CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
AAA INSURANCE NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MADISON, ILLINOIS
SUNDAY, SEPT. 23, 2018
Chevrolet Grabs Two Countdown Victories at Gateway
• Robert Hight earns 44th Funny Car career win, takes points lead
• Tanner Gray extends Pro Stock points lead with sixth win of season
• Stephen Bell is Factory Stock Showdown runner-up in COPO Camaro
MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 23, 2018) – Robert Hight moved into third place on the career National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car list and moved into first place in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship with the victory in the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.
The John Force Racing celebration at Gateway Motorsports Park was tempered, though, after Hight’s Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS exploded in a fireball as it crossed the finish line and made hard contact with the left-side retaining wall. Hight, earning his 44th career victory in his 70th final, climbed from his race car without assistance. He was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Tanner Gray extended his Pro Stock points lead by claiming his sixth victory of the season in the Gray Motorsports/Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS. Gray’s .0004-of-a-second reaction time and 6.567-second run at 211.06 mph was too much for Drew Skillman’s Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“We have to stay consistent, going rounds,” said Gray, who picked up his 11th Wally in his 44th Pro Stock race. “I have all the confidence in the world in the guys at Gray Motorsports. They make it a lot easier for me when they give me a great race car. I’m focused on winning the championship. I feel like this is our best year yet and I’m looking forward to it.”
Hight recorded the third No. 1 qualifier honor of the season and 60th of his career with a stout 3.844-second pass, which was the quickest since NHRA implemented new track preparation procedures after the NHRA SpringNationals in April.
He broke a tie with Tony Pedregon for third on the all-time win list, trailing John Force (149) and Ron Capps (59). Competing in his 324th Funny Car race, the reigning Funny Car champion also surpassed 450 career elimination round wins.
Hight defeated Force, the No. 8 qualifier in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS in the second round. Courtney Force, who entered race day as the No. 3 qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, won her first-round match but fell in the next round when her Funny Car dropped a cylinder early in the run.
“We gave a really great effort in the second round,” she said. “If we wouldn’t have dropped a cylinder I think we would have been right there with (Tim Wilkerson). We are just going to focus on the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis. We should get this problem fixed by that race and be ready to go some rounds.”
Reigning Top Fuel champion Brittany Force was the No. 8 qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. She lost in the first round of eliminations.
Gray takes a 52-point lead over Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS) into the third round of the Countdown to the Championship. Gray ended Nobile’s elimination round winning streak at six in the semifinals. Skillman, who fell to Nobile in the final round a week earlier in Pennsylvania, eliminated Jeg Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS). The five-time Pro Stock champion earned the 26th No. 1 qualifier honor of his career in his 425th Pro Stock race.
Four-time Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson, the No. 8 qualifier in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS, registered the 797th round victory of his 448-race career in the first round. Anderson, the 2017 Pro Stock winner Gateway Motorsports Park, will seek to join John Force (1,307), Warren Johnson (874), and Tony Schumacher (832) as drivers in all pro categories with 800 round wins.
No. 2 qualifier Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS), Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS), and reigning Pro Stock champion Bo Butner (Jim Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS) also won first-round matchups.
The race weekend also featured the sixth round of the School of Automotive Machinists and Technicians (SAM Tech) Factory Stock Showdown. Stephen Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, advanced to the final round in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro. He won the initial race of the seven-event series at Gainesville, Florida. Aaron Stanfield of Bossier City, Louisiana, the No. 3 qualifier in the 16-car elimination round field, and Arthur Kohn of Richmond, Texas, also driving COPO Camaros, reached the semifinals.
Jeff Strickland of Red Bay, Alabama, the 2016 Stock Eliminator champion in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro, and James Carter of Forney, Texas, reached the third round of Stock Eliminator competition in their COPO Camaros.
The NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship continues Oct. 5-7 with the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis. Chevrolet drivers swept in 2017, with Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Jason Line (Pro Stock) grabbing the Wallys.
An interview with Pro Stock winner TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, GRAY MOTORSPORTS VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; sixth win of season and 11th of career in 44 races; competing in second season; extended points lead to 52 over second place with four races left):
WHAT STANDS BETWEEN YOU AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY?
