CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NTK NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS
ZMAX DRAGWAY IN CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA
RACE RECAP AND DRIVER QUOTES
OCTOBER 14, 2019
Chevrolet drivers record two wins at Charlotte
Robert Hight earns 51st career Funny Car victory
Deric Kramer registers second Pro Stock win of season
Erica Enders moves to top of Pro Stock standings
CONCORD, N.C. (October 14, 2019) – Robert Hight had a firm grip on the Wally in the winner’s circle after prevailing in the Funny Car final of the NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The John Force Racing driver also has a firm grip on the class championship points lead.
Hight, the No. 2 qualifier in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, claimed a career-best sixth victory of the season and the 51st of his Funny Car career in the event delayed 24 hours by inclement weather.
The wait was worthwhile for Hight, who enters the back side of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship with a solid points advantage. Sweeping race day also gave Hight 500 career elimination round wins (500-292, including 44-15 through 21 races this season). Hight defeated No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman in the final.
“I didn’t know it was the 500th round win; that’s pretty amazing. I have a long way to go to catch John Force,” Hight said of his teammate, who has 1,348 round wins. “Six wins on a season is the most I’ve ever had. This Auto Club Chevy team is the best.”
Force, the No. 5 qualifier driving the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil/BlueDEF Camaro SS, lost in the second round to Ron Capps in the 105th matchup between the Funny Car champions. He is third in the standings.
Deric Kramer, driving the American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro SS, picked up his second Pro Stock victory of the season and re-emerged as a title contender.
“This gives us a chance,” said Kramer, who also won his first Pro Stock race on a Monday last year in Topeka, Kansas. “That’s all we wanted was a chance. We didn’t’ do so well at the last race in St. Louis and we just wanted a chance to redeem ourselves and that’s what we did.”
Brittany Force, the No. 3 Top Fuel qualifier in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster, reached the semifinals and moved to third in the title chase. Rookie of the year candidate Austin Prock fell in the second round of Top Fuel competition, but moved up one spot to seventh in the standings. He was the No. 13 qualifier in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster.
Kramer, the No. 10 qualifier, defeated Matt Hartford (Total Seal Camaro SS) in the Pro Stock final. In the semifinals, Kramer beat Aaron Stanfield and Hartford ousted Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro SS), who nonetheless rose to the top of the class standings.
Enders, the 2014 and ’15 Pro Stock champion, was the No. 1 qualifier for the third consecutive race and was coming off her first victory of the season at St. Louis. When points leader No. 3 qualifier Jason Line, driving the Summit Racing Equipment Camaro SS, lost in the first round, Enders inherited the top spot.
With two final-round appearances in the three Countdown races, Hartford is only 19 points behind Enders heading to Ennis, Texas, this weekend for the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.
An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, won career-high sixth race of season and 51st race of Funny Car career; recorded 500th career elimination round win in 349th start):
HOW DOES THIS WIN FEEL?
“I didn’t know it was the 500th round win; that’s pretty amazing. I have a long way to go to catch John Force. Six wins on a season is the most I’ve ever had. This Auto Club Chevy team is the best.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY.
“It doesn’t get any tougher (than the race day field faced). If you look at McIntire first round, he ran a 3.97. He actually had the quickest run in the right lane for Funny Car first round. So if we would have slipped up just a little, he would have got us first round and we would have bene out of there. Then, when you start getting with Tim Wilkerson and (Matt) Hagan and (Jack) Beckman, it’s a long day. It’s hard work. But the Auto Club Chevy team really pulled together and did a good job. We changed some things over the last few races. We kind of had been struggling, but we went down the track here every run this weekend. Great job by Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham and all the Auto Club guys.”
IS IT HARDER TO BE THE LEADER AND HAVE OTHERS CHASING YOU?
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than here and then we can control our own destiny. When you’re chasing somebody, you can’t control what they do, so I want to be here and I want to be here in a month from now. That’s the goal. This was a good weekend for us. We got the points lead back last week in St. Louis and to come out here and extend it, that’s what we have to keep doing every race. I’ve never won six races in my life. This is the most I’ve ever won, but right now I feel like I’m going to have to win eight to be the champ. We’re up for it.”
THE THREE RACES LEFT IN THE COUNTDOWN ARE OBVIOULSY THE FOCUS.
