CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
LUCAS OIL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS PRESENTED BY PROTECTTHEHARVEST.COM
AUTO CLUB RACEWAY AT POMONA, CALIFORNIA
POST-RACE RECAP AND DRIVER QUOTES
MONDAY, FEB. 11, 2019
Chevrolet gets off to strong start with two Winternationals wins
• Robert Hight earns 46th career Funny Car victory
• Bo Butner repeats as Pro Stock winner in rematch with teammate
• Austin Prock secures elimination-round victory in Top Fuel debut
POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 11, 2019) – Robert Hight and Bo Butner wrapped up their 2017 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) championships in the season finale at Auto Club Raceway.
Both started the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season with victories in the weather-delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at the historic racetrack.
Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, registered his 46th career Funny Car victory, which includes four at the track. It was the 134th Chevy Racing win in the category since 1967, including 54 with the Camaro body.
“It’s a long season. You look at the Funny car class and it looks tougher than last season,” said Hight, who was the race runner-up in 2018. “You could see today that everyone was running (3.)80s and stacking up. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to have to be on your game on the starting line and consistent with your car. We tested well and came right in here and didn’t miss a beat.”
In a rematch of the 2018 season opener, Butner defeated KB Racing teammate and three-time Pro Stock champion Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS), who was making his 100th career Pro Stock final-round appearance. It was Chevy Racing’s 303rd Pro Stock win since 1970.
Team Chevy also had positive results from Austin Prock, who was making his Top Fuel debut in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster. Prock earned his first elimination round victory by defeating John Force Racing teammate and 2017 Top Fuel champion Brittany Force (Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster).
“(Co-crew chiefs) Ronnie Thompson and Jon Schaffer are doing an excellent job and I’m just glad I could save that one for them,” Prock said. “That was pretty huge to be able to pedal it and win by first elimination race.”
In the second round, Prock beat Mike Salinas off the line and it took Salinas’ career-best pass of 3.685 seconds to pull out the victory by 2 feet.
As the No. 1 qualifier, Hight tied Cruz Pedregon for seventh on the all-time list with 61. The track speed record-holder for Funny Cars defeated Jack Beckman on a holeshot in the final round.
Hight got the better of teammate John Force in the semifinals with a run of 3.883 seconds (328.22 mph) to Force’s 3.930 in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS. Force picked up his 1,900th elimination round win in the Funny Car opener and defeated Ron Capps in their 99th career meeting (59-40 Force advantage) in the second round.
Butner, driving the Jim Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS, provided KB Racing its ninth consecutive Winternationals win.
“It’s the same car the same team. We have some new guys but mixed in with a lot of the old guys, too,” Butner said. “I had lane choice in the final round and a lot of people were questioning why I took the right lane, but I’m not really sure there was a preferred lane. But my car was a very good Top Sportsman car today, I felt like I could have dialed it in.”
In the semifinals, Butner defeated No. 2 qualifier Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Line ousted Alex Laughlin on a holeshot as they had identical elapsed times.
History was made over the weekend as an electric-powered Chevrolet COPO Camaro Concept made an exhibition pass at 9.837 seconds at 134.07 mph in its debut at the track.
The eCOPO, based on the 2019 Chevrolet COPO Camaro, was developed by General Motors and built in partnership with electric drag racing team Hancock and Lane Racing. An 800-volt battery pack supplies the power to the twin electric motor pack, generating 760 horsepower, of the rear-wheel-drive car.
Dan Fletcher of Churchville, New York, lost in the quarterfinals of Stock Eliminator in his Chevrolet COPO Camaro. Ryan Priddy of Chino, California, reached the third round of Super Stock eliminations in his COPO Camaro.
The Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals is the next event on the calendar Feb. 22-24 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. FS1 will telecast eliminations live at 7 p.m. ET Feb. 23 and eliminations and finals live at 6 p.m. ET Feb. 24.
An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; earned 46th Funny Car career victory and fourth at track):
HOW DOES THIS WIN FEEL?
“With all that we’ve gone through this year with new people and new sponsors and cars, this really makes it all pay off. This is my fourth Winternationals win, and it’s one of the majors, as far as I’m concerned.”
SPEAKING OF TESTING, YOU AND J.R. TODD WERE THE STANDARDBEARERS IN PHOENIX
“Everybody is all stacked up. You’re going to have to be on your game at the starting line, you’re going to have to have consistency with your car and (crew chief) Jimmy Prock, I’ve never seen him more confident. He’s really happy with the way this thing runs, how easy it is on parts and I want to give credit to my team. We had a lot of turnover on my team this year, so we have some new guys on the team and to watch those new guys mesh is something to see. We were busting it today. We had to turn this thing around in a hurry and this new team performed flawlessly. I’m proud of those guys and really proud of the older guys who stepped up and taught these guys. It’s fun to watch.”
