seeks Funny Car, Pro Stock Sweeps of Western Swing
Team Chevy drivers aim for wins as three-race set concludes in Washington State
DETROIT (Aug. 1, 2018) – Winning two of the three races on the annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Western Swing in 2017 jump-started Robert Hight’s drive to the Funny Car championship.
Hight, winner of the most recent NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series race at Sonoma Raceway in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, seeks to gather additional momentum this weekend in the CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.
Three events remain in the 18-race regular season, with 10 drivers in each of the four professional classes qualifying for the Countdown to the Championship. Hight is locked into the six-race playoff as he seeks a third Funny Car title but maintaining consistency and momentum the next three races in addition to completing a John Force Racing sweep of the Western Swing are objectives.
Hight’s win July 29 in Northern California was preceded in Denver with John Force securing his 149th career Funny Car victory.
“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,” said Hight, who was the No. 1 qualifier and recorded the victory in ’17 at Pacific Raceways.
In 2014, John Force Racing shared a Western Swing 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.
“We’ve had a lot of success racing at Pacific Raceways, been going there for a long time and it’s been good to us,” said John Force, an eight-time winner at the track. “If one our teams can’t sweep the Swing by themselves, well then the next best thing is to sweep it as a team.”
Courtney Force, who holds the top spot in the Funny Car standings, has four wins and 10 No. 1 qualifier honors – three off the class record set by her father in 1996. She’ll attempt to rebound from a first-round upset at Sonoma.
“We are just going to turn our focus to the final race in the Swing at Seattle,” she said. “It’s a track we’ve won on in the past. It’s where I got my first win in Funny Car (2013). So, coming from a decent weekend having the No.1 spot for the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS team, we’re really hoping to be able to go some rounds to finish off the Swing.”
Chevrolet will also seek to complete the sweep in Pro Stock. Greg Anderson, driving the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS, won at Denver and Jeg Coughlin Jr. won at Sonoma for his third triumph of the season in the JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“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,” Coughlin said. “On the Swing so far, we’ve had a win and the semifinals (at Denver), so we hope to see this momentum continue into Washington.”
Chevrolet teams/drivers have posted 23 victories combined in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock through the 15 events. Additionally, drivers of the Chevrolet COPO Camaro have recorded four Stock Eliminator wins and two victories in the SAM Tech NHRA Factory Stock Showdown.
Justin Lamb, the reigning NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Stock Eliminator champion, will drive his 2018 Chevrolet COPO Camaro in the competition this weekend. The Henderson, Nevada, resident will be joined by fellow COPO Camaro driver Tommy Gaynor of Vancouver, 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.
CHEVY RACING ENGINEERING OUTLOOK
ROGER ALLEN, CHEVY RACING NHRA PROGRAM MANAGER: “Chevrolet teams and drivers have had considerable success on the first two legs of the Western Swing with two wins each in Funny Car and Pro Stock. The three-race set is a grind physically and mentally as teams and drivers feel the pressure of locking in to the Countdown to the Championship. We’re looking for continued success this weekend at Pacific Raceways.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (reigning class champion; No. 2 qualifier and winner at Houston; No. 1 qualifier at Charlotte; No. 2 qualifier at Denver): “We’ve got three races left and we still have a lot to figure out on this car, but I know this PEAK team will be ready for it. I’m ready to move on to Seattle to complete this three in a row. Nothing better than back-to-back races because it keeps us all in our routine and moving forward, not just me as a driver but every single crew member on this team. We’re just pushing to go rounds on race day and bring home a win.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (10-time No. 1 qualifier and winner at Phoenix, Atlanta, Topeka and Richmond; class points leader): “I’m hoping it’s even now with that love-hate thing at Seattle. I had a high in Top Alcohol Dragster with the win (in 2009) and a low when I had really bad tire vibration and my tire exploded (the following year). Going out there and getting my first win in Funny Car (2013) was the high and then crashing there in Funny Car (in 2016) was another low. So we’re due for another high, which I hope is our team ending up in the winner’s circle again. Excited to be back to that track, to those fans and looking for a good weekend to protect our point lead.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning class champion; two-time winner and three-time runner-up; 2017 winner at track; third in points): “I’m a West Coast guy and I like all the tracks. They’re all different. 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 it’s only three races away. So you better have your act together and we are starting to gel, starting to click.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (has 1,305 round wins and 149 class victories; eight-time winner at track): “Right now, my goal is to keep my team together and just keep getting better. These crew chiefs, Jon Schaffer, Ronnie Thompson, Joe Veyette, these guys are really teaching these kids how not to make mistakes with the cars. I just gotta get a little bit better myself. I’m still learning about this PEAK Coolant & Motor Coil Chevy Camaro and what it does, because it reacts crazy when it gets fast. But I’m excited about it. I told these guys, ‘Give me a car that’ll go down the racetrack and I’ll give you some wins,’ so we’ll just show up at Seattle and see what we can do.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier nine times this season and 102 in career, tying Bob Glidden for third all time; won at Denver; his 152 final rounds is most in Pro Stock history; class points leader): “We still feel good about the performance of our cars even though we didn’t go as far as we wanted to on Sunday in Sonoma. We feel like it’s there, we just have to turn the right screws. We’ll have the opportunity to do that in Seattle, and we’re getting awful close to the Countdown. I think we’re going to be a serious, serious threat for the championship again, and thank the Lord we get to go to Seattle this weekend and keep working towards getting everything perfect. We’re absolutely, positively happy that this is the third race weekend in a row, because that’s the best way to figure anything out – you just keep practicing until you get it right.”
