CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
AAA TEXAS NHRA FALLNATIONALS
TEXAS MOTORPLEX IN ENNIS, TEXAS
SUNDAY, OCT. 7, 2018
Chevrolet Drivers Claim Funny Car, Pro Stock Victories in Texas
• Robert Hight increases Funny Car points lead with second consecutive win
• Tanner Gray posts second Pro Stock victory in a row to up points advantage
• Stephen Bell, Arthur Kohn reach Showdown semifinals in COPO Camaros
ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 7, 2018) – Two weeks ago in suburban St. Louis, Robert Hight was late to the John Force Racing post-race victory party because of an appointment at a local hospital to check if he sustained injuries in a fiery crash as his race car crossed the finish line.
At Texas Motorplex, the reigning Funny Car champion was the prompt guest of honor following his second consecutive victory through three of six races in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.
Hight, driving a newly-constructed Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, claimed his fourth win of the season, 45th of his career, fourth overall and second in a row at the racetrack – in his 325th career Funny Car race – and pumped up his points advantage to 50 halfway through the playoffs.
Tanner Gray, who also won at Gateway Motorsports Park, increased his Pro Stock points lead with his second victory in the Countdown and seventh of the season in the Gray Motorsports/Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Hight sustained a fractured left clavicle and underwent surgery Sept. 26 in California following the incident at Gateway Motorsports Park. He manufactured a carbon fiber shield to keep pressure of the shoulder belts off the tender area.
Any pain associated with the injury melted when the Chevrolet Camaro bolted down the racetrack in 3.955 seconds at 325.69 mph in the final.
“We didn’t get to celebrate in St. Louis. I was in the hospital and these guys (crew) were already thinking about the next race and getting the car ready. Chevy, everybody, yes,” Hight exclaimed. “Every championship I’ve won I’ve won Dallas and I think we’re on our way again.”
His victory was the 133rd for Chevrolet in the Funny Car category since 1967, and Hight is the first to win back-to-back races at Texas Motorplex since John Force in 2001-02.
Force, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and No. 10 qualifier driving the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, raised his record to 26-6 in first-round eliminations at the track and improved to 59-39 in matchups with Ron Capps with the win. Force, a six-time winner and 12-time finalist at Texas Motorplex, lost in the second round on a holeshot.
Courtney Force, the No. 12 qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell in the first round off eliminations.
Reigning top Fuel champion Brittany Force, who and reset the track Top Fuel elapsed time record in the final round on the way to winning in 2017, was eliminated in the second round when the Advance Auto Parts Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster lost grip in the middle section of the racetrack. In her first-round win, Force ran the top speed of the event at 330.07 mph.
Gray earned his 12th victory in 45 career races with a run of 6.622 seconds to eliminate No. 1 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. (JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the final. Gray takes a 69-point advantage over Vincent Nobile to the next race.
“I’m so ecstatic. When you can go and beat Jeg, one of the best to come through the class, it means a lot to me to go up there and beat him, especially when the stakes are so high in the championship,” Gray said. “I just want to keep the momentum going.”
Gray advanced to his ninth final of the season when Matt Hartford (Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro SS) fouled. Coughlin eliminated Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the other semifinal.
In the second round of eliminations, Gray and four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) recorded the identical elapsed time of 6.636 seconds, but Gray advanced with an .018-of-a-second light to Anderson’s .028. Similarly, Nobile and Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS) both hit .016 on the Tree and Nobile ran 6.630 to Enders’ 6.635.
Anderson picked up his 798th career elimination victory in the first round. Drew Skillman (Ray Skillman Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Kenny Delco (KD Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS) also were first-round winners.
Arthur Kohn of Richmond, Texas, and Stephen Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, advanced to the semifinals of the School of Automotive Machinists and Technicians (SAM Tech) Factory Stock Showdown in their Chevrolet COPO Camaros. Both drivers won a race in the seven-event series this season.
The fourth round of the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship will be contested Oct. 12-14 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. In 2017, Hight defeated teammate and No. 1 qualifier Courtney Force in an all-Chevrolet Funny Car final. No. 1 qualifier Gray, driving his Chevrolet Camaro SS, won the Pro Stock final.
