CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA RACEWAY IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
POST-RACE RECAP AND DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2019

Chevrolet collects two victories at Sonoma
Robert Hight picks up career Funny Car win No. 50
Greg Anderson wins second Pro Stock race in a row
Brittany Force sets fastest Top Fuel speed of season
SONOMA, Calif. (July 28, 2019) – Robert Hight collected a milestone Funny Car victory and Greg Anderson earned the Pro Stock Wally for the second weekend in a row to lead Chevrolet in the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
Hight, driving the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, scored his 50th career Funny Car victory with a pass of 3.973 seconds at 325.45 mph in the final. Hight, the No. 1 qualifier for the eighth time in 15 races this season and 68th in his decorated career, is third to teammate John Force (NHRA-record 149) and Ron Capps (63) in Funny Car wins.

Force, the No. 7 qualifier in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, advanced to the semifinals for the eighth time this season.

Sixteen of Hight’s wins have been with Chevrolet over the past four seasons, including five this season. He broke a tie with Don Prudhomme for 13th on the all-time list in professional categories.

“Congratulations to Robert Hight on his 50th career NHRA Funny Car victory,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President of Performance and Motorsports. “To be one of only three drivers to reach that milestone shows this is a very significant achievement in a highly competitive class, and it speaks to Robert’s consistency, focus on teamwork and commitment to excellence.”

Hight, the runaway championship points leader, also won at the racetrack in 2018.

“I still don’t know how this is possible. I don’t know how I ever got one,” Hight said. “To do it here in Sonoma, home track, Chevrolet and everybody, this is unbelievable. I’m at a loss for words.”

Anderson followed up his victory at Denver in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS with his sixth win at Sonoma. The No. 5 qualifier defeated KB Racing teammate Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the semifinals and beat No. 1 qualifier Alex Laughlin (Havoline Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the final.

Anderson recorded his 93rd career Pro Stock win, trailing only Warren Johnson with 97 in the category. He will attempt to repeat his 2004 sweep of the Western Swing this weekend at Seattle.

“The Summit boys did a great job today and now I guess we can win at sea level with the red dragon Summit Chevy,” he said. “I think we figured something out today and I think we’ll be strong.”

In the first round of Top Fuel eliminations, Brittany Force reset the year-old track Top Fuel speed record and posted the fastest speed of the season with a pass of 335.15 mph at 3.718 seconds. Force, the No. 8 qualifier in the
Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster, smoked the tires and fell in the second round.

Teammate Austin Prock, the No. 6 qualifier driving the Montana Brad/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster defeated Leigh Pritchett in the first round but lost in the quarterfinals.

Bryan Setters of Red Deer, Alberta, won two elimination rounds in Super Stock in his COPO Camaro before falling in the third round.

The Western Swing continues August 2-4 with the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. FOX will telecast eliminations and finals live at 4 p.m. ET August 4.

An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (50thh career win and second in a row at track; No. 1 qualifier for eighth time this season and 68th in career; holds track Funny Car elapsed time and speed records):

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
“I still don’t know how this is possible. I don’t know how I ever got one. To do it here in Sonoma, home track, Chevrolet and everybody, this is unbelievable. I’m at a loss for words.”

YOU HAVE SAID THIS IS YOUR HOME TRACK, TALK ABOUT GETTING WIN NUMBER 50 HERE
“Unbelievable. Basically, yeah, the first national event I ever attended was right here when this place opened. I have been to every single race here as a fan, a crew member and now a driver. I never honestly dreamed I would get to drive a Funny Car. When I had seen these cars first run, I had gone to Sacramento. It was called the Governor’s Cup, a race they had there, and believe it or not – it was John Force and Jim Dunn in the Fireman’s Quickie. I saw those cars run and I was like ‘these are super heros’. Like, no one could drive a car that accelerates and goes that fast. It just blew me away. I was from a small town and had never been around this kind of stuff. When I first saw this, I thought this wasn’t even humanly possible. Now I get to drive one and I still have to pinch myself. I never thought I would have this opportunity. And really it all goes back to the Auto Club. I have been driving for 15 years and they gave me an opportunity. John (Force) went to them and they took John’s word that I could do this. Because I was a nobody and had never driven anything. I had worked on the cars. In my fourth race out, I got a win in Houston. And now its hard to believe I am at 50 and third all time.”