“Basically, just eliminating any kind of mistakes we could make from here on out. We have to stay consistent, going rounds. I have all the confidence in the world in the guys at Gray Motorsports. They gave us, me and Drew (Skillman; runner-up), awesome cars. He has a chance to get back into this (championship hunt). I can’t be more thankful and pleased with everything that is going on. If you would have told me that in my second year I would be running for a championship, as close to winning one, I would have told you that you were crazy. I have to thank Valvoline, Chevy, my grandma and grandpa, my mom and dad.”
THOUGH YOU QUALIFIED SEVENTH, YOU MUST HAVE HAD CONFIDENCE IT WOULD COME AROUND ON RACE DAY?
“I think we seem to run a little bit better when the track is a little hotter and the track is a little greasier. We made nice runs all through qualifying; it was not just aggressive enough, I guess. I’m happy with the race car we had today. The guys did an awesome job putting it together and giving me a consistent car all day.”
WERE YOU WORRIED GOING INTO THE FINAL ROUND AGAINST A GUY (DREW SKILLMAN) WHO HAS THE SAME HORSEPOWER ARE YOU?
“I knew Drew was going to be tough and he has been hitting the Tree better than he has lately. I’m not sure what they did in the final; obviously they shook. It worked out for me.”
YOU HAD ANOTHER GOOD DAY ON THE TREE
“I definitely had a good day. I feel like I hit the Tree really well through qualifying. They make it a lot easier for me when they give me a great race car. I’m focused on winning the championship. I feel like this is our best year yet and I’m looking forward to it.”
YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE FOCUS EVERY ROUND, WHICH IS NECESSARY TO WIN
“It’s pretty cool to see everybody keep their head on straight and know that the only thing that matters is Sunday. That (semifinal) round against Vincent (Nobile) was huge and I felt like all of us did a really good job of just taking it round by round, not really looking big picture and focusing on what we had to do. It’s pretty tough to do. I figured that out last year. Even going into the first race last week, I went to the shop and was sitting with our manager saying ‘I’m stressed out, man. I can’t sleep at night.’ It’s really gratifying to see these guys have the work that they have put in pay off.”
DID YOU WANT TO COME IN HERE WANTING TO EXORCISE SOME DEMONS?
“Coming into today, I really had the same mind-set that I had last year. Last year at Charlotte, even though I won, I was racing scared. I felt I was racing scared at Reading, too, and I didn’t want to do that. You just have to lay it on the line when it comes time for the Countdown. If it works out in your favor, fine. If not, you have to know you gave it your best and it wasn’t meant to be. That’s kind of how I came into this weekend, and I think it showed in my reaction times. I was consistent. I’m super happy to be here and excited to see what the rest of the year holds. If we win the championship or not, I’m still going to go home really proud of what we’ve accomplished. I wouldn’t want to work with any other group of guys.”
WHAT CHANGED TO SNAP YOU OUT OF THE RACING SCARED MENTALITY?
“Our general manager said, ‘What is wrong with you?’ We went back in the office and talked and he just kind of put everything in perspective for me. Obviously, we want to win the championship out here. That’s the main goal. At the end of the day, there’s more things to life than racing. I feel that talk helped me coming in here. Whatever happens, happens. God has a plan and roll with it and see where it takes you.”
WHAT ABOUT YOUR SEASON SO FAR?
“Six wins, especially in this class, is big. It’s pretty cool to have that, especially with people I’ve grown up watching like Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) and Greg (Anderson). To be out here and have six wins with this tough of a field is really cool to me. It will be nice to have time to reflect on that, but if it was up to me I’d go back to back to back.”
YOU’RE KNOWN AS A BRASH YOUNG KID. HAS THAT CHANGED?
“I don’t think so. Last year, I guess I didn’t really think about my actions and what I was doing at the time. I’m very emotional and passionate about winning. Coming from circle track racing, I guess you win more so I had to get used to losing. That’s been something that’s been really tough to do. It’s not that I’m OK with losing, I feel like I’ve been able to accept it a little better than what I did back then. I have the same personality, the same mentality. I feel like I’ve maybe matured a bit. Winning is all that I come here to do.”