AS PRESIDENT OF JOHN FORCE RACING, YOU HAVE A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE OTHER CARS, TOO
“It’s been a long winter with a lot of ups and downs. But we have a lot of good people. It’s not just a couple people who make this happen. There are a lot of good people in our organization. That’s how you get the wins. This trophy is to all of JFR.”
THAT FINAL WAS SO CLOSE. TALK US THROUGH THAT LAST PASS
“You’re going to see a lot of racing like that all year long. It’s that close and competitive. NHRA has done a good job with the rules and making it competitive. Fans are getting to see side-by-side racing at 330 miles per hour separated by inches, so it doesn’t get any better. Racing Jack Beckman, you always have to get up. He’s very good.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; has five wins in eight final rounds at Pomona; has eight career Pro Stock wins in 90 races):
YOU WEREN’T EVEN GOING TO BE HERE A FEW MONTHS AGO
“The Lord blessed us. It’s still the same car, same team with a few new guys with the old guys. We were really struggling in qualifying. We were all struggling with this racetrack and somebody made a decision and the Safety Safari guys, the guys upstairs made this a great racetrack. My car was great in both lanes. I definitely felt like we had the best car all four rounds today. I have to thank Chevrolet; our Chevy Camaro was amazing. I lost my brother two weeks ago, and I contemplated should I even be out west. I talked with his family and this win is for them.”
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO UNRETIRE?
“Actually, my mother made that decision almost for me. I’m getting ready to have a grandkid in April and wanted to be around home more and going into the Pomona finals she looked at me – and she loves the fans – and she said, ‘We need to keep doing this.’ She just turned 82 on February 5 and wants to come to some races. That and my son being able to run our dealership was big for us.”
LAST YEAR YOU WON THIS RACE AND THEN IT TOOK YOU A LONG TIME TO WIN AGAIN. ANY CONCERN ABOUT THAT THIS YEAR?
“Last year I turned off. You always want your first win the earlier the better. As I turned off last year it felt horrible. We didn’t have a bad car, we just didn’t have the luck. I do not feel that way this year. I feel like we have a great car and as great team and I’m excited to keep going.”
LOOK OUT DOWN THE ROAD FOR BO BUTNER?
“We’re going to try to win them all. That’s our goal. The KB team is just as strong as ever and we’ll get better.”
TOP FUEL:
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 11 qualifier; fell in second round): “I’m still speechless. I can’t believe how well this weekend has gone. My team is doing a gre3at job and I’m really happy that Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist came on board to help make this dream of mine come true.”
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 4 qualifier; fell in first round to teammate Austin Prock): “Nice job to the Advance Auto Parts team battling difficult weather and an entire new operation since coming on board with John Force Racing. Proud that we qualified No. 4 and had some consistent runs. We’ll be back in one week.”
PRO STOCK:
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in final): “It was a good feeling to win the semifinals and know that KB Racing was going to get a win no matter what happened,” said Line. “But I was really hoping to be able to put this silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the winner’s circle this first race. It’s a brand new car, and already we’re pretty happy with it. We had a few gremlins with it early on, just a couple of small electrical glitches, but it’s really good. I’m excited about that, for sure, and I’m happy for Bo. We’ll get our win with the Silver Summit Chevy soon.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We’re focused on picking up where we left off last year. We didn’t have a terrible year with Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) finishing second and myself fourth, but we have some unfinished business. We let the championship slip through our fingers. We have some revenge. We have great power from Elite Performance and a great new race car that I’m really looking forward to wheeling this year, so lots of great things on the horizon and lots of optimism in this pit.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier; fell in first round): “I didn’t do so great today with my Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro and there were a few of us who had some trouble. But, you know, it was still a good day for drag racing. It’s been a great weekend overall. We’re happy to b e back in the saddle and we couldn’t have asked for better weather today. I’m a little disappointed, sure, but you’ll have that. We still had two cars advance to the finals and the whole team jumped in to help them. We feel good about this team going to Phoenix.”
MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in second round): “We feel that it’s going to be the most competitive year in recent years of Pro Stock. You’re going to have 16 cars out here every week that have a chance to win races and can just about qualify on the pole. We’re still a part-time team no matter how you look at it. This isn’t our full-time job, and that’s a challenge. We don’t have 10 people working on our stuff 24/7, but at the end of the day, we just have to work harder when we are working, and we should be very competitive.”
RODGER BROGDON, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, RBR MACHINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in first round): “We tested in Phoenix and ran well, so I didn’t necessarily think we would go to No. 1 but I definitely thought we could be a top-three car if we came out and put our best foot forward. I’ve just got a great crew and a great team with Elite Motorsports, and it’s really all about what they’ve done here. There’s really no pressure. If I have any questions, I can ask them.”