HIGHT CAPS BUSY WEEKEND WITH BIG WIN

CHARLOTTE —- Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car team fought an uphill battle today at zMAX Dragway at the 5th annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals. Winning for the second time in the tough four-wide format today and for the fourth time at zMAX Dragway Hight leaves North Carolina still in the points lead and with two wins this season. This was the twelfth race in a row that John Force Racing has had a Funny Car in the final round going back to the U.S. Nationals last season.

In the final quad Hight faced 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, two-time 2014 winner Alexis DeJoria and a strong Tim Wilkerson entry. Hight had a tremendous reaction time and drove away from the field to secure his 31st career Funny Car win with a blistering time of 4.074 at 311.34 mph.

“The whole field is tough. You look at it top to bottom. Anybody can win one of these races. There are a lot of great cars out there. Kalitta (Racing) is running great. Schumacher (Racing) will be there. Wilkerson is running well. It is all tough,” said Hight, who has a two race win streak at zMAX Dragway now. “If you let up just a little bit you don’t take everybody seriously you are going to be on the trailer. We took the points lead over in Las Vegas. We don’t want to give it up. I didn’t want to have to wait between here and Houston thinking about getting the points lead back. I want to go to Houston knowing we still have the points lead.”

Hight is the fourth driver to win more than one Four-Wide race and the first to do so in Funny Car.  Previous two-time winners were Mike Edwards (2010, 2013), Greg Anderson (2011, 2012) and Spencer Massey (2012, 2013).  JFR has won 60 per cent of all the Four-Wides contested on the tour plus the exhibition that preceded the actual event, which Mike Neff won as a driver.  This is the 70th time JFR Fords have left a tour event 1-2 in points.

Hight’s two final round losses this season have come at the hands of DeJoria and heading into the final round he was 0-4 versus the Patron XO Café sponsored driver.

“You think three Ford Funny Cars in the final is pretty good odds but the way she has been running and winning races it was no gimme,” said Hight. “I don’t know who was runner-up her or John but that was a big one. I almost wish she would have been runner-up because I would have gained 40 points on John.”

Hight credited crew chief Mike Neff all weekend with giving him confidence and a great race car. On Sunday the team had to race in the lane that three other teams passed on in the second round and the final quad. It did not dampen the confidence of Neff.

“This format is a dangerous format for Mike Neff. He understands what he needs to run in order to win. We joked all day after the first round that we didn’t have lane choice and we got table scraps. We went out there and we still won from the lane that nobody wanted. Never once did I feel like we were at a disadvantage because we were in the ‘bad’ lane,” said Hight. “Losing twice to Alexis in finals earlier this year I think that motivated him a little bit to push it. The way he races I guarantee my car was not on the edge in the final. It was tuned up enough to go up there and hopefully get the win.”

Hight’s day started with one of the toughest match-ups of the day. In his first quad every driver had at least one NHRA Mello Yello championship. When he won in 2012 his final quad had two world champs and the best driver without a championship.

 “I was racing world champs in that final (in 2012) Cruz Pedregon, John and Ron Capps. It never gets easy. First round today I had (Matt) Hagan, (Jack) Beckman and Tony Pedregon. All those guys are world champs. This has been a great weekend. We love coming to zMAX Dragway. We are trying to sell sponsorships and what better place than this to bring potential sponsors. Yesterday this place was packed. I was a great weekend all in all and to have John and I finish 1-2 made it that much more special. This was my fourth final in a row,” added Hight.

Despite having the best reaction time of all the other final quad competitors, John Force and his Castrol GTX Mustang came up just little short of winning his second NHRA Four-Wide Nationals as it was his son-in-law and fellow teammate, Robert Hight who got to the finish line first. With his second place finish today at zMax Dragway, John Force makes a significant move in the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car points standing.

“If it was just about the points, I’d feel real good as we moved up one and two but it’s about winning. I don’t like to lose to anybody but if I’m going to, I’d rather lose to a teammate who works just as hard as me and that’s Robert Hight,” said John Force.

John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mustang looked like a different car today. Any issues it may have had as it struggled during the Friday and Saturday qualifying session were obliviously addresses and fixed by Jimmy Prock and the crew.

In the opening quad, John was matched up against daughter and fellow teammate Courtney Force, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jeff Arend. John Force blasted off with a strong 4.046 second elapsed time, quickest of the race for Funny car and took the win to advance to the next session.

In the semi-final quad, the 16-time champ was lined up with Robert Hight, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Matt Hagan. When the Christmas trees lit up, John Force had the best reaction time of the bunch and led the pack with a 4.12 second elapsed time. Right on his bumper was fellow teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight with a 4.13 second time.

With lane choice being very critical, crew chief Jimmy Prock made sure the John’s Funny Car was lined-up in the best on that could take on the 8,000 horsepower from the Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang.

When it came to the final quad, it was John Force, Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson and Alexis DeJoria going for the win. When the Christmas Trees blinked, all four drivers took off in a thunderous fury as 40,000 horsepower erupted within the stands.

While John Force got the hole-shot over DeJoria with a stellar .040 light, it wasn’t enough to hold off Robert Hight’s hard charging Auto Club Mustang that blasted a 4.07 second elapsed time in final. 

“Good weekend and I want to acknowledge the other drivers in the lanes next to Robert and me during the final race. You got to congrats that to Alexis DeJoria as her old car is starting to fly and Tim Wilkerson, to race the way he does on a budget is really something,” said John Force.

This was John Force’s fifth start at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals and his second final round appearance.

“These were all great competitors and we gave the fans a really good show today,” said John Force.

For the third year in a row the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals were not kind to the Traxxas backed team. Courtney Force dropped a close race to her dad John Force and Tommy Johnson Jr.

“We didn’t get the win out here this weekend. We had some tough competition in the first round going up against my dad, Arend and Tommy Johnson Jr. But on a positive note, we’ve had a more consistent race car and coming out to four-wide I think it definitely shows that we’ve improved this year more than any year in the past,” said Force.

“We’re looking forward to Houston next week, but knowing that we qualified in the No. 6 position is big for us. That’s our best qualified spot at four-wide. We had a tough first round, but that’s going to keep up pushing forward. As a driver, I have to keep pushing myself too and we’ll see what we can do in Houston,” said Force. 

Brittany Forces chances of winning her first NHRA Top Fuel trophy evaporated in the second round of eliminations as her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle. Despite having her
best back-to-back qualifying performances, she still came up short on race day. Regardless, the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year remains upbeat and positive. 

“I’m still very proud of my Castrol EDGE team. To come out here to Charlotte and qualify number five at the four-wide is a big deal. That’s what we tried to do all of last year and we’ve improved. I’m also up against some tough guys, it’s not an easy group of racers so again, to go out and qualify number five at this race with these conditions and against some great teams is a big deal,” said Brittany Force.

In the opening round, Brittany finished second in her quad to 2012 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Antron Brown while outrunning Clay Millican and Leah Pritchett as their race cars experience traction and mechanical issues. Brittany ran a strong with a 3.81 at 323.19 mph and was right there next to Antron Brown’s 3.801 at 323.04.

“I felt good feeling going into the first quad, my energy was up and my guys were pumped. I had a feeling we’d get past round one. When I got to the other end of the track, I had no clue who won. I can get complicated with three other race cars up there but they said it was Antron and me moving on and I was pumped about that. Unfortunately we went out in the semis but we did get past this stump we’ve been in the last two races of going out in the first round,” said Brittany Force.

As a driver, Brittany’s confidence in herself and in the team’s ability to tune her race car to the track conditions continues to grow. She also solidifying her place in the points chase as she’s putting rounds on the guys behind her. 

“The more runs we get, the better I feel in the car. I’m feeling more comfortable in the Castrol EDGE Dragster and it will help us go rounds in two weeks at the NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston,” said Brittany Force.

JFR QUARTET READY FOR FOUR-WIDE SUCCESS

CHARLOTTE, NC – Going into Sunday’s eliminations at the 5th annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway outside of Charlotte the quartet of John Force Racing drivers have the same goal but different starting points.

Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang will start the day from the strongest position as No. 2 qualifier and will race in a quad made up of No. 7 qualifier Matt Hagan, No. 10 qualifier Jack Beckman and No. 15 qualifier Tony Pedregon. With four collective Mello Yello Championships amongst his opponents Hight is eager to take on the challenge of Four-Wide racing.

“The key is just focusing on your job. I can’t control what Beckman, Hagan or Tony (Pedregon) do. I will do my usual routine and try and cut the best light I can. I know Mike Neff will give me a great race car and we will try and take advantage of the Four-Wide format. You can slip up a little in the first two rounds and finish second and still advance,” said Hight.

“Our goal will be to be the quickest so we can always have out first choice of lanes. That could become critical. This all-concrete track has been pretty even and it will be an exciting day. I want to win another Four-Wide race and keep this momentum in the Auto Club pit.”

Hight’s quickest ET was 4.074 seconds for the weekend. He holds the Mello Yello points lead and picked up four qualifying bonus points this weekend.

Courtney Force picked up three additional bonus points today on the fourth and final qualifying pass when her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car ran the best ET of the session. She posted a 4.088 at 316.01 mph to pick up the points and keep her No. 6 qualifying spot. She will go up against John Force, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jeff Arend in the opening round on Sunday.

The 2012 Auto Club Rookie of the Year was fastest overall in the Funny Car category on Friday, but bumped up that number to 316 mph today on the final pass.

“In Q4, the car did exactly what we wanted it to. Running that 4.08 put us low of the round so we picked up three bonus points which is awesome. We even increased top speed to over 316 mph, which is fastest of the weekend so far,” said Force.

Force ran a 4.181 ET at 288.83 mph in the first session today when her car smoked the tires before the finish line.

“It spun the tires in Q3 and we ran a 4.18 so it slowed us down a little bit, but I could tell we were on a good run. My car has been pretty consistent this weekend, which is a good thing for us,” said Force.

For the past two years, the 25-year-old has qualified No. 12 at the Four-Wide events and has gone out in the first round on race day, but Force says she thinks her team has stepped it up quite a bit and is ready to take on the competition.  

“We’re excited. We’re going into race day with second pick of lane choice. Unfortunately, we’re in a quad with my dad, but hopefully both of us can move on to the next round. We’re going to do the best we can. We have a good car and we know which lanes we like best and we just have to get around the other guys first and hopefully a JFR team takes home the win tomorrow,” said Force.

Once again, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is making John Force and the crew of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang work overtime in trying to get a handle on the zMAX Dragway track surface. However, hard work would pay off as Jimmy Prock tuned-up John Force’s Funny Car to a 4.13 second elapsed time at over 316 mph during the third session today.

The good news is John Force was able to move up in the qualifying order to the No. 11 spot. The bad news is he faces daughter Courtney Force along with Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jeff Arend is round one.

“We were low ET of that first session with a 4.13 and we tried to step it up out of the bottom to get lane choice and that’s going to be tricky winning this race,” said John Force.

For a crew chief, the Four-Wide racing format is hard to grasp at times but with Jimmy Prock and Danny DeGennaro calling the shots on race day, the Castrol GTX High Mileage team will be ready to go rounds.

“The way we are with our tune-up from Jimmy Prock and Danny DeGennaro is off a little bit and we’re going to have to find it no matter what lane we run. We’re going to go out there and give these fans here on the east coast a show and everyone on ESPN and we’re excited about it,” said John Force

Even though John Force is the winningest driver in NHRA history, he knows there’s a strategy in going rounds and winning the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals a feat he accomplished in 2010. Force has a 6-3 round win record at the Four-Wide race and the only quad he has won was the final round in 2010.  His other five “wins” came in races in which he finished second to advance to the next round.  

“I’ll watch who I’m racing but none of these kids play games, the bottom line is the crew chiefs have their job cut out for them. A four lane format is really great for a short TV show as it all works good but then you don’t have the time to watch the other cars. If you’re the first or second pair, you don’t get to watch nobody. For crew chiefs, it’s a nightmare but they love it. It’s a real mind boggler but I’m the best and I can do it,” said John Force.  

Under tricky track conditions at zMAX Dragway, Brittany Force was still able to keep her Castrol EDGE Dragster qualified in the top-half of the field. The sophomore Top Fuel racer was hoping to pick up a few more qualifying spots and move up during today’s two sessions and improve on her 3.80 second elapsed time from yesterday.

Unfortunately, she slipped to the No. 5 slot but will still have ever important lane choice over No. 12 qualifier Leah Pritchett and No. 13 qualifier Clay Millican come Sunday’s first round eliminations.

With this being Brittany’s second crack racing the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, she’s more confidence as driver but will not take anything for granted when lines up with three other Top Fuel Dragsters in round one.

