COURTNEY FORCE LOOKING TO TAKE BACK POINTS LEAD AT
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
ST. LOUIS (Sept. 19, 2018) — Funny Car championship frontrunner Courtney Force isn’t fazed by her early exit at last weekend’s opening NHRA Countdown to the Championship Race at Maple Grove Raceway. The Sunday story didn’t speak to the weekend as a whole for the Advance Auto Parts team who earned their 11th No. 1 qualifier of the season.
The 11 top spots for the red, black and yellow Chevy Camaro is the third most in the Funny Car category behind Cruz Pedregon’s 12 in 1998 and John Force’s 13 in 1996 and is the most No. 1s by anyone since Mike Edwards’ 16 in Pro Stock in 2009 and the most by a Funny Car driver since 2000 when John Force had 11.
“It’s exactly how we wanted to start things off. Coming into race one of the Countdown to the Championship, our goal was to try and get those bonus points and stay ahead. We were able to do that in qualifying,” Force explained.
While race day didn’t go as planned, Force is optimistic and confident in her Advance Auto parts team, and she has every reason to be. A first round loss for Force has been rare this season, with four wins, two runner-up finishes and five semi-final appearances, her Chevy Camaro has been the car to beat all season long. The minor set back at Maple Grove Raceway is just that, minor and something the Advance Auto Parts team is primed to overcome this weekend at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Force has yet to earn a No. 1 qualifier at Gateway however, she has qualified inside the top eight her entire career, including three consecutive No. 4 qualifiers from 2012-2014. Force won the race in 2014, defeating Bob Tasca before upending a slew of Funny Car champions including Del Worsham, her father John Force and Matt Hagan in the finals. Last year she qualified seventh and defeated current points leader J.R. Todd in the first round before her dad John Force took the win in the second round.
“I am looking forward to being back in St Louis for the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals this weekend. We have won at this track a few years ago. I feel pretty good about how our race car is performing,” said Force who is currently third in points behind teammate Robert Hight. “I know that we will still need to step it up when we get to Gateway Motorsports Park so we can get back into the points lead. We are looking for a fresh start in St. Louis. We lost some ground in the points but we are still right in the mix in the top three. We are going to go after those bonus points in qualifying and hopefully get the win on Sunday so we can get that No. 1 position back.”
Qualifying at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals begins Friday with two sessions at 4:30 and 7 p.m. and continues Saturday with sessions at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Eliminations at Gateway Motorsports Park begin Sunday at 11 a.m.