FUNNY CAR POINTS LEADER COURTNEY FORCE READY TO TAKE ON
PRESTIGIOUS U.S. NATIONALS
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (August 29, 2018) — NHRA Funny Car points leader Courtney Force has the confidence to back up her 195-point lead going into the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the sport’s most prestigious race of the season. The youngest of 16-time champion John Force’s daughters has done nothing but dominate the class and has put herself in great position to win her first world championship.
In 17 races Courtney Force and her Advance Auto Parts team have earned 10 No. 1 qualifiers including two streaks of earning the top spot at three consecutive races, have been to six final rounds with four wins and led the points standings for 11 straight races.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back to the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. This is the ‘Big Go,’ it’s the biggest race of the entire NHRA season. It feels good knowing that we’re going into the U.S. Nationals from the No. 1 spot with my Advance Auto Parts team,” Force said. “This is a track that we would absolutely love to get a win at. We haven’t made it to a final round at this track in the past but we’re feeling pretty confident about the race car that we have right now and hoping that this is our year that we can win it.”
Force has qualified well at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. She earned a No. 1 qualifier in 2012, her rookie season, and qualified third in both 2014 and in 2017. Her qualifying success has yet to transfer over to race day with a semifinal finish in 2014 when she picked up wins against Bob Tasca III and Tommy Johnson Jr. before exiting against eventual winner and since retired, Alexis DeJoria. In 2015 and 2016 she had back to back second round finishes.
Something to make the weekend even more special for Force and her Advance Auto Parts team, they’ll be racing with the Florida Georgia Line Fest logo on the side of their Camaro SS. The event, taking place this year on Sept. 8th, is sponsored by Advance Auto Parts. Partnered with Big Machine Records, Advance is giving fans an opportunity to win tickets to next year’s FGL Fest by visiting any of the 5,000 Advance Auto Parts stores between now and Sept. 15th.
“I’m so thrilled to be carrying the FGL Fest logo on the side of my Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car this weekend for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. This was a perfect opportunity to tie together Advance Auto Parts, Big Machine Records and Florida Georgia Line Fest, as Advance Auto Parts is a sponsor of the event,” Force said. “I love having an opportunity like this to tie in racing, music and giving the fans a chance to win, while going for a win of my own at one the biggest races on our circuit, this weekend!”
Force will take on the sport’s biggest race of the season after spending two days at the famed track testing for the prestigious event. Through both days of testing, Force maintained her dominance over the class consistently running some of the quickest times, including an impressive 3.88 pass in the heat of day two.
“We were really excited to be out there for two days of testing with this Advance Auto Parts Camaro to get us ready for the U.S. Nationals,” Force said. “It was huge to help us get this car running more consistently and being able to make the changes we need before getting into race weekend.”
Qualifying at the 64th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals will take place over three days beginning with one session on Friday at 8 p.m. and continue with two sessions Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m. and Sunday at 12:45 and 4:30 p.m. Eliminations are slated for Monday at 11 a.m. FOX Sports 2 (FS2) will air Saturday Nitro Live at 4:30 p.m. ET and FS1 will host live coverage Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. Catch all of Monday’s eliminations action on FS1 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET and FOX Broadcasting Network from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. ET.