“I definitely feel more comfortable going into race day here at the Four-Wide in Charlotte. However, it’s definitely a challenge going up on that starting line, you don’t want to get lost and you want to keep your focus. You need to know where you’re at on the Christmas tree. That’s my number one focus right now,” said Brittany Force.

With any driver, the hours and minutes before they suit up and get strapped in can be agonizing as they go through their routine repeatedly in their mind. They make sure they’re mentally prepared and Brittany knows what she’s need to do.

“I’ll figure out what lane I’m in before first round and go up be the run, stand in my lane and look at the Christmas tree and know exactly where I’m at so I don’t do anything to screw me up come first round on race day tomorrow,” said Brittany Force.

During the 2013 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, severe weather conditions prevented the drivers from getting four qualifying sessions. For Brittany, it was tough as it was her first time racing in a Four-Wide format. However, she made passes in each of the four lanes this weekend and feels confident.

“It definitely helps me and our crew guys going down the race track in each lane. Just being to go down this track while working on my reaction times on that Christmas tree helps. With three other cars next to me, it can be very distracting. It is so different and challenge being on that starting line and I don’t think many people understand that. I changes a drivers routine because all year you race with only one other competitor in the lane next you but here, it’s a whole new ballgame,” said Brittany Force.

Brittany Force also had the opportunity to meet a local Girl Scout Troop and give them an insider’s perspective of driving a 10,000-horsep
ower nitro dragster.

“One of the greatest aspects of my job is working with kids. We had some sixth and seventh grade Girl Scouts come out and Courtney and I talked them a little pep talk about how we got into this sport, what we studied in school and mostly about chasing your dreams, no matter what,” said Brittany Force.

Brittany also has the potential to be the winner of the 100th national event by a female in the history of NHRA this weekend. Eric Enders-Stevens won the 98th national event by a woman in Las Vegas two weeks ago. This is an achievement she hasn’t really thought about but is still something she’d like to obtain.

“That would be insane but right now, I want my first win. That’s something the Castrol EDGE team is after. Now, if we accomplish that, it would top it all,” said Brittany Force.

HIGHT AND B. FORCE START STRONG AT FOUR-WIDE

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Auto Club Ford Mustang and driver Robert Hight started the 5th annual Four-Wide Nationals with two strong runs and a provisional No. 2 qualifying spot at zMAX Dragway on Friday. Hight picked up four qualifying bonus points posting the two second quickest runs of each session and establishing a comfort level going into Saturday’s final day of qualifying.

“When (crew chief Mike) Neff starts out good like he did today he is pretty steady and pretty tough. I like our chances this weekend,” said Hight.

“It is double the cars but it is not that big of a deal. I just try and get in there and get ready. The biggest thing is you don’t want to pay attention to all the other cars. You don’t want to think (Alexis) DeJoria is in lane three and John (Force) is in lane two and someone else is in lane one. It doesn’t matter who is over there. You can’t go until we are all in and ready to go. I just watch and when the last person lights the light you go on yellow. I try and make it as simple as possible,” said Hight, the current Funny Car Mello Yello points leader

“I like (Four-Wide) because in all honesty you get two second chances on Sunday. All you have do is be the second quickest car in the first and second round and obviously you want to be the quickest. If you are the second quickest you get to move on. There are only three rounds. This is a great race to capitalize and gain some points. We got four bonus points today.”

Courtney Force ended the first day of qualifying today with a strong 4.086 second run to put her in the top half of the field. The 25-year-old has competed at zMAX Dragway under the Four-Wide set-up twice before and she has qualified No. 12 both times.

In the first qualifying session, Force smoked the tires early in her run and posted a 5.996 ET.

“It’s the only place on earth you can get this kind of racing. It’s exciting but it’s very chaotic up there. I was nervous going out for my first pass. We struggled a little bit. We had some tire shake and coasted down the race track,” said Force.

Force came back with a 4.086 ET at 314.75 mph in the second round and went to the top half of the field. She was one of four cars to run a 4.08 second run in the second session. Her second session run also currently stands as the top mph for the Funny Car field at 314.75 mph.

“On the second pass today, we were able to go up and improve in lane two. We ran a 4.08 to get into the top half of the field. I’m really proud of my Traxxas Ford Mustang team. They’ve busted their butts this weekend. I know it’s a little more chaotic than a regular race weekend. I’m always proud when we can get the car down the race track with a good pass like that on the first day of qualifying.

“As a driver, it is more confusing. When you’re in lanes three and four you have to look over at the tree to find your bulb and you really have to be on your A-game. I think it’s a lot of fun for the fans to watch, especially with 40,000 horsepower going down the track all at once. We’re excited and we’re going to be ready to see what we can run tomorrow,” said Force.

John Force and his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang struggled today during qualifying. After two sessions, the 16-time Funny Car champ could only manage a 4.441 elapsed time at 204.08 MPH and is currently in the 15th spot.

“This Four-Wide is a whole different ballgame. It’s good for a TV package as you can get more in less time for a show and the fans are loving it because it’s 40,000 horsepower of nitro and smoke in the stands and they can’t breathe up there, it’s spectacular,” said John Force.

During the first run today, John Force’s Castrol High Mileage Mustang didn’t run too strong and clicked off a 4.441. On the second qualifying run, John Forces smoked the massive Goodyear slicks tires before half-track, and therefore had to shut down his 8000-horsepower Funny Car to avoid getting sideways and contacting the retaining wall.

The NHRA Four-Wide is also playing hardball with the chiefs as once again, it is proving to be very challenging, and regardless how many times they’ve raced in this format and collected data from the prior events.

“For the crew chiefs, they got to fight it. If you’re the fourth pair in a 16 car show, the crew guys have to make decisions on the spot. Once they fire that first car, it’s only a few minutes and you’re up there. Then there are the lanes when running here. You don’t go to the lane you ran on the last run. You go to a completely different one and you’re end up staying lost all the time. Over the course of two days, you do end up running four lanes so it’s a job for them,” said John Force.

As a driver, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is less than routine and can even put their senses on massive overload. With so much going on, even a seasoned veteran like John Force finds it challenging.

“For the driver, it’s more bulbs than anyone has ever seen and it is mind boggling. You try to focus and if somebody breaks, the starter comes running over but what is he telling you? A single in lane two, three, four? It’s mass confusion but that’s what makes it exciting as I have more fire in me at the four wide and with the investment Bruton Smith has made, he deserves it,” said John Force.

While other racers struggled, Brittany Force showed the competition that she and her crew have figured out the tricky NHRA Four-Wide Nationals by qualifying her Castrol EDGE Dragster in the fourth spot with a strong 3.8000 elapsed time at over 325 mph. Along with being solidly in the top-half of the field, Brittany was also rewarded with a NHRA Mello Yello bonus point for her efforts.

“I am excited to be in Charlotte for the Four Wide. It is always a great show for the fans. You get to see four races cars at once go down the track and that is always exciting. It was louder than I remembered from last year,” said Brittany Force

Brittany’s first pass of the day was a tire smoking 5.610 elapsed time that didn’t sit too well with her and the team. Not to be discouraged, crew chief Todd Smith and Dean “Guido” Antonelli rallied the troops to came back and blister the pavement at zMAX Dragway with a 3.800 run on the second session.

“The first run we went out and smoked the tires so we didn’t put up a good number. We definitely made up for it in the second session. I ran a 3.80 and we would up No. 4. I am very happy and proud of my Castrol EDGE team,” said Brittany Force.

AUTO CLUB’S HIGHT RUNNER-UP AT LAS VEGAS;TAKES PTS LEAD

LAS VEGAS —- Robert Hight was racing in his third consecutive final and his second final of the season versus Alexis DeJoria today at the 15th annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals. The Auto Club Ford Mustang was consistent all day running 4.082, 4.086, 4.073 and then 4.083 in the final but DeJoria’s amazing 4.026 second pass in the other lane gave her the win. Hight will leave with the Mello Yello points lead and the momentum of three finals in a row as the Auto Club team heads east for the 5th annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals in Charlotte, NC.

“We had a great car all day. It was so consistent running 4.08s and a 4.07. That was a great run in the other lane. No one is hanging their head over in the Auto Club pits. We have been to three finals in a row and we have the points lead. Mike Neff has a great handle on this car and it was flawless today,” said Hight, a three-time Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals winner. “We have three wins at this race and we will be looking to get in the winner’s circle here in the fall. This season is a marathon not a sprint. I have to thank all our sponsors from Auto Club to Castrol, Ford, Mac Tools, PEAK and BrandSource. I was hoping we could have given away a TV again but sometimes the breaks just don’t go your way,” said Robert Hight.

Hight moved into the points lead when he defeated Ron Capps in the semi-finals. The last time Hight was in the points lead was Seattle of 2012. He has held the points lead at least once every year of his career with the exception of last season where his highest point position was No. 3 when he exited Charlotte with a win in the Countdown.

In the first round Hight took out veteran driver Jeff Arend. In the second round the Auto Club Ford Mustang pulled up beside Paul Lee and advanced on the strength of a 4.086 second run. In the semi-finals it was a classic John Force Racing versus Don Schumacher race as Hight and Ron Capps battled for a spot in the final round. Hight took out Capps with another strong 4.073 second run to get lane choice over DeJoria in the final.

Courtney Force claimed her fourth career No. 1 qualifier this weekend when she ran a 4.006 ET, but lost in the second round of eliminations

“We’ve had consistent, solid passes coming out here to Vegas. We made it down the track every run this weekend,” said Force.

The third-year driver went up against Jon Capps in the opening round. This was the second time she has faced him after getting the win over him at Indy in 2012. Force ran a 4.106 at 308.43 while Capps fouled out with a -.143 red light.

“First round we had a great car. We changed tires a couple times and got it right. The conditions are so different each time we’ve been on the track. The wind is a lot more severe down track with that cross wind down there that catches you pretty good so that made for an exciting ride, but this Traxxas Ford Mustang blazed through the first round and into the second,” said Force.

In the second round, Force lined up beside Cruz Pedregon. This was the eighth time the pair has competed in eliminations. Force was outrun by her competitor, putting them 4-4 against one another.

“We’ve done pretty good at this track in the past, we just couldn’t get past Cruz in the second round today, but I’m proud of my team for giving us such a good car this weekend, being that we were in the No. 1 spot with top speed of Nitro qualifying. We’re leaving here with the track record in both ET and speed,” said Force.

Last year at both NHRA Las Vegas races, Force qualified in the No. 2 spot and went to the final round on race day.

“I think we’ve got a long season to go and this definitely proves we have a car capable of running some really good numbers. We’re excited and looking forward to Charlotte. We should have cool conditions there and I’m excited to see if we can put another 325 mph run on the board and back it up for the national record that we missed here. I hope we can inch a little closer to making a three-second run for the first time and joining my dad and Robert in the three-second club,” said Force.

Force moved up to No. 6 in the Mello Yello Funny Car point standings after her quarterfinals finish today.

“All in all, it wasn’t a bad weekend for the Traxxas Ford Mustang team. We moved up in points and we’re just going to keep pushing forward,” said Force.

John Force suffered an uncharacteristic first round loss to Paul Lee. Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang was bitten by a mechanical failure at the hit of the throttle that caused the 8000-horspower engine to drop a cylinder and lose power. Despite running a 4.137 on seven cylinders to Paul Lee’s 4.132, John still came up short on this match-up.

“I didn’t do that good of a job today and neither did the car. These things happen but we’re no worse as we’re still doing okay in points heading to the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in two weeks. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) and the rest of guys did a great job this weekend but these mechanical hiccups can happen. I also need to a better job on my reaction times,” said John Force.  

The culprit that contributed to John’s opening round loss was a faulty slide valve that controls the flow of nitro to the BOSS 500 engine. Because it malfunctioned, too much fuel was fed to the engine that knocked out one of the cylinders thus having an adverse effect and taking away almost 1000 horsepower from the BOSS 500 engine.  

“The seals on the slide valve went out during the run and screwed up the electronics so it wasn’t in the right position and made the engine fuel mixture too rich. I was a pretty good run on seven cylinders but we still didn’t win. We’ll try again in two weeks,” said crew chief Jimmy Prock  

John Force will leave Las Vegas with a total of 358 points and in second place.  

Lady Luck wasn’t on the side of Brittany Force today as she also suffered a first round defeat during the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. Her Castrol EDGE Dragster experienced severe tire shake when she hit the throttle on the 10,000 horsepower engine and she could only watch her opponent, Bob Vandergriff, drive away and get the win.

“I was really disappointed in that run but I’m still proud of my guys, proud of this Castrol EDGE team. Everyone tried their best this weekend but it wasn’t meant for us in the first round. We went out there and at around 100 feet, it shook so hard and I tried to drive through it but it was too hard of a shake. I got out of the throttle and I was going to jump back into it but Vandergriff was out in front of me so there was no chance of catching him and I didn’t want to do more damage to the car of the engine,” said Brittany Force.