FS1 will telecast qualifications live at 5:30 p.m. ET Oct. 12 and will telecast eliminations and finals live at 2 p.m. ET Oct. 14.
An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fourth victory of season and second in a row; 45th career win; fourth win at Texas Motorplex and first to go back to back since John Force in 2002; competed in 325th career race; points leader):
WHEN YOU REMEMBER THIS ONE, WHAT WILL YOU THINK ABOUT?
“I just remember a bunch of great people working together. We didn’t get to celebrate in St. Louis. I was in the hospital and these guys (crew) are already thinking about the next race and getting the car ready. Chevy, everybody, yes.”
HOW BAD DID YOU WANT TO GET BACK IN THE CAR AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN THIS RACE?
“I remember laying there thinking collarbone. OK, they say eight weeks (to heal on its own). I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got the points lead and these opportunities just don’t come around.’ So I got back to California and the first doctor said the same thing. Just let it heal, don’t do anything. Well, the next doctor said ‘you need to fix this, especially in the line of work you’re doing.’ He said, ‘You’ll be back in a couple of weeks.’ I did everything like he said. Went back late Thursday before coming here to Dallas, he gave me the clearance, I built an apparatus to keep the belts off of my collarbone, and he told me you wouldn’t have gotten the clearance if you wouldn’t have something like that. I’m apprehensive getting back in the car the first couple runs. You don’t know what to expect, especially a brand new race car. We had another car in the trailer but Jimmy (crew chief Prock) wasn’t happy with it. We ran it earlier in the year, so we had to start with a brand new car. There’s always gremlins and things that come with a new car. But this AAA team were flawless and we just got better all weekend as we went. We’re going to celebrate tonight. What’s really cool is it’s two AAA races in a row; you’re winning inm front of your sponsors and that was one of the biggest rounds I raced (final) because JR Todd is No. 2 in points, he was 30 behind me going into the final and had I lost I would be 10 ahead, which isn’t much. Now we have a 50-point lead. So it was a 40-point swing and luckily we get to do it again next week. I’m really not sore. I know the adrenaline and everything is pumping pretty hard, but the hardest thing is getting in and out of this firesuit when it’s stuck to you with all the sweat. But this is amazing. I’ve won here before, but last year was the first year that I got a cowboy hat. So every championship I’ve won I’ve won Dallas and I think we’re on our way again.”
DID YOU SAY TO THE TEAM, ‘LET’S PUT IT BEHIND US AND MOVE ON’?
“Exactly. This isn’t about me; it’s a big team effort. I respect how hard they work. They didn’t really get a weekend off. We had to build everything. That thig was totally ruined from St. Louis, and I didn’t get a weekend off either because I’m on the mend. We all just respect each other. We’re working as hard as we can and are in this together. If I would have screwed up today I know they would have forgiven me, but I held my own.”
DID YOU DESIGN THE BRACE WITH THEM OR HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?
“It’s kind of funny. I took a piece that Simpson had built for Greg Anderson when he had his heart surgery and measured around my chest and we got a mannequin and put towels around it and got it to the same size, put the head and neck restraint on it, put this thing from Greg Anderson on and built ears off of it of carbon fiber to go to the head and neck restraint. Now the belts come over that and there’s room underneath to protect my collarbone, and we put some of this gel stuff on. And the chutes, that’s what I was worried about because it slams your head forward when you hit the chutes. No issues. I probably couldn’t have races without that piece and now it’s comfortable. I may never take it off.”
HOW DID YOU GET THAT PIECE?
“Simpson sent me one. That’s one of the first things I did was thank Greg Anderson for giving me a start.”
JUST THE CONFIDENCE LEVEL YOU HAVE. YOU COULD BE STANDING HERE TALKING ABOUT THREE WINS IN A ROW
“Oh, definitely. I screwed up in Maple Grove and red lit in the semis and we had the best car there. It could have been three in a row like (Steve) Torrence. You see what Steve Torrence is doing out here? Top Fuel, it seems like it’s a cakewalk the way he’s running and running away with it, but it’s not. He is killing it. His team is rising to the occasion, winning close races, eight wins last year and eight wins this year. What they are doing is absolutely amazing.”