“Definitely, and anything can happen with points and a half (in the finale). The Funny Car class is so tight. Top to bottom it is very close, so anybody can win on any given weekend and we just have to stay focused and work hard. I know the whole team, this is all they want. We didn’t get it done last year, went down to the last day. That’s all they want. They don’t even want to go home. They just want to stay on the road and get this race car prepared perfectly.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR TEAM.
“A lot of those guys are still on my team from my 2009 championship, and that really is the key. You have to surround yourself with good people and have continuity. I always joke that if any of my guys get thrown in jail I’ll have to bail them all out at once because they’re going to be into it together.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner DERIC KRAMER, KRAMER RACING, AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (second win of season; fourth win of career in 102 races):
YOU MADE UP A LOT OF GROUND TODAY.
“This gives us a chance. That’s all we wanted was a chance. We didn’t’ do so well at the last race in St. Louis and we just wanted a chance to redeem ourselves and that’s what we did. This is another race win on a Monday. All I can say is we like the rain.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY.
“It’s a lot of don’t screw up, make them beat you. That’s what today was; nothing was super stellar, nothing was super fast. I was able to hold on just enough.”
JUMPING UP IN POINTS TODAY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“It means I’m still in it. Ultimately, when you have a day like today, it means I still have a few chances to go out and perform and get a shot at this championship. I know last week was pretty disheartening with a fluke error that I’ve never had before. I just wen out there and tried to completely erase that from my mind and rebound with the performance that we did today. It’s exactly what I want as a driver. I want to completely turn that around.”
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO YOU TO BE IN THAT MIX?
“There are 10-12 cars that are going to win any particular weekend. You just have to be perfect every time you go to the starting line. If you’re not, you’re going to go home.”
DID YOU FEEL LIKE THIS WAS A MAKE OR BREAK WEEKEND FOR YOU?
“Absolutely. I feel if we would have had another bad showing that we would be fighting for the No. 7 spot, and no one particularly wants to fight for that spot. One thing that I was happy about was I got a win from the bottom side of the ladder. That doesn’t happen a lot in Pro Stock. That’s one more qualifying position checked off the list.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “This Advance Auto Parts team stepped things up this weekend. We made some big moves on the track and in the points. We qualified third, picked up four bonus points and made a semifinal round appearance, so I’m excited and I know that winner’s circle is coming again here soon. David Grubnic, Mac Savage and these Advance Auto Parts boys feel confident and I do too. We go straight to Dallas next and I can’t wait to get there.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 13 qualifier; fell in second round): “We had a good car today, turned it around for race day and it put up some really good numbers but came up short on the starting line. First time I got beat on a holeshot all season and you know; it was a good one. The kids new and he was cutting great lights all weekend. He was .040 against me and my .061 so I did a good job but he did a better job. We’re going to regroup. I’ll get my stuff together and we’ll get to Dallas and try and turn on some win lights.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL BLUE DEF CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in second round): “Well, it didn’t go our way today. It was a close one, but (Ron) Capps got me. I’m not where I want to be in points. I’m in third and I was in second. I lost a few points but I’m 79 from the lead and there’s points and a half at Pomona next month, so I’ve got to do a better job. Have to do a better job on the tree and I’ll be working on that this week. Robert (Hight), he ended up winning in the Auto Club Chevy, that’s what we’re all about. Brittany (Force) moved up to third in the points with Advance Auto Parts in Top Fuel and (Austin) Prock went rounds, moved to seventh.”
PRO STOCK:
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “I have a great hot rod underneath me, and if I can do my driving job there is no reason we can’t win. At the beginning of the year we definitely had some serious struggles and then mid-summer a lot of parts failures, so I began to doubt we’d have an opportunity to be in this position this deep into the Countdown. We are now and it’s our job to capitalize.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in second round): “It’s pretty neat for Erica (Enders) and I to be 1-2 (in qualifying) at two consecutive races. It speaks to the intentions of the Elite team and the work they’ve put in to give all of us the best possible chance to win. This time of the year is when you hold nothing back. I couldn’t be happier with the team, the car and even my driving. You just need to be near-perfect to win in this class, especially in the playoffs.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in first round): “Tough day for us, for sure. The good news is that we’re close to the KB Racing shop, and that means we can get right to work to get ready for Dallas. This was a learning experience, as all tough days are, but that just makes us hungry to get to the next one and do better.”