Today’s early defeat won’t dampen the spirits if this 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year. She’s had the best teacher and mentor – the 16-time NHRA Funny champ that happens to be her father – John Force, to show her the sport of drag racing has extreme highs and lows. Brittany is currently eighth in standings with 191 points.

“I’m bummed out but we’re going to turn it around. We have Charlotte coming up in two weeks and I’m confident we’ll go some rounds,” said Brittany Force

Crew chief Todd Smith feels the same way despite feeling the pressure of trying to tame a 10,000-horspower dragster so it’s repeatable and consistent on any track surface.

“The car had excessive clutch wear and so in an attempt to make an adjustment to that, I made a change our set up this morning. All indications showed i
t was the right thing to do but unfortunately the car didn’t respond. Clutch wear is a very critical thing for these cars and if it’s not exactly right, the car will shake the tires and that’s exactly what happened today,” said crew chief Todd Smith.

FORCES DOMINATE FINAL DAY OF VEGAS QUALIFYING

LAS VEGAS, NV – In the fourth and final qualifying session today at the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals, Courtney Force jumped from the No. 8 spot and went to the top of the Funny Car pack with a 4.006 at 325.37 mph. This is the 25-year-old driver’s fourth No. 1 since the 2013 Winternationals.  

“We are excited. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the season. In Gainesville we went all the way to the semis and we got beat by my dad. It felt good to have a consistent race car back. It felt good to come to a track where we have had some success in the past. We have been No. 2 here and we went to the final at both Las Vegas events last year,” said Force.

Force not only set the track record for both ET and speed with that run, but also beat her personal-best ET of 4.016, which she set at the NHRA Finals in 2013, and her career-best speed of 320.98 mph.

“My dad seems to keep getting me at the end. They told me I was No. 1 qualifier, but I didn’t know about the speed, 325 mph is pretty amazing. To get the track record at four flat is great. I was waiting honestly for dad or Hagan to take it from me with a run in the threes,” said Force.

Her 325.37 mph was the quickest Nitro run of the weekend thus far, topping even Antron Brown’s 325. 14 mph run in Top Fuel.

“The car feels fast no matter what. You can just tell when it is on that smooth clear run. Everything just goes perfect. I think I glanced over at Capps on the starting line. I was trying to see if he was staged and he was trying to get in there shallow like everyone on the last session. I glanced over and made a mistake being late. It bummed me out a little but it was better to do that today rather than tomorrow on race day,” said Force.

The 2012 Rookie of the Year picked up three bonus points for being quickest of the fourth Funny Car qualifying session.

Force, who has been racing professionally in the NHRA Funny Car class for three years now, has always done well at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but today’s performance took the team above and beyond their personal expectations.

“My team gave me a good car. It is tunnel vision all the way down there. My team was telling me in the staging lanes that it was going to go on a good run. That just gets you so pumped up. Ron came on the radio and was excited. It is always a good feeling when you hop out of your race car and your guys are cheering for you,” said Force.

This is the second time Courtney and John have been No. 1 and No. 2, but the first time with Courtney occupying the No. 1 spot. John was No. 1 and Courtney No. 2 in 2013 at Topeka.

“I am proud of this Traxxas Ford Mustang team. They have been working hard on this car all weekend and to have it running this consistently makes you feel good. It gets you motivated for race day tomorrow,” said Force.

Courtney will run Jon Capps in the opening round on race day. She is 1-0 to Capps, who she bestrd in the first round at Indy in 2012.

“I was sitting in my car when I heard that Erica (Enders) won the K&N Horsepower Challenge. I thought that was awesome. Before that Brittany made her career best run with a 3.79. I am really proud of her and that just means her team is coming together. It was great to get the top qualifying spot and not have it stolen by my dad. For all the females out here this was a great day. We are all looking forward to tomorrow. It was cool to see that my run was not just the fastest in Funny Car but also Top Fuel. It was a great day for JFR and the Traxxas team,” said Force.

John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang bounced back from two dismal qualifying sessions just 24 hours earlier with a stout 4.017 during the final qualifying run at The Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Force solidly put his Funny Car in the No. 2 position and will face the No. 15 qualifier Paul Lee, in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

“We ran good on both our sessions today. On the first run, we were low with a 4.05 and for a while, Robert, Courtney and me were one, two and three until Matt Hagan bumped us. On the fourth qualify session, we stepped up with a 4.017 but Courtney also ran a 4.006. To see Courtney set both ends of the track record was awesome,” said John Force.

The crew of Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang has been hot in providing John a fast yet consistent 8000-horsepower ride. The team has been extremely hot this season and shows no signs of slowing down or losing focus.

“We always stay positive and I have a great bunch of guys here. (Crew chiefs) Jimmy Prock, Danny DeGennaro and the rest of the crew threw this old hot rod right down the alley. They all have really worked hard and I’m very proud of them,” said John Force.

Like any sport, drag racing has a way of making seasoned drivers and teams go from hero to zero in the span of just a few races. John knows this all too well and never forgets this fact that comes with the territory racing competitively in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

“This job can be so humbling as you can go from the top to the bottom, you can be a 16-time champ and struggle to even get in the show. Courtney said to me ‘Dad, you’re not qualified, get it in the show!’ I told her, ‘Yeah baby, I’ll pedal it faster!’ Jimmy Prock and those kids make that happen,” said Force.

Some might say racing can throw drivers a curve ball once again the Castrol GTX High Mileage team was swinging for the fences.

“You just want to be in the show come race day as all your sponsors are out here looking at the champ and his choke is stuck but we’re okay. Come tomorrow, I’m not going to take anyone lightly in the lane next to us,” said Force.

The Auto Club Ford Mustang stepped up as well today with a strong 4.059 second run in the first session. It was quick enough to grab one qualifying bonus point behind Matt Hagan and John Force.

In the second session with conditions rapidly improving Hight and his Mike Neff tuned Ford Mustang Funny Car were looking to go to the No. 1 spot when they ran right after teammate Courtney Force. Unfortunately Hight’s Mustang Funny Car lost traction just past half-track as it was charging past Ron Capps.

“We were trying to run to No. 1 and we just pushed it a little too hard. We are pretty confident with this Auto Club Mustang. Neff has a good handle on it and he had a great race day tune-up. You just feel so good in the car when it rolls up there because Neff puts you are ease,” said Hight, a three time Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals winner.

“These guys give him a good race car and if I do my job on the starting line I like our chances no matter where we are qualified. Everyone you race is tough whether you are the No. 1 qualifier or the No. 11 qualifier. We won from the bottom half of the field in the Gatornationals. We will be ready for Jeff Arend. You know Jim Dunn will have that Funny Car ready so we will have to bring our ‘A’ game.”

Saturday’s qualifying at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals proved that Brittany Force and her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster are consistently improving as she ran a stalwart 3.79 second time and qualified in the top half of the field. Under the guidance of crew chief Todd Smith and Dean “Guido” Antonelli, they have given the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year race car she can go rounds with and win.

“I’m so excited to have run that 3.79 on that final qualifying session. We struggled yesterday during the first run with a mechanical issue but the Castrol EDGE team really pulled together today. My guys really stepped it up and have provided me a fantastic race car. I’m so stoked about Sunday’s eliminations,” said Brittany Force.

“During the third qualifying session today, we had a cylinder out at the hit of the throttle so I got out of it early. One thing we want to get back to is being consistent li
ke we were back at the Phoenix race. As I driver, I’m still doing my exact routine every time I go up to the line. However, this weekend has been a bit of a challenge, I have new crew member guiding me into the staging beams and I’m trying to get into a routine with him. Having a new person on the starting line with a different routine can be challenging but I’m ready to win some rounds tomorrow,” said Brittany Force.

For crew chief Todd Smith, it has also been challenging during the last two races but is confident the team is pointed in the right direction and the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster is starting to come around.

“The confidence level is getting better. We did struggle a little bit on Friday but we bounced back okay. We put a new supercharger on the engine this weekend and so we’re trying to learn the air curve. On the first run today, we didn’t have the right tune and the engine started dropping cylinders. We made some adjustments before the final session today and the car responded quite well and ran that 3.79 time,” said Todd Smith.

Brittany, who qualified No. 7, will face Bob Vandergriff in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. Brittany has face Bob Vandergriff twice and lost on both occasions. With her focus, drive along with the improved performance of her Castrol EDGE Dragster, she’s not just looking to get past the first round on race day, but to win her first NHRA Top Fuel Wally.

SOLID START FOR JFR AT LAS VEGAS ON FRIDAY

HIGHT RACES TO VICTORY AT GATORNATIONALS

GAINESVILLE, FL (march 16, 2014) – Robert Hight qualified his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang Funny Car in the No. 10 spot at the day’s end on Saturday, setting him up for what would be his first victory of the 2014 season. The Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals win put a 55” flat screen TV in the hands of Robert Houston of Gainesville, Fla., compliments of BrandSource and the “Win with Force” promotion. It was a lock for Houston considering Hight was racing JFR teammate John Force in the final.

“This win was huge. That guy (Force) has 16 championships and he is the best out here. To add to that he is driving for my old team. There was some added pressure there and it is hard to go up there and get motivated and do your best job. You just have to focus. I wasn’t as focused in the first round and semis as I should have been. I was alright in the second round,” said a fired up Hight from the winner’s circle.

“I got up for the final because I started to think about last year and not making the Traxxas Shootout. That was no fun to get to the US Nationals and not be running for the $100,000 prize at the Traxxas Shootout. We needed this win for the Auto Club. We got two finals in a row and now a win. This could not be a better start.”

Hight defeated Tony Pedregon, Bob Tasca III, Ron Capps and John Force in route to his 30th career event win. He had low ET of the weekend with a 4.061 on Sunday. This is the second TV JFR has given away in 2014.

At each NHRA national event when a JFR team qualifies No. 1 a lucky fan that has signed up at the JFR “Win with Force” display located in Nitro Alley will be eligible to win the BrandSource No. 1 Qualifier Award, a front loading washer and dryer set.  If a JFR driver wins the event a different fan will win the 55” flat screen TV Winner’s Circle Award from BrandSource.  At the end of the season a grand prize winner of the “Win with Force” Sweepstakes will be awarded a 2014 Ford Escape S-Series.

Thanks to a winning season by John Force Racing in 2013, BrandSource gave away eight flat-screen televisions and nine washers & dryers to lucky fans. More than 24,000 race fans registered to win prizes at the “Win with Force” display in NHRA’s Nitro Alley. Another 91,000 fans signed up online at BrandSource.com.

Fans can sign up to win at the John Force Racing interactive midway display. This 53-foot trailer will be in the Nitro Alley area of every NHRA Mello Yello Series national event in 2014. The “Win with Force” promotion now includes JFR team partners Castrol, BrandSource, Ford, Traxxas and Mac Tools, all joining together to create an incredible promotion for the fans.

TEAM JFR RACE REPORT
3rd of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series

45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals

Auto Plus Raceway

Gainesville, FL
March 16, 2014

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Final round results from Sunday’s 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatorationals at Auto Plus Raceway, third race in the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:

FUNNY CAR – Robert Hight, Yorba Linda, Calif., Auto Club Ford Mustang, 4.074, 314.46 mph def. John Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Castrol GTX High Mielage Ford Mustang, 6.435, 118.29 mph.

TOP FUEL – Doug Kalitta, Ypsilanti, Mich., Mac Tools dragster, 3.830, 323.74 mph def. Antron Brown, Brownsburg, Ind., Matco Tools dragster, 5.106, 147.50 mph.

PRO STOCK – Allen Johnson, Greeneville, Tenn., Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar Dodge Dart, 6.566, 211.73 mph def. Erica Enders-Stevens, Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, 6.551, 211.96 mph

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – Steve Johnson, Birmingham, Al., Suzuki, 6.912, 191.32 mph def. Scotty Pollacheck, Medford, Ore., Buell, 7.093, 190.81 mph

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HIGHT DOMINATES FIELD FOR SECOND GATORNATIONALS WIN

GAINESVILLE, FL —- Robert Hight may not have had a strong two days of qualifying at the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals but when it counted his Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car was the class of the field winning for the first time in 2014. Hight reached the final two weeks ago in Phoenix but today he notched his thirtieth career win tying him with Funny Car legend Kenny Bernstein for sixth all-time in the Funny Car class. Hight outran John Force, 4.074 to 6.345 seconds.

“I can’t even believe my name is associated with guys like that. Guys like Kenny, John Force and Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme were my heroes. Kenny is a guy I always watched. He was always so professional. He was a businessman. He was one of my all-time favorites, He worked very hard to get where he was. To tie him with Funny Car wins is amazing. He is a four-time champion in Funny Car and I am trying to win my second,” said Hight.