AND YOU’RE RIGHT THERE, AND YOU’VE WON A LOT AT CHARLOTTE TOO
“Exactly. I made a prediction early on before the Countdown, going into the Countdown that I needed to win three races and not have any first-round losses. So far, so good. We’re halfway through, we’ve got two wins and a semifinal. But 50 points isn’t a big lead over JR Todd. That car is strong, running good. He’s been to two finals. We’ve got to keep pushing. Pomona, points and a half, anything can happen. So we have to keep pushing.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, GRAY MOTORSPORTS VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; seventh victory of season and 12th in 45 career races; has won three of past four races; points leader):
HALFWAY THROUGH THIS COUNTDOWN, HOW DO YOU RATE YOUR PERFORMANCE?
“I’d say about a B-plus. Those guys (crew) definitely an A-plus. They’ve given me an awesome car all weekend. I tried to mess it up in the semis. I’m so ecstatic. When you can go and beat Jeg (Coughlin Jr. in final), one of the best to come through the class, it means a lot to me to go up there and beat him, especially when the stakes are so high in the championship. I just want to keep the momentum going.”
WHAT WAS YOUR WEEKEND LIKE?
“We’ve been struggling with qualifying it seems like and for whatever reason we’ve been able to pull it out on Sunday. Some of it being luck and some of it just making good runs and beating the guy in the other lane. Today we got lucky for sure in the semis. I made a mistake and for whatever reason, I guess, I flinched and double-clutched it to ruin the run. It’s awesome to have the group of guys I have around me that is able to take a car with no data in the semis, after they wanted to try some different things, and go and do what we did.”
WEEK TO WEEK IT’S SO TIGHT. WHAT IS THE INDIVIDUAL ROUND PRESSURE LIKE?
“It seems like no matter if you’re running someone as fast as you, who can go with you versus maybe someone who’s isn’t as fast, the pressure is still so big. It makes it tough. That where you have to just worry about yourself and crack the Tree and whatever happens happens. That’s my mentality. It’s worked for me so far. All in all, I can’t be happier with the way it’s going.”
YOU’RE AND MMA FAN. DO YOU BRING ANYTHING TO THE RACETRACK AFTER WATCHING THOSE GUYS, HOW THEY PREPARE?
“You go up against someone like Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) and you know you’re capable of doing it, you just have to do it. You just never know what the outcome is going to be, so it makes it really interesting and stressful. I think the guys who can block that out and think of all the right things they need to do instead of all the wrong things as the guys who rise to the top and become champions.”
YOUR DAD SAID HE THOUGHT YOU’VE MATURED A LOT SINCE LAST YEAR. DOES THIS RUN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP FULFILL A NEED?
“I feel like I’ve matured a lot personally and behind the wheel. I feel that I’m able to make better decisions behind the wheel more than last year. That being said, last year was my first year. I’ve been able to take all the mistakes I made last year and learn from it and grow from it. I think the biggest thing that’s helped me is I’ve matured more personally, and I’ve been able to keep my head on straight more than I was last year. I’d kind of lose it sometimes. Don’t get me wrong. I still have the same passion for winning as I had last year. I guess I just harnessed it a little bit differently that I did, so I think that’s helped a lot. I think that contributes to all the guys we have at Gray Motorsports who have been behind me and pick me up when I’ve been down. They are able to bring me back to reality when I’ve been to high. It’s a pretty cool relationship that everybody has over there. As far as drag racing goes, there’s not another group of guys that I’d rather work with, another crew chief I’d want to be with. Those guys are my best friends.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE YOU MOVE ON?
“It’s very important; that’s the only reason we’re here. That’s my No. 1 priority. There are three races left and Dave (Connolly, crew chief) said at the banquet last year that we’d have 10 races wins and a championship. We’re seven down now. If something crazy happened and we wound up winning all three that would be pretty crazy. There’s a lot of tough guys out here, so that would be tough to do.”