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE GRAY MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time winner this season and runner-up at Atlanta; second in points): “As disappointed as I am over losing in the second round (Sonoma), I’m excited to see what we can do in Seattle. I think we had a car that could have won there last year but I messed up. We’ll try to get another win and keep our spot in the points.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITLE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner at Charlotte; five-time runner-up; third in points): “We’ve had some success at Seattle in the past and I look forward to repeating. As as driver, I like the consistency of three races in a row. I’d like to be in the car every day if I could. It keeps us sharp in the cockpit, it keeps the crew chiefs on their toes as far as tuning. I’m looking forward to getting back to Pacific Raceways.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time winner; 2002 winner and three-time runner-up at track; fifth in points): “What’s exciting about this updated motor is that, even though we figured it out pretty quickly in Sonoma and got the win there, it’s showing us there is plenty of room to get even more efficient and quicker so we’ll continue to work on this tune-up. Typically, we get the same sort of air conditions only with a different track surface in Seattle. Obviously, the engine was happy in Sonoma so we’ll dig through the data we’ve gathered since Pacific Raceways was resurfaced and come up with a game plan that will give us an advantage again this weekend.”
BO BUTNER, KB RACING, JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning class champion; winner at season opener; runner-up at Gainesville): “I’m happy with the car. It’s a big improvement from where we’ve been lately. Now all four KB cars are extremely good. It kind of shows what we’re going to do in the Countdown. I’m going to be running in Super Stock in Seattle, too, and I’m very excited to get back into Sportsman racing. That’s something that will help me in Pro Stock, too. It’s about having fun for me, and just my mind-set. I drove two cars everywhere forever, and yeah we want to win in every category you’re racing, but at least if you’re out in one, you still have a chance in the other one. I’m not a big fan of downtime, so this should be fun.”
VINCENT NOBILE, MOUNTAIN VIEW RACING, MOUNTAIN VIEW TIRE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time winner and runner-up at Charlotte four-wide; fourth in points): “I always like going to Seattle. Everybody says it always rains in Seattle but we’ve always had sunshine. We’ve had success there and hopefully we can finish off the West Coast swing strong and gain momentum going to Indy and the Countdown.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier at Charlotte four-wide; earned 100th round win at Richmond; 2017 winner at track and two of three on the Western Swing; seventh in points): “Seattle is a beautiful place; it’s like no other we race in the country. I like the racetrack a lot, but we’ll have to work hard. Our race car is a little behind everyone’s right now. We keep chipping away at it and just keep pushing. Hopefully we’ll get it figured out by the time the Countdown comes.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time runner-up; seeking 50th national event win – 47 in Pro Stock, two in Stock Eliminator; has 100 final-round appearances in Pro Stock and Sportsman classes): “Seattle has always been one of the coolest places to race for me, and even though it took me a while to get my first win there, I still like going and always want to win that one. We’ve had some really happy cars in qualifying lately, and we’ve had some great days and some good days so far on this Western Swing. Hopefully we’ll make all the right decisions and finish this three in a row on a high note.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (two-time winner; holds track Pro Stock elapsed time and speed records, set in 2015; sixth in points): “It’s not going well. We haven’t been able to pinpoint a problem and we’re running out of options. Right now, we’re looking for something to fall off so we could say, ‘Hey, that’s broke’ and then we would know what to do. We’ve gone to all the obvious things that slowed us down before and it isn’t that. It must be something new.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, GAS MONKEY RACING, HAVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (semifinalist at Phoenix): “I had a lot of confidence coming out of Denver because the car was running good. I got the round win (Sonoma) and the car ran pretty well in the second round. I’m excited that we’re on this roll and going to Seattle with momentum. It will help when you’re not running as well as your potential. I don’t like off weekends when you have to sit on that, so going to Seattle I feel good about it. It’s going on the right direction.”
MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (won at Houston): “(Three consecutive weekends of racing) helps us mentally more than anything because when you come off a bad weekend you’re right back at it. That’s good because I think it keeps you in a mind-set that you’re focused. When you have two or three weeks off, it’s hard to come back. It’s not the same as getting right back in it.”