Hight had to beat teammate and 16-time Funny Car legend John Force in the final. Both Funny Cars had strong performances on race day but their qualifying efforts left a lot to be desired. Hight was the No. 10 qualifier and Force raced to the final round from the No. 16 spot.

“If you would have told me this morning that John and I would be in the final I don’t know if I would have taken that bet. I know our teams work really hard and work well together but we were struggling. For both of us to get to the final round and do it on performance was awesome. My Auto Club team was great today. In the final I had some motivation. I wanted to lock up a spot in the Traxxas Shootout. We got our win and John is already in there so he didn’t need another win. We are trying to chase him down in the points. We picked up another round on him. This is a major win for us. The Gatornationals is the East Coast kick off. I have won this race twice and my crew chief has won this race before. We always carry Eric Medlen with us and today was a good day,” said Hight.

“I could lie to you and say we were playing with them but that is not the case. We go up there every run trying to do well. Usually we will test if we are in solid and we have been running good. That is when we might take a run to try something. Truthfully you really need four runs to get ready for race day. You test on Monday if you get a chance. Going up there in the final I am racing the all-time leader in Funny Car. It is tough to race him.”

Hight started the day in a tough first round match-up with Tony Pedregon. Hight and his Mike Neff tuned Auto Club Funny Car stepped up and posted the best ET of the event 4.061 seconds to get the win. Prior to staging Hight watched as Neff did something unusual before the body was lowered.

“Mike Neff is a smart racer. First round he did something he never does. We backed up from the burn out and they lifted the body and he got in the box. We set low ET of the event first round. He is just a savvy racer,” said Hight of his crew crew chief.

“He must have thought of a change he could make when we made the burn out and he wanted to make that change before we ran. We were racing Tony Pedregon and his brother (Cruz) was low ET. He just wanted to play it safe. I have a lot of confidence driving for Mike Neff. He was a driver before. He always comes up and says, ‘No pressure let’s have some fun.’ I am very fortunate to be on this team. I can’t wait to be with him for a full season. I think we are going to hurt some feelings.”

The Hight Force match-up was the 40th all JFR Funny Car final and Hight’s win was the 227th Funny Car win for JFR.

After qualifying No. 16 with a less-than-impressive 4.38 ET, John Force drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang to the finals today. This was John’s twelfth Gatornationals final round appearance and the fourth time he has faced teammate Robert Hight in a final round at any NHRA event. John Force maintained the Funny Car points lead, with event winner Hight in second place and daughter Courtney in tenth.

“We shouldn’t have even been in the race as we were the 16th qualifier and got in with a 4.38. But you know, maybe I’m guilty of wanting to win every race and I know my team is trying as we’re pitching Corporate America. With Robert winning with the Auto Club Ford Mustang, that puts him into the Traxxas Shootout and I’m already in so we need to get Courtney in. You got to look at positives and negatives as I wanted to win. But it’s a win-win for us here at the Gatornationals,” said John Force.

Even though the 16-time champ has made hundreds of runs down Auto Plus Raceway in Gainesville over the past three decades, he was a little rushed during the final round when he went to stage against Robert Hight.

“I actually screwed up and drove up and put on my top light on the Christmas tree. It didn’t hurt me leaving or nothing but I was a little too quick and I didn’t want Robert to think I was trying to screw with him. What’s funny is Robert is president of John Force Racing and we are constantly in the boardrooms meeting with major companies fighting to get sponsors for next year, yet we hardly talk when we’re at the race track and that’s because we’re both going after that points lead,” said John Force.

Going into the final round, John Force was determined to give Robert Hight a run for the money despite Hight having the quicker Mustang and lane choice. When the Christmas tree flashed green, both John and Robert’s Mustang’s had almost identical reaction times. Unfortunately for Force, the Castrol GTX Mustang hazed the tires at mid-track and Hight motored by him to get the win light.

Despite struggling in qualifying, crew chief Jimmy Prock and the team addressed several possible issues following the final session yesterday and then tuned Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang into a round-winning race car today. It was during the semi-finals that John Force would defeat his daughter Courtney in the Traxxas Ford Mustang.

“You know you’re on the right team and the right family when your own daughter Courtney in the Traxxas Ford Mustang says ‘Dad, I know how bad you want to win; don’t worry about me, just go get ‘em’. She knows I’m chasing sponsors and she went after me and they blew the tires off and we did too but it was down track. I love her with all my heart as I do with all my kids,” said John Force. 

Courtney Force came to compete at the 2014 NHRA Gatornationals, No. 12 in the Mello Yello Funny Car point standings, but after a semi-final finish today, she is sitting comfortably in the No. 10 position.

“We had a great weekend out here at the Gatornationals. I’m really proud of my Traxxas Ford Mustang team. These guys have been busting their butts and working hard. We struggled the first two races,
so to test and Phoenix, come out here and get things turned around is great,” said Force.

Force qualified in the No. 5 spot and took on Matt Hagan in the opening round today. She posted a 4.102 ET at 315.56 mph to his tire-smoking effort of 4.307 seconds, putting her 6-5 to him on race day.

“I’ve got great crew chiefs behind me with Ron Douglas and Dan Hood. To be able to come out here and qualify in the top half of the field was big for us, but to get that first round win against Hagan was huge for my team,” said Force.

She went on to dismiss fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson in the second round, setting her up to take on teammate, dad and boss John Force in the semis. She smoked the tires and pedaled it to put a 6.090 on the board.

“We got all the way to the semis; our car was running pretty consistent up until the semifinal round against my dad. Unfortunately he was able to take that win. I tried to pedal the car and get it down there and had it sideways.

“We really wanted to go after it, but at the end of the day we’re happy. I think we’ve learned some things here. I’m excited for my teammate Robert Hight and my dad. It was great to see all three JFR Ford Mustangs go to the semifinal round and to have an all Force final. I’m excited Robert was able to pick up the win and get into the Traxxas Shootout” said Force.

Despite making her best run of the weekend, Brittany Force’s Castrol EDGE Dragster came up short in round one of eliminations. Facing eventual Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta for the fifth time this season, Brittany’s impressive 3.82 second ET along her nearly identical reaction time was not enough to hold off Kalitta’s 3.79 second ET.

“It’s always disappointing to go out in the first round, but to be able to have four qualifying passes and your best pass of the weekend be on Sunday, we’re happy about that. We left pretty closely off the line and Doug beat me by a little bit,” said Brittany Force.

At any race, qualifying is important key when getting the car dialed-in and set-up for the track conditions come race day. Unfortunately, the Castrol EDGE team and its crew chief Todd Smith were plagued with mechanical issues during some of the sessions.

“Qualifying was not what we hoped for as we had a couple of small parts issues that caused us really big engine damage. We knew we had a good car and we just had to fix these parts issues and get the damage repaired. We had our best shot this morning and we plugged the numbers and the car ran what we wanted,” said Todd Smith, crew chief on the Castrol EDGE Dragster.

Just as crew chief Todd Smith and Dean “Guido” Antonelli are always working to improve the performance of the Castrol EDGE Dragster, Brittany Force is also striving to be a better competitor. One key aspect that Brittany is focused on as a drag racer is her reaction times.

“I’ve been working on improving my reaction times as my crew guys have changed some things in my car such as the throttle pedal. For a while, my reaction times weren’t that good and we knew part of the reason was the throttle set up in the cockpit. Since we changed that, I think we’re heading in the right direction,” said Brittany Force.

The Top Fuel sophomore leaves the NHRA Gatornationals in seventh place in the Mello Yello series points and only one round out of fifth. With the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals less than two weeks away, Brittany Force will once again hit the strip in search of her first Top Fuel win.

TEAM JFR QUALIFYING REPORT
2014 NHRA Final Qualifying Summary
3rd of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series

45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals

Auto Plus Raceway

Gainesville, FL
March 14-16, 2014

Photos courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography for media use only

* * * *

C. FORCE GEARED UP FOR GATORNATIONALS AFTER STRONG SATURDAY

GAINESVILLE, FL – Courtney Force will take on the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car field from the No. 5 spot on Sunday at the 2014 Amalie Oil Gatornationals. Force entered Saturday not in the show, but quickly turned things around for her Traxxas Ford Mustang team. The 25-year-old started the day with a 4.131 ET at 308.85 mph and moved solidly into the show at the No. 7 spot and picking up three bonus points as the quickest Funny Car of the session.

“I’m excited that our Traxxas Ford Mustang team was able to come out here on Saturday of qualifying and improve on our last two qualifying sessions. We moved up to the top half of the field and that’s what we were going for,” said Force.

In the fourth and final qualifying session, the 2012 Rookie of the Year posted a 4.121 ET at 308.64 mph and moved up to the No. 5 spot and gaining her team two bonus points for being second-quickest of that session. That run set her up to take on competitor Matt Hagan in the opening round on race day.

“It definitely feels great. We changed some things around and it seems to be going in the right direction. We went out there and ran a 4.131 and a 4.121 so we were able to improve on the last run down the track,” said Force.

This will be the eleventh time the pair have matched up on race day since Force’s Funny Car debut in 2012. They are 5-5 in previous match-ups.

“We’re excited going into tomorrow. I think we have a good feel for both lanes. We have lane choice, but we have tough competition going up against Hagan. We’re just going to give it all we got and hopefully go some rounds,” said Force.

Robert Hight and the Auto Club Mustang team made a strong run to start the day. His Mike Neff tuned Funny Car posted the second quickest ET of the session and gave the team a great boost going into the final qualifying session. With temperatures cooling slightly after a number of delays in the Top Fuel session Hight’s Mustang hazed the tires at the top end and he will go into eliminations as the No. 10 qualifier and will race former teammate Tony Pedregon.

“Today was a good day. We made another solid run in the first session under race day conditions. In the last session Neff was looking for the edge and we just missed making another good run. Every time we go down the track we learn something plus we learn from our teammates. Courtney’s Traxxas Mustang made two good runs and we were right with her in the early session. The crew chiefs will get together tonight and we will all have a good game plan for tomorrow,” said Hight.

“The lanes are pretty even and I don’t see any reason we can’t have a long race day tomorrow. Tony Pedregon will be tough and we can’t look past him. I will do my job on the starting line and I know these Auto Club guys will give me a great race car.”

Hight is 9-15 against Tony Pedregon and he defeated him in the first round of last year’s Gatornationals.

John Force tried to tame the unpredictable track surface of Auto Plus Raceway for two straight days. The 16-time NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car champion struggled through four qualifying sessions and could only manage a 4.38 second elapsed time, placing his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang in the 16th spot.

“It’s been tough and we’ve struggled with this car but all our cars are in and the dragster is running good. Even though the Castrol car is struggling, but they said to me down there on top end during the interview after that last qualifying run, ‘Cruz is low qualifier like you were in Pomona and now and you’re number 16’. At the end of the day when you’re number one and I was low ET and got both ends of the track record, I was sick over that on Sunday morning because you know that car is right on the edge because no one else can do it. We’ll be fine tomorrow,” said John Force.

While most racers agonize by not qualifying in the top-half of the field, it doesn’t faze John Force who has won the Gatornationals seven times. 

“Being the 16th qualifier, I’ve got nothing to lose I’m going out there with a full heart and going after that kid. I love Cruz, it’ll be a fun race, a Toyota against a Ford and we’re going to have some fun.”

Force is 61-29 against Pedregon, 3-1 at the Gatornationals and 13-8 in previous first round meetings. Force has never won a race after qualifying No. 16 so this is an opportunity for him to achieve another milestone.  Force’s streak of No. 1 qualifying performances ends at five.

Coming off her first Top Fuel final round appearance just last month in Phoenix, Brittany Force struggled to qualify in the top half of the field today. Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster to ran a 3.86 second elapsed time placing her in the 13th spot. She narrowly missed picking up a qualifying bonus point in the first session on Saturday posting the fourth quickest Top Fuel run of the session.

“Qualifying didn’t actually go as expected as we’ve had some crazy runs and little bit of confusion in the first qualifying session,” said Brittany Force, who was recently named Rookie of the Year by RACER magazine. 

In trying to get a hold of Auto Plus Raceway crew chief Todd Smith has been trying to get Castrol EDGE Dragster back to its consistent ways. As a driver, Brittany knows the unpredictability of conditions come race day. She is 2-4 against Doug Kalitta but 2-1 in first rounds.

“It’s been very past two days for us but the important thing is we’re No. 13 and we’re are in the show and we’re ready to play tomorrow. We’re running Doug Kalitta and we’re beaten him before so I’m pumped and ready for tomorrow and we’re ready to go some rounds,” said Brittany Force.  