THIS IS GO TIME FOR GETTING READY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND YOU GUYS JUST SHOWED US YOU CAN GET IT DONE
“We went into Denver and we did test some stuff on the Western Swing and it didn’t go as well as we wanted on Friday. So, we went back to basics on Saturday. We were the No. 1 qualifier there and went to the semis. We came here and I know there are a lot of critics that say its Jimmy Prock and this team can only run when its great conditions and you can throw down and run big numbers. But I think today we proved today that on a 130-degree track, for three rounds, that we could slug it out with anybody.”

HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE FOR YOU TO MATCH JOHN FORCE?
“Well, I hate to succumb and say something is not attainable because you are admitting defeat. But you have to be realistic and nobody will ever match John Force’s win record, especially in the Funny Car class. Its not going to happen. John dominated in an era where he was so much better than everyone else. That isn’t the case anymore. Matt Hagan had the best car out there in the second and third round. We had to step ours up for the final because we didn’t want to go out there and get outran. We were going to push and if we smoked the tires, we were going to say that we gave it our best. But we went out there and really pushed and got the win in the final. You have to do that. Jimmy Prock does not race to get outran and he doesn’t play small ball.”

WHEN YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR YOU SAID YOU WERE SPEECHLESS. THIS FIFTIETH WIN WAS REALLY SPECIAL FOR YOU WASN’T IT?
“It was. This is a milestone. If you look at the guys that have raced Funny Car, there are a lot of big names. Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, these were the guys that I watched on TV as a kid and they don’t have 50 wins in a Funny Car. Hard to believe.”

YOU HAVE BEEN COMING HERE FOR 50 YEARS, THE TRACK IS 50 YEARS OLD AND NOW YOU HAVE 50 WINS
“I haven’t been coming here for 50 years. They have only been having national events there they said since 1988 and that would have been my first year out of high school. I remember coming out here for three days, getting out here when they opened the gates and not leaving till o-dark-30. I just wanted to see everything, take it all in, watch the teams work on the cars, and watch every bit of racing. I love Alcohol Cars and Sportsman Cars and this is where it all started for me.”

WHAT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN LIKE TO RACE JOHN IN THAT FINAL ROUND?
“Man, I guess he only has 100 more wins than me so I would have one-upped him. It would have been tough. They have a good car. That .91 they ran yesterday in Q4, honestly I thought they had the best car going into race day.”

DID YOU FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?
“Yeah, I am speculating because I got some bits and pieces of it. They have had some issues at Norwalk and Bristol. I just don’t think they are setting the neutral right. If it doesn’t have enough neutral and if the clutch guy misses it a little bit because you are rushed. We were rushed. It was 41 minutes from run to run going into the semis. Its live TV and we have to hit that mark. And it doesn’t take much to overlook something or miss something. I feel like he didn’t have enough neutral to get it into neutral and its sad.”

WHAT GAVE JOHN THE CONFIDENCE WHEN YOU SAID YOU HADN’T DRIVEN ANYTHING YET?
“Well, I was really a good student. When I was a crew member, I always asked a lot of questions and paid a lot of attention. Like my daughter has been racing Junior Dragsters since she was eight years old. She is way ahead of her dad at this point. Its all runs down the track and its important. Well, I never had that opportunity. But I think the angle that I took was understanding how the car works. I used to shoot so I showed John right away that I could cut a light and had good reaction times. I would pay attention and learn and listen and when I got the opportunity to jump in, it all went my way. I look back at it and I say, ‘how did this happen, how did this work out?’. Because for the first 100 runs, you are just holding on when you don’t have any previous experience. There were days when I would jump in three different Funny Cars on Monday and make runs. You get a lot of experience in doing that.”

An interview with Pro Stock winner GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; second win of season and 93rd of Pro Stock career):

WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR YOU THIS WEEKEND?
“I couldn’t get the motor tuned up. But the boys did a great job today and now I guess we can win at sea level with the red dragon Summit Chevy. I think we figured something out today and I think we’ll be strong.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WIN TWO IN A ROW?

