CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY IN BRAINERD, MINNESOTA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, AUG. 19, 2018
An interview with Pro Stock winner DERIC KRAMER, KB RACING, AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier, second win of season and career; fifth final round of season; competed in 80th Pro Stock race; has 23-13 round record this season; cut .002 light in final):
WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD IT?
“Shifting into high gear I looked up and saw the win light was on in my lane and I figured that was pretty good for me, so I can’t complain about that.”
NOBODY WAS CUTTING ANY SLACK IN THAT FINAL. TELL US ABOUT IT
“I don’t think anybody can cut anybody any slack in this category any more. Like Pro Stock bike, every time you go out there you have to be ready.”
ARE YOU PLANNING ON MAKING A CHAMPIONSHIP RUN IN THE COUNTDOWN?
“I’m hoping to. We’re kind of a part-time team and our normal season starts for us around Denver. We’ve taken that momentum that we’ve had in the past and built upon it this year. We’re going (to the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals) on a hot streak. Can’t wait.”
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 6 qualifier; fell in second round): “Tough weekend for us. We really struggled finding consistency, but on race day we had a good race car. We ran .74 (3.746 seconds). Awesome run for our team. It’s just that I wasn’t on the Tree and we got beat on a holeshot. But, overall, looking at the weekend we’re leaving on a good note. I feel like we have our race car back and we’re still eighth in points, so that’s what is really important right now.”
FUNNY CAR:
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “It was an awesome day by my Advance Auto Parts team considering coming into the weekend here we struggled a little bit through qualifying, couldn’t get the car running as quick as we would have liked but we found that Chevy power when we came into elimination day on Sunday. Definitely we able to step it up, consistently running in the 3s. I’m really proud of my team, proud of (crew chiefs) Brian Corradi and Dan Hood for making this car fly down that racetrack when we needed it most. Being able to go a few rounds and pick up more of those points is a big deal for us, especially when we’re heading into the U.S. Nationals. We have struggled here in Brainerd so it feels good hat we were able to go some rounds. I think we have a good handle on this car. We’re looking forward to getting to Indy to test and see if we can continue to make fast runs and find that consistency before the Countdown.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “Race day didn’t go the way we wanted. We spun (the tires) first round and were able to get a win, but then second round it burned a piston and we haven’t done that in forever. Because of that, pan pressure shuts it off. It’s a mandatory safety thing NHRA has. We were quite a bit ahead and were going to win the race and it quit. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) will not ignore something like that even though we haven’t been doing it. He won’t let it happen again. We’re going to go test Wednesday and Thursday and get ready for Indy. A little more testing and I think we’ll be right where we need to be in the Countdown.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round): “We have had a lot of success here in Brainerd. I’ve won here and been No.1 qualifier before. This weekend we just didn’t get a handle on the race track. A lot of teams struggled but I am not worried. We are going to test in Indy this week and then we have the U.S. Nationals. That’s the biggest race of the year and this PEAK team will be ready. The Countdown is right around the corner and we will be in the hunt for sure.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 9 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We didn’t get it done today with one of our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros, but it was great to have a team car with Deric Kramer in the winner’s circle. He’s doing a great job out here. He knocked out Tanner Gray, and that saved me 20 points and kept me in the points lead. Today could have been a bloody day, and that was my fear when I woke up this morning. But we got as much as we could out of the day, and now we’re going to move on to Indy where it’s points and a half. No lead is going to be safe going in, and you’re just going to have fight and claw and scratch for every inch you can get.
TANNER GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, GRAY MOTORSPORTS VALVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier; fell in final): “I’m mad at myself. The Gray Motorsports Valvoline Chevy team gave me a great race car all day and I just messed up in the final. I missed the opportunity to move into a tie for the points lead heading to the U.S. Nationals, but that race is points and a half so we’ll try to take over the top spot heading to the Countdown.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “We had some good fortune today, just not quite enough to get one of our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros to the final round. It wasn’t a bad day, and there were certainly some highlights today that will put a smile on your face. Seeing my brother, Ben Line, win in Stock Eliminator for the second year in a row was great, and having Deric Kramer win for KB Racing was exciting for all of us. Greg has the points lead, I moved up to No. 8. Overall, a good weekend. We’ll be ready for Indy, and the Countdown is going to be a lot of fun.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in second round): “It’s definitely been a long road for us since our back-to-back championships which we capped off in 2015. The Dodge stuff for us in 2016 was a struggle and then we were just getting our feet wet again in 2017. Obviously, I’ve got the one win this year in six final rounds but really my whole team from Jeg (Coughlin Jr.), Alex (Laughlin) and Vincent (Nobile) have gotten it done this year. We have had such a successful year but when you go to six finals and only come away with one Wally, you can’t help but be slightly disappointed. That’s the sign of a championship-caliber team.”
BO BUTNER, BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in first round): “I think with Alex (Laughlin) losing there, it takes some pressure off for us worrying about being in the top 10. I do have confidence in the car, and that helps – but now I need to have more confidence in myself to strive better, whether in qualifying or eliminations.”
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN MOTORSPORTS, RAY SKILLMAN AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in first round): “We didn’t roll off the truck with the car we wanted for qualifications. We had issues and wound up 10th, and though we had a good run against Jason Line on race day we fell short again in our effort to defend the title at Brainerd. We’ll pack up and head to our home race in Indianapolis. We won there last year and hopefully can repeat.”