HIGHT HAS BEST DAY FOR JFR AT GATORNATIONALS

GAINESVILLE, FL – Warm temperatures cooled the performance numbers across the board at the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car team made their strongest run of the day during the second session posting a 4.132 second run at 303.78 mph which was good enough for the provisional No. 7 spot. With two more qualifying sessions tomorrow the most recent national event runner-up is ready for more improvement.

“This Auto Club Ford Mustang has been running in the low 4.0s for the first two events and we knew the conditions wouldn’t allow us to run that hard. We are just being smart and working our way systematically to a race day tune-up. No one is hanging their heads at any of our teams. The track was a little tricky today for all the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams,” said Hight.

While Hight was positioned in the top half of the field his teammates were not too far behind with team leader John Force sitting in the No. 11 spot and Courtney Force looking to move into the top 16 tomorrow. The elder Force’s best time today was 4.380 and the youngest Force’s best time was a tire smoking 8.184 second run. The unusual slow start did not dampen Courtney Force’s enthusiasm for being at one of the premier events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

“It’s great to be out here at the Gatornationals. I’m so excited. It’s the third race of the season and we’re still working out the kinks, but this Traxxas Ford Mustang team is determined going into tomorrow. I think we definitely learned some things in Q1 and Q2,” said Courtney Force. “The first run was a little bit weak and then the second run was a little too aggressive. We’re going to hopefully find that happy medium tomorrow and hopefully get this Traxxas Ford qualified well for race day at the Gatornationals.”

On the Top Fuel side of the equation Phoenix runner-up Brittany Force made consistent runs today and will move into Saturday as the No. 11 qualified dragster. Her second run in the Castrol EDGE dragster stepped up with a 3.945 seconds at 308.92 mph run.

“I’m glad to be out here in Gainesville. We’ve improved a lot from last year now that we’ve been down the track a few times. We have a new crew chief on board, Todd Smith, and things have really started to look up for us this year,” said Force.

“The first run out today was actually a little bit crazy for all of us. We had to swap some guys around; we lost a crew guy and one of our old guys from last year came out this weekend to help us fill in. Everyone’s routine was flopped; even pulling into the staging lights was different because I had someone else pulling me up there. That changes everything. I mean everything was different up there. We couldn’t get the car started; we had a dead battery. Luckily Antron Brown’s guys came over and helped get our car started. We were very lucky and thanks to Spencer Massey who waited for us and didn’t pull up and stage. He waited for us and we did a short little burn out, didn’t even go past the Christmas tree, pulled in, staged, and our car ended up smoking the tires.”

“I knew we’d get it together by the second run, we just needed to get in a groove. The guys have a new routine out here like I said. We made it down on that run; it felt sluggish, it felt slow, but we ran a 3.94 and got a better pass in with that.”

B. FORCE RACES TO FIRST TF FINAL; HIGHT ALSO RUNNER-UP

PHOENIX, AZ —- It was a historic day for John Force Racing at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park during the running of the 30th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. For the first time JFR landed race cars in both the final round of the Funny Car and Top Fuel categories. In only 26 starts Brittany Force raced to her first career final round losing a close race to 2012 Top Fuel champion Antron Brown. Robert Hight raced to his first final of 2014 and just missed his 30th career win racing against Alexis DeJoria.

Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE dragster enjoyed their best weekend making eight consecutive quality passes (four in qualifying and four on race day) en route to a final round appearance. On race day Brittany Force avenged her 2013 loss to David Grubnic out running him in the first round and in the second round the sophomore driver defeated  7-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher posting a winning elapsed time of 3.805 to his 5.017 seconds. It was Force’s first win over Schumacher and it was a bucket list moment for the young driver.

“That round win will definitely be a highlight of my season until we get that first win. Tony Schumacher is awesome he is the champ. He has beaten my butt many times so I was happy to go out there and get the win. That is a round win I always wanted to get. To win against him was awesome,” said Force.

Last woman to win in Top Fuel was Hillary Will on June 1, 2008 at Topeka where she beat Larry Dixon in the final. Brittany Force is the 10th different drive to take a JFR fuel car to the final round after John Force, Tony Pedregon, Densham, Eric Medlen, Robert Hight, Ashley Force Hood, Courtney Force, Mike Neff and Phil Burkart Jr.

In the semi-finals Force continued to make quality passes besting Steve Torrence 3.814 to 4.187 seconds. In the final round Force had to take on one of the most popular and successful drivers on tour, Antron Brown. Their dragsters launched together and at the finish line it was Brown getting the win light 3.755 seconds to Force’s 3.793 which was her best run of the weekend. While there was no winner’s circle celebration there was still plenty of excitement in the Castrol EDGE pits.

“I am still so excited. I wanted to get that win in the first final but I know that first win is coming. We are getting closer. We did great today and we made our best run in the final with that 3.79. I am stoked and I am so proud of my guys. This Castrol EDGE team is really coming along,” said Force. “We are getting better. It is the second race of the season and to go to our first final. I couldn’t be happier.”

Brittany Force ironically enjoyed one of her best Super Comp outings at Phoenix in 2007 (Feb. 25).  She won three rounds before losing to Shawn Langdon in round four.

Today’s performance for Brittany made her the first Top Fuel driver to reach the finals in a Ford powered dragster since “Sneaky Pete” Robinson won the Summernationals at York, Pa., on July 19, 1970.  This is just the seventh time a Ford-powered dragster has been in an NHRA final round.

While Force is still learning the ropes her competitors are taking notice of her continued development and success. Perhaps the best compliment any young driver can get is the respect of their fellow racers.

“She’s in a young stage in her career and she’s just getting better and better and you can tell it. That’s how she got to the final. Her car was on point and it was consistent all day and that’s what got her those round wins. I didn’t look at who I raced, I know I’m racing John Force (Racing) and you know they can step up and they did step up. We’re not taking any of them lightly. None of these teams are out here to play games. It’s not recess anymore. School is in and you better have your thinking caps on and be ready to go out there and do work,” said Antron Brown, 2012 Top Fuel champion and 26-time Top Fuel winner.

“I don’t look at her as being a female, not because she’s a sophomore, I look at her as a tough, top competitor, and I’m going to give her my A+ game like everyone else. She was a strong competitor all day and we were not taking them lightly at all. It’s got Castrol on the side, that’s John Force Racing. We’re going after them just like we do everyone else.”

Moments before Brittany Force posted her runner-up finish Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team smoked the tires in their final round race versus Alexis DeJoria. The Auto Club Mustang had been moderately inconsistent this weekend qualifying No. 3 with a 4.030 second pass on Friday but smoking the tires in the next three runs including the first round today. Hight won a classic pedal-fest versus Cruz Pedregon to advance to the second round.

In the second round and semi-finals Hight’s Auto Club Mustang was one of the best Funny Cars of the class posting winning times of 4.059 seconds over Jack Beckman and 4.047 seconds over Tommy Johnson Jr.

In the finals Hight launched hard and then lost traction a few hundred feet down track. He was forced to watch DeJoria drive away for her first career Funny Car win.

“First congratulations to Alexis DeJoria. I knew it was going to be a tough race and we were going for it. This Auto Club Mustang has been a little up and down this weekend. We made two killer runs in the middle of the day running 4.05 to beat Beckman and then 4.04 to beat Tommy Johnson Jr.,” said Hight.

“We knew we would need another run like that in the final to get the win. I am glad we moved up in the points. It is early in the season but you want to get round wins and put pressure on the other teams. I wish Gainesville was next weekend. My guys did a great job this weekend qualifying No. 3 and getting to a final. Our next win is right around the corner.”

It was almost a JFR versus JFR final round but John Force was upended by DeJoria in the semi-finals. The Mello Yello points leader was trying to reach his seventh consecutive final round but fell a few hundredths of a second short.

Force’s race day began in bizarre fashion as his first round opponent Jeff Diehl was shut off on the starting line due to a fuel leak. Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car smoked the tires on a single most likely avoiding a No. 16 versus No. 1 qualifier upset.

In the second round Force narrowly defeated Bob Tasca III 4,106 to 4.120 which would wind up being Force’s best run of the day.

“I knew he would give us a good race. We have been off a little bit since Pomona. We ran that 3.99 on Friday night here at Wild Horse Pass. Jimmy prock said we have had some ignition problems and so did Mike Neff. We dug deep and we found it. It went right down the race track. We are still in the game and we are excited to be going rounds,” said Force.

Force will leave Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with the Mello Yello points lead and a rededication to winning. At the end of the day the 16-time Funny Car champion was proud of his entire team.

“That’s one of my kids out there and I love her and I am proud of her. That is a lot of pressure up there and it took me a lot of years to learn to handle it. She is handling it really well. She is right on her game. She was right on the tree and right there with Antron, a champion. That is all I can ask for,” said Force.

“We make a lot of power and have great chassis. I see Jimmy prock and those guys working hard. No one had any data for this race track and we were learning every run just like everybody else. We are going after another championship. It is great to get Robert up in the points in second place right behind me and they are real close to their first win of the season.”

Courtney Force lined up beside Del Worsham in the opening round of race day at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park for the 30th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. Force in the right lane and Worsham with lane choice in the l
eft lane gave the fans a great show, but Force couldn’t get the win.

“We went up there and had Worsham first round. He made a solid pass down the track. We had the right lane and couldn’t get down it as well, but I did the best job I could to pedal the car. It hooked up quick and got down there, but he was long gone for the win. I was hoping we could get around him, but we ran out of race track,” said Force.

This is the eighth time the pair has matched up on race day. Force had to pedal it to get her Traxxas Ford Mustang to the finish line, posting a 4.499 at 291.95 mph, but Worsham laid down a 4.121 ET at 303 mph.

“We’re working with a new car this season. It’s a lot of change for our Traxxas Ford Mustang team, but you know what, we’re staying positive. This car is very capable of running well and we’ve already seen that. We’re just trying to get it to run more consistently,” said Force.

The John Force Racing team, made up of three Funny Car teams and one Top Fuel team will be staying for post-event testing on Monday after the race weekend at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

“We’re coming out here tomorrow in Phoenix, back at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, and testing our hotrod to see what we can bring to the table at Gainesville,” said Force.

FORCE STAYS No. 1 IN PHOENIX; EXTENDS QUAL STREAK

PHOENIX – John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang held onto their No. 1 qualifying position at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. On the strength of his run of 3.99 seconds on Friday night at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals Force will start from the top of the order a record 148th time in his career and for the fifth race in a row dating back to Reading, Pennsylvania last season. Force has raced to six consecutive final rounds and has talked about having the “magic.”

“We have had the magic the last couple of races but this weekend we don’t have the magic. I will be honest it makes me feel better. I don’t like to live right on the edge. We know what we can’t do out there. We will go the other direction,” said Force.

Force and the Jimmy Prock tuned Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car have been searching for the performance edge leading up to and since his track record setting 3.99 second run. On their three other runs their Ford Mustang Funny Car made it varying lengths down track before the Goodyears lost traction.

Force will race Jeff Diehl in the first round but the 16-time Funny Car champion is not taking the upstart driver lightly.

“I beat somebody once. When (Don) Prudhomme and all of them thought I was a joke and a leaker I had to race. Some days you have your day. I respect anybody I race. I am not just saying that. I mean it. These kids work real hard to be here. They spend their money and they all have a dream that I have,” said Force. “I don’t want to look back in 25 years and say there is the new champ and I took him for granted like they did me years ago. I am going to go out and get my boys together for a meeting and we’ll be ready for tomorrow. We will try and win first round and see if we can keep on this roll.”

Words of wisdom from his father ring in Force’s ears when people start positioning him as being unbeatable or beyond defeat.

“Like my dad said don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper because you told them that stuff. When you are doing good you want to say you are doing good. Don’t believe your own bullcrap so I am not,” concluded Force.

This will be Force’s eighth No. 1 at Phoenix and he won as the No. 1 qualifier in 1996 and 1999.  Force has not won this race since 2005 but won seven of eight years from 1994 through 2001.

It was a tough weekend of consistent qualifying for all the Funny Car teams. Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang will roll into Sunday’s eliminations as the No. 3 qualifier but they too are looking for some consistency. Hight will race Cruz Pedregon a tough draw for any No. 3 qualifier. Hight blasted down the track on Friday in 4.030 seconds and only one driver improved on that time on Saturday, Tommy Johnson Jr.’s 4.029 second pass.

“We are going to give it our best shot tomorrow. Everybody has been looking for the right combination. The good news is we are the No. 3 qualifier and we will have lane choice. Cruz will be tough because he is a world champion and he can throw down a number. We won’t take him lightly and I know he won’t take us lightly even though we haven’t been super consistent. I am not worried,” said Hight.

Courtney Force wrapped up qualifying in the No. 12 spot today. She will face No. 5 qualifier Del Worsham in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

“We came out this weekend with the intention to kind of redeem ourselves after the Winternationals in Pomona and I think we’ve put our Traxxas Ford Mustang in a pretty good position to do so,” said Force.