“It feels great. It’s been a long time since I’ve won two races in a row. When you have a gap like that between race wins, you start to doubt yourself, if you can still win. I’m certainly getting up there in age and I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this. My answer is I’ll keep doing it till I can’t win anymore. Then you start wondering if you don’t win for a year should I still be doing this and turn the steering wheel over to somebody else. So, it’s just like any major league sport, it’s more mind game than anything. Obviously, we’ve got equipment that’s got to be perfect, too. As far as the driver, it’s all in the mind. You’ve got to find a way to get that right, and without a doubt the older you get the harder it is to keep in check. The harder it is to make sure you’re sharp. This is going to do a lot for me, not only winning last week but winning two weeks in a row it not only proves to me I can still do it but it tells you that you still want to do it and how much fun it is and why you do it. It’s just fantastic and Sonoma has always been one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. I love racetracks where the cars run fast, we’re at sea level, the air is good and you as a person feel good, you breathe well. And the scenery is beautiful. It’s been at the top of my list for a lot of years and I think that’s why I’ve had a lot of success here.”

YOU’RE IN POSITION TO SWEEP THE WESTERN SWING FOR THE SECOND TIME.

“How about that, and I’m the only one who has a shot, too. I’ll go into Seattle with a smile on my face and eager to race and see if the cards fall the right way again. I had a lot of luck today, don’t get me wrong, and it takes a lot of luck to win one of these events. I didn’t make the big mistake and other people did and someway I found my way to the winner’s circle.”

THIS HAS TO BE A BIG BOOST TO YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE.

“It is. It at least buys me another year’s time in the seat. Winning just breeds smiles on everybody’s face and confidence and it’s great for the team, it’s great for the driver and it’s great for everybody. That makes you tougher to beat the next time out.”

AFTER DENVER, DID IT FEEL DIFFERENT GETTING IN THE CAR?

“The biggest difference is every time you had a smile on your face. It’s just a whole lot better way to race and, as I said, the mind is 90 percent of this deal. Confidence is a big, big part of it.”

CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT

TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, CARQUEST BRAKES CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 8 qualifier; fell in second round): “We actually didn’t have a bad weekend. We made some really consistent runs, we ran the best of the weekend in the first round, ran a 3.71 and career best 335 mph. We’ve been running good all day, we just got beat second round but we turned this car around, we think we found some things and we’re going to take it to Seattle and see what we can do there.”

AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 6 qualifier; fell in second round): “We made some really good passes this weekend, better than it looked on the E.T. board. Both the .73 we ran and the .74, those were very, very competitive runs right with everybody in the hunt there, so I’m proud of that. We just got a little greedy second round and tried to run 3.77 and the track just didn’t hold it. Racing those Torrence boys, you got to press, and we pressed a little too hard today but all-in-all it was a good weekend, we’re tied for ninth in points and looking forward to Seattle.”

PRO STOCK:

ALEX LAUGHLIN, LAUGHLIN RACING, HAVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in final): “My team has done a great job giving me an awesome car. I just didn’t get it done in the final. (No. 1 qualifier) gives me a ton of confidence and my whole team, especially coming from Denver where we had our worst race of the whole season.”

MATT HARTFORD, HASRTFORD RACIG, TOTAL SEAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in first round with centerline DQ): “It was in fourth gear, pushing to the right and I had the wheel cranked to the left but it just didn’t want to come back. Once it started shaking, I just got out of the throttle and was just trying to not put it into the wall. We’ve got a good hot rod right now; I feel like I let my crew down. I think we were beating Chris (McGaha). I guess it was payback from 2016. I red lit in the second round and Chris crossed to centerline to give it back to me.”

JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in second round): “Our confidence level is good. We’re very happy with the tuning package and I was pleased with my driving. If you look at the schedule, we only have a few races left before we reset for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, so we’ve talked about erring on the aggressive side with all the elements of having the car prepared. It’s ‘go time’ from here on in.”

BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in semifinals):
“I got out of my element in the semis, and whenever I worry about anything happening in the other lane, I have a tendency to mess up. That’s exactly what happened. I hated it for KB Racing – it should have been two KB Racing cars in the final. But Greg got it done, so we’re happy.”

JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACNG EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier, fell in semifinals):
“I had good lights the rest of the weekend, but none of that matters except for the last one. I had a couple of good runs, but not what I needed to win the race. It is what it is, and you move on. Fortunately, we had a good day as a team. That’s all that matters in the big picture, and we can’t wait to get to the next one.”