The 25-year-old posted a 4.096 second elapsed time at over 304 mph on Friday to open qualifying. She posted a 4.104 on Saturday, but did not improve beyond the 4.096 pass, putting her No. 12 in the Funny Car field.

“Qualifying went well. We made a pretty good pass in the right lane when a lot of the cars weren’t making it down in that lane in the heat.

“We went out in Q4 and tried to step it up a little bit to see if we could improve on our time in that lane. Unfortunately it didn’t go as we had hoped, but we’re still learning about this car and trying some new things. We’ve made two pretty good passes in qualifying so we’ll just go back to our set up then and we’ll try to get around (Del) Worsham in round one,” said Force.

This is the eighth time she has faced Worsham in eliminations and the third time they have matched up for first round.

“Del is a really good racer and I’m sure he will give us a run for our money, but my Traxxas team is awesome with my crew chiefs Ron Douglas and Dan Hood, and I know that we have a great race car going down the track, so I have a lot of confidence going into tomorrow against Del,” said Force.

This is a memorable track for the Traxxas Funny Car driver, who got her first win against her father at this track and went to her first semi-final round of her career her rookie season.

“The track has changed a lot since we were here last, but it’s definitely a track that sticks out in my mind as one of my most memorable tracks. I raced my dad here for the first time. It was my rookie year and it was something that I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little kid. That was really special for me,” said Force.

Brittany Force and her Castrol EDGE Dragster have been a model of consistency these last two days at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. She generated consistent numbers, running 3.813, 3.814, 3.828 and 3.839 elapsed times during the ever-changing weather and track conditions. Despite getting bumped from the top half of the field and racing from the No. 10 spot this Sunday, Brittany’s 10,000 horsepower dragster has made four solid runs in a row and is dialed-in and ready for Sunday’s eliminations. Brittany will have a round one rematch with David Grubnic during the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

It was at this event last year that Brittany lost a close one to David Grubnic in the opening round. Having a better reaction time, Brittany was out on Grubnic, but her dragster experienced violent tire shake that actually deployed the parachutes before the finish line. All she could do was watch as Grubnic drove around her to get the win light. Brittany’s record with Grubnic is 1-1 and she’d like another tick in the win column after round one tomorrow. “Our car’s been running pretty consistent, so to be going up against Grubnic is exciting. He got us last year but it’s our turn this year,” said Brittany Force.

Hopefully, tomorrow’s first round outcome will be different for the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year, as Brittany’s been improving as a driver to get her Castrol EDGE Dragster to the final round. Todd Smith, Dean “Guido” Antonelli and the rest of the team have been working hard to give Brittany a car she can win with, regardless of where it qualifies and the track conditions on race day. “It feels good to make four great laps. It pumps me up and it pumps up my crew guys and they’re all excited for tomorrow. Most important, we’re all happy our Castrol EDGE Dragster made four great runs down the track,” said Brittany Force.

With her rookie season behind her, Brittany’s showing more confidence during her sophomore year. “During my rookie season, Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park was a new track to me and I’d never been down it before. Now, on my second year out, I know what it’s like to get down the track and it really boosts your confidence,” said Brittany Force.

JOHN FORCE RACES TO PROVISIONAL No. 1 IN PHOENIX

PHOENIX – John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang did not lose a step in the off-season and he hasn’t slowed down with an off-week after his season opening win at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals. Force’s Jimmy Prock and Danny DeGennaro tuned Ford Mustang set the track elapsed time and speed record at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with his Friday afternoon run of 3.990 seconds at 317.79 mph. It was another dominant performance from the winningest driver in NHRA history.

“I am excited. I love this sport. I came here in 1985 at the first national event. I was learning how to drive and our NHRA announcer Alan Reinhardt was learning how to announce. I match raced here almost ten years before that. I know this race track but so does Jimmy Prock. They gave us a good surface and a good race track. NHRA prepped it right and we are going to try and keep giving these fans a show,” said Force, the provisional No. 1 qualifier.

The last time John Force had his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang in the winner’s circle in Phoenix was 2005, and he’d like to end his drought in the desert.

“We thought it was going to go on the first run and it got loose out there. We watched Robert Hight and Mike Neff run that 4.03 in that Auto Club Ford so we knew it was there. We also wanted to make sure we got it in tonight. I think Jimmy had it pulled back just a bit but it ran just as smooth as can be,” said Force. “It probably could have run a little quicker. I am excited. I want to thank the investors that are reinvesting in our sport. We need good people like that and I want to thank them. That is why we need to bring the fans in here and we have to run 3.90s and we have to give them a show. It is starting to cool down so that is why you are seeing these big numbers.”

If Force’ elapsed time holds the top spot through Saturday it would be the fifth straight race for Force to be No. 1. The last time he started No. 1 at five straight races was in his Driver of the Year season in 1996.  His personal record for consecutive No. 1 starts is six in 1994.  He’s started from No. 1 at the first two races of the season just twice, once in 1999 and again in 2002.

While Force was running away from the field his teammate and JFR president Robert Hight was hot on his heels in the Auto Club Ford Mustang. Hight and his Mike Neff tuned Funny Car smoked the tires in the first session but came back strong in the second session on Friday. He was the second pair of Funny Cars of the session and posted a then category quickest 4.030 second run. That run held up as the quickest of the day until Force rolled his Castrol Funny Car through the water box. Hight was philosophic about losing the top spot.

“That second run was just what we were looking for. We were up early so we wanted to be aggressive but not too aggressive. You hate to go into Saturday without a time. I wasn’t sure if that 4.03 would hold up as No. 1 but if someone had to go around me I would want it to be a teammate. John and Jimmy are on a roll and it is helping the whole team, said Hight the 2012 CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals winner. “All the crew chiefs are talking and trying to figure out this new racing surface. The NHRA did a good prep job and I think the more runs you get on the track the better the times will be. I am looking forward getting back to the track tomorrow with this Auto Club Ford Mustang.”

Courtney Force began the weekend at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with big numbers in the Funny Car category. This is a memorable track for the Traxxas Funny Car driver, who got her first win against her dad at this track and went to her first semi-final round of her career her rookie season.

“I’m so excited to be back here in Phoenix at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. I want to thank the staff and everyone out here at this track that put in a ton of hard work over the off season and got the facility ready to host the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals this weekend. The track has been good to us so far and we really appreciate all of the improvements,” said Force.

In the opening qualifying session, Force posted a 4. 096 elapsed at over 304 mph and went to the No. 1 spot. The 25-year-old kept a firm grasp on the top position until the very last pair of Funny Cars; when competitor Matt Hagan ran a 4.091 seconds, just five-thousandths quicker than Force.

“We ran good out of the box today with a 4.09 and that put us in the No. 2 spot at the end of the first session. It was a lot of fun being in the No. 2 spot for a while with my sister Brittany, who was in the No. 2 spot in the Top Fuel category. I think that was pretty exciting for both of us,” said Force.

Force came back in the second qualifying session and lined up beside fellow female Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria. Force got a big jump off the line and was quicker until the sixty foot lights when her Traxxas Ford Mustang smoked the tires.

“We made some changes on the car after the Winternationals at Pomona. We didn’t do as well as we had wanted there so coming here we wanted to try some new things. It didn’t work so well for us in Q2, but tomorrow is a new day with two more qualifying shots and we’re going to see what kind of numbers we can put down,” said Force.

Brittany Force made two great qualifying runs today, piloting her Castrol EDGE Dragster at the CARQUEST NHRA Nationals. With a strong 3.83 pass on the first session, her team, led by crew chief Todd Smith, stepped it up for the next session and improved with a potent 3.814 run that put Brittany in the top half of the field in the provisional No. 7 spot.

“I’m glad to be back out here at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. We ran our first qualifying pass and it was great to be able to end up No. 2. Courtney was also No. 2, so it was kind of cool for us to have that status both at the same time. We were both No.1 for a little while, but got bumped down by the end of the first session,” said Brittany Force.

The team is starting to gel and get in the groove. “We ran a 3.83 earlier in the day and then came back and improved with a 3.81. My team is excited about that and we are comfortable in the number seven spot. I’m excited to see what we can do tomorrow, because right now we are in a good spot, but still have two shots to improve,” said Brittany Force.

With improvements at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, many of the drivers and crew chiefs had some reservations regarding the new pavement, and how it would handle their 10,000 horsepower dragsters and Funny Cars. After Brittany’s solid first qualifying session, the team got a baseline number to work with and hopped up her Castrol EDGE Dragster for the second run.

“I think this race track out here in Phoenix getting a whole new makeover is awesome; it was exactly what it needed. The track is supposed to be smoother and better and I can’t complain because it has been really good to us so far. It’s a beautiful track and we’re glad to be out here racing on it.”

Line Wins Season-Opener in Pomona for Team Summit, Anderson

POMONA, Calif., February 9, 2014 – Jason Line had a lot on his mind coming into the 54th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals, the first race of 24 in NHRA’s 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. With Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson on the mend but out for the first six races following heart surgery, the Mooresville, N.C., based driver would be racing for the first time without his team leader. Line, however, accepted the challenge and rose to the occasion, powering his bright blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to the 66th final round of his career and his 32nd Pro Stock victory. Line will leave Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the points lead.

“It’s a huge deal to start off the year like this, and I didn’t want to lose to an ‘ugly Dodge,’ ” joked Line. “But in all seriousness, this is a big deal for the Summit Racing team and our Chevrolet Camaros. We worked hard over the winter, and I think we really made some progress. The sport is crazy competitive right now, but we’re certainly off to a good start.
 
“The KB Racing team was great this weekend. We all pitched in and worked together, and Jimmy Alund [who will drive Anderson’s Summit Racing Camaro for the first six events] was a great help as well. He’s a very capable guy and was certainly an asset to us this weekend, there’s no question.”

Line, tuned by crew chiefs Rob Downing and Tim Freeman, had a strong car from the start with his Summit Racing Camaro – remarkably, the same car that he crashed in testing late last season – and entered eliminations as the No. 3 qualifier based on a best time of 6.514-second at 212.63 mph. Although first-round opponent Matt Hartford was nearly psychic at the starting line with a .004-second reaction time to Line’s .051, the charging Chevrolet did its job. Line tripped the finish-line timers with a 6.548 at 211.43 to shut down his opponent’s 6.615, 209.30.

In the second-round, Line nabbed a .003-second starting line advantage over Pro Stock returner Dave Connolly and lengthened his lead as he raced down the quarter-mile for a 6.536, 212.06 to 6.544, 212.06 win. The win light came with a semifinals meeting with Shane Gray, the driver Line beat in the final round in both of his 2013 wins (Houston and Dallas). Line again got the nod, this time with the quickest and fastest pass of the round, a 6.527, 212.23 to Gray’s 6.541, 211.79.

The final round with Denver, Colo., resident V. Gaines was familiar for Line, who beat his friendly rival in the 2006 Sonoma final but fell to him in 2008, when Gaines took the title. The two were nearly identical as they launched from the starting line, but Line, with a .003-second edge, made his best run of the day to get the win. Anderson was watching and cheering his team on from a hospital room in N.C.

“I talked to Greg this morning, and he gave me strict instructions,” said Line, who joined the KB Racing team, a group that now owns 104 event titles, in 2004. “When I finally get to talk to him tonight, I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy with me. This is really cool, and I’m glad Greg is getting better. I’m forever indebted to him for giving me the opportunity so many years ago that nobody else would have.”

FORCE WINS WINTERNATIONALS; SETS ET AND SPEED RECORDS

POMONA, CA —- For the seventh time in his career, John Force drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang Funny Car to victory at the 54th running of the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. This was John Force’s sixth final in a row going back to the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season but today’s final can be described as an epic rematch between two of the strongest Funny Cars in recent memory. It was at this same spot at the conclusion of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season during the Auto Club Finals that John Force and Matt Hagan squared off against each other with John coming up on the losing end. 

Fortunately for John, today’s outcome was much different when he defeated Matt Hagan with an earth shattering time of 3.965 seconds at over 323 MPH to Hagan’s tire smoking time of 6.61 seconds.  “I get really excited racing Hagan and the ESPN announcer in the semi-round said ‘Do you see those muscles on that kid, do you think you can beat him?’ I said what is this, the WWF, we aren’t in a cage,” said John Force.

Going into the final round, the brain trust of Jimmy Prock and rest of the Castrol GTX High Mileage team put a tune-up on John’s Mustang that could’ve rotated the earth. “I’ve got a good race car. It is amazing and we are trying to build our sport.  We are out here trying to run good for the fans. Jimmy Prock and the whole brain trust are working together,” said John Force.

However the competition is more fierce as there seems to be even more parody among the drivers, regardless which team they’re on. “Robert ran 3.98 and DeJoria ran 3.99. Let’s give Schumacher’s cars credit they ran in the threes two years ago,” said John Force

When the smoke and the clutch dust cleared, it was John’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang being directed by the NHRA crew to stop in front of the swarm of photographers and TV cameras. “After the final when I got out of the car on the top end, the ESPN announcer said ‘you got him (Hagan) with all his muscles’ and I said ‘this old man didn’t, Jimmy Prock flexed his muscles by ripping off that 3.96 number,’” said John Force.

John Force leaves the Circle K NHRA Winternationals with his 139th race win, the points lead and a new Funny Car both the elapsed time and speed record, something he hasn’t done since 2004. “You take a 64 year-old-man and put him in a fire suit, you are Superman but I am back in the game and we are excited. Everything is just going right. I just don’t get it. There is a lot going on and we are excited that PEAK joined us,” said John Force, who’s average elapsed time today was 3.999 seconds on his four winning runs.

Robert Hight entered today as the No. 2 qualifier and his Auto Club Ford Mustang was the first Funny Car to advance to the second round. His Mike Neff tuned Auto Club Mustang outran Tim Wilkerson convincingly, posting a new career best elapsed time, 3.986 seconds at 318.69 mph. Hight made his first official three second run on Friday night a 3.996 second pass.

“That first round win was great. It ran just what Neff thought it would run. We had a good handle on the track and it was cool with cloud cover. The Auto Club Mustang was pulling and this is just what we needed to do. We are trying to find sponsors and the best way to do that is to win rounds,” said Hight.

In the second round against eventual finalist Matt Hagan Hight lost a close side by side race. With nearly identical reaction times Hight’s Funny Car was even with Hagan the full length of the track losing by less than a fender at the stripe. The elapsed times were 4.033 seconds for Hight and 4.035 seconds for Hagan.

“That was a tough loss but a great race. You want to put on a show for the fans and side by side Funny Cars at 320 mph and 4.03 seconds is a good show. This race will motivate us for Phoenix in two weeks. We have a great team here with Auto Club and it was great to see John go on and get the win,” said Hight.

When Courtney Force arrived at the race track on Friday to compete in the first event of the season, the 2014 Winternationals, she didn’t see her Traxxas Ford Mustang team packing up so soon on Sunday.

“It was great to be back here at the Winternationals in Pomona. I love coming out to this track because it’s a great facility, our John Force racing teams always do well here and we’re surrounded by friends and family since it’s our home track,” said Force.

The 25-year-old Funny Car driver was shorted one qualifying pass when the throttle cable broke during her burnout in the first session, but she came back with a 4.046 at 320.13 mph to eventually put her Traxxas Ford Mustang team in the No. 7 spot going into race day.

Force lined up against Matt Hagan in the opening round of eliminations. Despite putting on a great show for the fans, Force lost when her Traxxas Ford Mustang posted a 4.083 to Hagan’s 4.036 ET.

“We wanted to come out and defend our title here, but unfortunately we had a tough competitor with Matt Hagan. We ran a 4.08 which is a good pass for us. We were looking to run a little bit better than that. He just flat out gave us a good race. He ran a 4.03, got out ahead of me and turned on the win light,” said Force.

Force and Hagan now have an even record of 5-5 in eliminations.

“We ran out of race track and Hagan got the win against me, but luckily my dad was able to defend my title today when he got matched up against Hagan. Dad got the win for me. He went on to win the first race of the season,” said Force.

Brittany Force had a short day today at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals as well with her first round loss to rookie Richie Crampton, but her spirit and attitude remain upbeat as she’s more determined to put her Castrol EDGE Dragster in the winner’s circle. With the CarQuest NHRA Nationals rolling into Phoenix in less than two weeks, her team will be more than ready to step it up and go rounds at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

Like any professional driver, Brittany’s was anxious for the season to begin. “I’m glad to be out here as it’s the start of the season and I’ve been so ready to come to Pomona and get back in the driver’s seat of my Castrol EDGE Dragster. We have a new team as Todd Smith came onboard and we’re all excited to get the season going,” said Brittany Force

During round one of Top Fuel eliminations, Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster shook the tires at the hit of the throttle. “It shook so hard, I tried to stay in it and drive through the tire shake. I tried pedaling it and the car picked back up but it was long hard shake and I couldn’t recover it in time. Richie (Crampton) was on a killer run and I knew I couldn’t catch him,” said Brittany Force

It takes a while for new crew to get in the groove and the Castrol EDGE team is no different. “We are starting to come together and gel, we just need a few races to figure it out,” said Brittany Force. With new crew chief Todd Smith who came onboard earlier this year the team is focused on consistent improvement at every race.

“We made some good calls on Saturday in getting a better handle on the car and the combination. We had pretty good track conditions on Sunday but I just didn’t hit it right and make the right call. I’m in a little bit of a learning curve but the more runs we get on the car, the performance will improve. For now, we’ll lick our wounds and head to Phoenix,” said Castrol EDGE Crew Chief Todd Smith.

FORCE STAYS No. 1 AT WINTERNATIONALS

 POMONA – John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car will start the 54th annual NHRA Circle K Winternationals as the No. 1 qualifier. On Friday Force reset the track record twice on the way to establishing a potential (records do not become official until after an event) national elapsed time record, with his runs of 3.983 seconds and then the record run of 3.966 seconds. He also set the track speed record with his mph run of 324.12 mph. This if the first time John has set the elapsed time record at Pomona.

“We were trying to run what we ran last night. We couldn’t do it in the first session but we thought we could in the second session. We pushed it hard. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) said there was more out there. He just wanted to know. We had nothing to lose unless (Ron) Capps could pull it off in the next lane. We are also looking at conditions for tomorrow. It is supposed to overcast tomorrow so we will have the same conditions. If it was going to be hot you would not want to try this. We got the record and we should get the points,” said Force.

This was Force’s 147th No. 1 qualifier, an all-time NHRA record and his 10th at the Winternationals. Force has won 57 races from No. 1 including six at Pomona and two at the Winternationals (1997, 2002). It is the first time since 2006 that Force will go into race day as the No. 1 qualifier.

Today with warmer conditions Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car smoked the tires during the first session and then with improving conditions in the final qualifying session Force smoked the tires beside Ron Capps. The last three pairs of Funny Cars were all gunning for the top spot and all came up short with various degrees of tire smoke. Force will race Paul Lee in the first round tomorrow.

While Force was holding onto the top spot Robert Hight and the Auto Club Mustang held serve and will go into final eliminations as the No. 2 qualifier. He will race fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson in the first round.

“We were going for a race day set up today and Neff felt pretty good about that last run. We were second quickest of the session with a 4.01 and we have a great handle on this Auto Club Mustang,” said Hight, the 2011 Winternationals winner.

In the final session Hight’s run was the second quickest of the field and earned the 2009 Funny Car champion two more qualifying bonus points.

“This is the first race of the season and you want to start getting some positive momentum. Getting our first three second run out of the way and being No. 2 behind John is a pretty good way to start. There are a lot of tough Funny Cars out there and it will be a tough race for sure,” said Hight.

The Traxxas Ford Mustang team struggled during Saturday’s qualifying sessions today at the Winternationals. Courtney Force, defending event champion, made two incomplete runs and did not improve on her 4.046 ET from Friday’s evening session.

“We didn’t get down the track today as well as we had hoped. We shook the tires loose on the first run. On the second run the car pulled toward the centerline and I had to get out of it. Luckily, we had a good run last night and we were able to move up into the top half of the field. We stayed there and we’ll go into race day in the No. 7 spot,” said Force.

The 25-year-old will match up against Matt Hagan in the opening elimination round on race day. This will be the tenth time the pair have matched up in eliminations. Currently, Force is 5-4 against Hagan in previous events.

“We have a tough first round match-up tomorrow against DSR driver Matt Hagan. He’s going to be tough to beat, but we’re going to give it our best and hopefully we’ll be able to get around him. We’re happy to back here defending our title from last year. I’m hoping to go some rounds for our Traxxas Ford Mustang team and start the season in a good position,” said Force.

It was a night and day difference for Brittany Force and her Castrol EDGE Dragster during Saturday’s qualifying. If Friday’s disappointing runs proved anything, it was the determination of the team to turn it around in a hurry. With two solid and consistent runs today, Brittany qualified in the top half of the field with a career best 3.778 second that placed her in the eighth spot for Sunday’s eliminations.

“It was very exciting to run a 3.77, my career-best, for the Castrol EDGE team. I was super pumped and excited about that. I got out of the car at the other end and my guys were giving me high fives and jumping up and down. I could tell how excited they were,” said Brittany Force. “Then to go back up there and run a 3.78 was really exciting. We think we have this car figured out, especially going into tomorrow.”

Like all NHRA classes, Top Fuel requires a lot of tuning skills to work out persistent bugs whether it’s the clutch, chassis, electronics, engine or other things. To get the car right come qualifying and race day is mandatory for any team to go rounds and wins races.

“The trick now will be to see if the dragster will repeat that 3.77 run it had in the third session,” said Crew Chief Todd Smith. “We are starting to get a handling on this and everything is coming together. We’ve been working on everything but it’s a lot of little things that finally got ironed out. We been working on this dragster every day to address problems and fix issues. That’s how it is but all comes together at once and the car runs what you want it to.”

Come Sunday, Brittany Force will face rookie Richie Crampton for round one of eliminations. “He’s the new rookie out here this year. I haven’t met him yet so I want to go over and say ‘hi’ because I was in that boat last year. I’m sure he’s nervous with it being his first season and first elimination round. I’m still nervous and I’ve been out here for a year. It should be a good, close race. He’s right behind me in the field; he ended up No. 9. I hope it’s a good race for the fans and the Castrol EDGE team takes that first round win,” said Brittany Force.

JOHN FORCE FLIES TO NAT’L ET RECORD ON POMONA FRI

POMONA – John Force picked up right where he left off in 2013 when he raced to his unprecedented 16th Mello Yello Funny Car championship. On the first day of the 2014 NHRA season at the 54th annual NHRA Circle K Winternationals the winningest driver in NHRA history lowered the track elapsed time record he set in November at the Auto Club Finals twice en route to unofficially setting the national elapsed time record. NHRA national records become official at the conclusion of the race but his 3.966 second pass to close out the second qualifying session has a great chance of standing up for a long time.

The last time Force held the national E.T. record was November 11, 2006. For good measure Force piloted his mean green Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car to the national mph record with a blast of 324.12 mph which was the fastest speed ever for a Funny Car at 1,000 feet.

“I knew I was going for a ride or I was going to the burn center. That was awesome. A lot of good stuff is happening for John Force Racing lately. We aren’t done yet and this is getting to be way too much fun for me. That 3.96, let’s face it. Something just goes down and something just went good for me. Sometimes the cards just fall your way. I am going to keep fighting,” said Force in the Shav Glick Media Center.

“I am going on a quest to win another championship with one of our cars. I am going on a quest to find sponsors. I am going to work every day. That run was awesome. When a motor is that good the first thing you do is get out and look underneath it to make sure it is not leaking. When it is fast it is fast. I have great people around me.”

In the opening session Force flew down the track in 3.983 seconds at 317.72 mph. Force was thrilled with his performance to start the season.

“When you have a hot rod like this that (crew chief) Jimmy Prock has tuned and it flies like that it is pretty exciting. All the crew chiefs are working together. We have new sponsors here with PEAK antifreeze and we have Auto Club up there and they just signed for five years. We needed to go down the race track. We wanted to give the fans a show and that 3.98 surprised me. I will take it. That was awesome,” said Force.

Right before Force made his second historic run of the day teammate Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang made their first run into the three second range posting a 3.996 second run and moving up to the provisional No. 2 spot. The run was a relief to the 2011 Winternationals champion.

“It is like getting a monkey off your back. To be honest I am just glad it is over. It is not a big deal anymore. Matt Hagan did it two years ago. I am not taking anything away from our guys. It is a good way to start the season,” said Hight a two-time winner in 2013. “It seemed like every time we tried to go out and run a three second run something screwy would happen. It doesn’t always work out to push on these cars and have a positive result. Now that we have done it I think it will be more frequent. We can’t let the boss have all the fun.”

With similar weather conditions forecasted for tomorrow Hight feels that his times could improve even further.

“Tomorrow will be unbelievable. Luckily we have three Funny Cars that we can look at the data. I am sure tomorrow we will pick our Auto Club Mustang’s performance up some. I am glad for my guys,” said Hight.

Defending event champion Courtney Force made her presence known today at the Winternationals after two qualifying sessions were complete. Currently, the 25-year-old occupies the No. 5 spot and hopes to improve on that position on Saturday.

“It’s great to be back out here at my home track in Pomona,” said last year’s Funny Car field leader. “Coming out here as defending champion is definitely exciting and uplifting for my Traxxas Ford Mustang team.”

Force and her team beginning their third season in the Funny Car category, encountered a setback in the opening round today due to a part failure and were not able to make a pass down the race track. The delay put Force’s team at the front of the pack for Friday’s evening session, but paid off when the Traxxas Ford Mustang made a straight, clean pass down the race track with a 4.046 ET at over 320 mph.

“My first round didn’t go as we had hoped. We had a throttle cable break on the burnout which ended my run pretty quickly. We pulled back to our pit area and thrashed to get the car back together and ready. We made a pretty solid pass with a 4.04 ET at 321 mph,” said Force.

The youngest daughter of John Force will have two passes on Saturday to move up in the field before eliminations on Sunday.

“We had a great announcement that went out today; we’re partnering up with Peak and we’re just excited to be out here kicking off the season. Our JFR cars are looking pretty strong so we’re looking forward to improving on our ET tomorrow,” said the youngest Force.

Day one of Brittany Force’s Top Fuel sophomore season at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals proved to be challenging yet still optimistic for this 27 year-old driver looking for her first win. Knowing that her work is cut out for her, Brittany’s even more determined and focused on getting her Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster qualified in the top half of the field and ready go rounds come Sunday at the NHRA season opening at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

“We made two runs today. I’m glad to be here at my home track in Pomona. We have a new team and a new crew chief on board, Todd Smith, but we’re still trying to figure this dragster out. Qualifying didn’t go as planned, but we still get two more shots at it tomorrow,” said Brittany Force.

On her first qualifying pass, her 10,000 horsepower dragster ran a respectable 3.91 ET despite hazing the Goodyear slicks near the top end of the track. It still placed the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year in the 14th qualifying spot.

During the second qualifying run, Brittany’s Castrol EDGE Dragster ending up going into a severe tire shake condition at the hit of the throttle. Rather than risking damage to the car, she quickly aborted the run. “We’re going to really go after it tomorrow. We have to. Right now our aim is to get this Castrol EDGE Dragster in the top half of the field to position ourselves for race day come Sunday,” said Brittany Force.

As in any professional sport, athletes go through a learning curve and Brittany’s no different. By the end of her freshman year in 2013, it was obvious to her fellow competitors that her confidence had improved and it was reflected in the way she handled her dragster.

“At this exact race last year I was so nervous. Now, as a driver, I feel a lot more comfortable in the car. A year ago I was nervous about everything. I had been testing for an entire year, but never had anyone in the lane next to me. I had only made two passes in West Palm Beach next to Clay Millican. That was a big adjustment in itself just having to stage with someone and sees another car in the lane next to you,” said Brittany Force.

Even though her performance at the opening day of the Circle K NHRA Winternationals could’ve been better, Brittany’s not too worried. “Now, it is the first race of the year, but I’m not as nervous as I was. I’m confident in my team that we can do better tomorrow, continue to figure some stuff out and go some rounds on Sunday.”

COURTNEY FORCE EAGER TO REPEAT AT WINTERNATIONALS

POMONA, Calif. (February 5, 2014) – The NHRA Mello Yello Series 24-race schedule begins this week with the 54th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.  Defending Winternationals Champion, Courtney Force, has had one busy off season, but the 25-year-old Traxxas Funny Car pilot is looking to win this weekend, making it two-in-a-row for her Ford Mustang team.

At the 2013 Winternationals, Force qualified in the No. 1 spot and dismissed Phil Burkart Jr., Matt Hagan, Bob Tasca III, and Ron Capps to claim the title and  become just the second woman in NHRA history (after older sister Ashley Force Hood) to lead the Funny Car point standings.

“I’m excited to be going into Pomona as the defending champ in Funny Car and I absolutely cannot wait to get our Traxxas Ford Mustang back on a familiar track. It’s great coming out here because this is my home track and I’m excited to kick off the new year in hopes of taking home another win at the Winternationals,” said the youngest daughter of legend John Force.

This is her third year racing in the Top Fuel Funny Car category. The 2012 Auto Club Rookie of the Year has three national event wins under her belt, three No. 1 qualifiers and eight final rounds. In the past two years, Force has qualified for each event on the circuit and has won 53 rounds of racing on Sunday.

“It’s crazy to think I’m already going into my third year of Funny Car. Every season I learn something new and I’m eager to get back out there and see what we can accomplish this year.  Each year, I set my standards for myself a little higher and hope to continue to improve as a driver, but as a team, we have our eyes set on that Championship,” said Force.

John Force Racing teams traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla. For pre-season testing, putting them back on track to win their 19th team championship in 2014.

“We tested in West Palm Beach to prepare for the upcoming season and as a driver, I’m back at it in the gym. I’m working out to be physically prepared as well as practicing my reaction times to be more mentally prepared for getting back in the seat and driving,” said Force.

Both Courtney and her sister Brittany will take part in the NHRA press conference in Pasadena before the race weekend starts and participating in various media opportunities in the area.

“It was a long off-season so I’m more than ready to be back piloting my Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car. I’m eager to be back on the road and back in my routine- that’s the hardest part when you’ve been out of the seat for so long. I need to get back in, brush the dust off and hopefully pick up from where I left off in November,” said Force.

BRITTANY FORCE READY TO START SOPHOMORE TOP FUEL SEASON

POMONA, Calif. – When the 10,000 horsepower BOSS 500 engine of the Castrol EDGE Dragster fires up at the 2014 Circle K NHRA Winternationals, February 7-9, it will not be soon enough for driver Brittany Force, who is pumped and ready to climb back into the cockpit. There is also a renewed focus for the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year as she will be a serious player going into her sophomore season in the highly competitive Top Fuel class.   She will be rolling into Auto Club Raceway with a newly canopied Top Fuel Dragster and a new crew chief Todd Smith.

“I am looking forward to racing with Todd Smith as my crew chief. Guido (Dean Antonelli) is still working on my car and I they will work really well together. We made some good laps during testing and I am ready to get the season started,” said Force who narrowly missed the Countdown last season. 

Looking back, the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season was a steep learning curve for the newest racing Force. “It was really great to be at the NHRA banquet and take home the Auto Club Road to the Future Award as NHRA’s top rookie, not just for Castrol, but for all of John Force Racing. It really proved all our hard work paid off in the end,” explained Brittany Force. Her consistent driving skills in handling one of the fastest accelerating vehicles on the planet proved to her competitors in the next lane that she meant business.

During the offseason, many drivers are restless and can’t wait for the NHRA season opener in Pomona. All they do is count down the days until they’re back in the seat, strapped in, throw the ignition switch and fire up their supercharged race cars ready to assault the drag strip like a guided missile. Force is just like the drivers she races against, with a competitive spirit deep within their soul that’s adrenalin fueled. “It was nice to get some down time once the season ended and hang out with my family and friends. But after a while, you start to get bored and want to get back on the track. I’m so ready and even anxious to get out to Pomona and get this season started, driving the Castrol EDGE Dragster,” commented Force.

Force, along with her fellow John Force Racing teammates, headed to Palm Beach International Raceway for the PRO Winter Warm Up last month. “It felt great to come down to Florida and test because I haven’t been in the dragster for over two months. Being out of the driver’s seat for that length of time, it feels like taking a step back,” voiced Brittany Force. “I was nervous at first but then I went back into my routine, got focused and then the nerves immediately went away.”

During testing, Brittany also had the opportunity to race her father the first time to the delight of the crowd. “It was very cool to race my dad, I wish the outcome would’ve been different.  It was pretty crazy. Just running him that one time makes me think I could never be in Funny Car. We had about 100 pep talks. I was fine going up there. I don’t ever worry or try and think about who I am running. He had me so worked up about him being in the other lane. He was just trying to help me but it was a little too much,” said Brittany Force. 

On the eve of heading into Pomona, Brittany is more determined and focused despite the challenges of Top Fuel racing. “I’m still learning something every time I get in the car, but our goal for 2014 is to qualify in the top half of the field at every event and get a few wins for the Castrol EDGE team,”  concluded Force.

Pomona is considered a home track for Force. It’s filled with childhood memories of watching her legendary father drive his Funny Cars down the sacred grounds of Auto Club Raceway to numerous wins and championships. With some luck, she will make her own history at this year’s Circle K NHRA Winternationals and pilot her Castrol EDGE Dragster to a victory.   

JOHN FORCE TO COME OUT SWINGING AT NHRA SEASON OPENER

POMONA, Calif. – In 2013, John Force won his 16th NHRA Funny Car championship, an unprecedented record by any stretch of the imagination. But that was last year and he knows he’ll have a bigger target on his back, even if it’s from fellow team teammates and family members Courtney Force and Robert Hight. As the Castrol/JFR Teams roll into the hallowed grounds of Auto Club Raceway for the 54th running of the NHRA Circle K Winternationals, all eyes will be on this 64-year-old racing icon, but that’s nothing new to John Force as he starts his 37th pro season. He’ll be driving his 8000-horsepower Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang in pursuit of a 17th NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car Championship.

At the conclusion of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season, the newly crowned 16-time champion tried to get some R&R with his family but it’s not always that easy. “We didn’t have much of an offseason but it did give us a chance to get caught up on business things. We did spend a couple weeks in Lake Tahoe with the family and that was nice,” said Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history. “We’re still chasing corporate America for 2015 but luckily we’re financially stable right now through the end o
f this season with Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, Traxxas, Mac Tools and others.”

As soon as the ball dropped in Times Square heralding in the New Year, John was itching to get back in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Mustang Funny Car. Before he could slip into his fireproof suit, Force headed to the North American International Auto Show in the Motor City. Force was a guest of Ford Motor Company and took part in the “Behind the Blue Oval” media event. He mixed it up with 2012 NASCAR champ Brad Keselowski and Ford NASCAR racing legends Ned and Dale Jarret. Ken Block, Vaughn Gittin Jr., Brian Deegan and Ozz Negri were also part the Ford Racing discussion. With bloggers and members of the media firing off questions to the drivers, SCCA Trans Am legend Dorsey Schroeder had his hands full being the master of ceremonies during this standing room only event.  

From Detroit, Force hopped on a plane and headed Florida for the annual PRO Winter Warm Up at Palm Beach International Raceway. Here, he met up with his fellow team drivers Brittany, Courtney and Robert Hight, and used this event to test a variety of components in their supercharged racing machines before heading west to Pomona.  “Being down here testing at Palm Beach International Raceway gives you a head start on the season when it opens at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. A lot of teams don’t have the budgets, they come here, run for a day or two but luckily we can test for five days,” commented Force. 

The PRO Winter Warm Up brought nitro Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars to southern Florida and was a real treat for the fans. They also had had a surprise that has hasn’t happened on a drag strip in over a decade, pairing up a Top Fueler and Funny Car. “We had some fun racing Brittany in her Castrol EDGE Dragster in the final. Something the fans haven’t seen since the Winston No-Bull Shootout back in 1999 and 2000. I remember racing (Bob) Vandergriff (Jr.) in his dragster and was lucky enough to get the win despite both of us smoking the tires. I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to race Brittany again in my lifetime so it was very special,” said a thrilled Force.

ROBERT HIGHT GEARED UP FOR RUN AT CHAMPIONSHIP STARTING IN POMONA

YORBA LINDA, CA (February 5, 2014) — Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang will roll into Auto Club Raceway at Pomona ready to continue the dominant streak John Force Racing has established at the season opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals. JFR has won season opening Winternationals twelve times; John Force, 6 times (most recently 2012); Robert Hight, 3 times (most recently 2011); Tony Pedregon, twice and Courtney Force, once (2013). The team has won the last four Winternationals; John Force 2010 and 2012, Robert Hight 2011, and Courtney Force 2013.

“I don’t know what it is but there are some tracks where you just feel really comfortable racing. Auto Club Raceway is one of those places. We have been able to get in the winner’s circle pretty consistently at Auto Club Raceway but we don’t take that for granted. I love racing there and there is so much excitement at the Winternationals. We are ready after a good test session in Florida,” said Hight, who finished 5th in the Mello Yello point standings.

“I know I am always excited to do well at the Winternationals because everyone starts from the same spot in the points. You want to start strong and try and get some momentum. We want to do well for all our sponsors especially Auto Club of Southern California.”

Teamed with crew chief Mike Neff for the first time at the Winternationals Hight is looking forward to a full season with the two-time Mello Yello championship tuner. Last year Hight and Neff were teamed up for the last half of the season and won the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals as well as the NHRA Carolina Nationals.

“Getting the win at the U.S. Nationals and then starting the Countdown with a win in Charlotte were the two highlights for us last year for sure. We didn’t finish the season where we wanted to but you look at how Force got after we won and I don’t know that anyone could have stopped him and Jimmy. We are a team so we win together. Neff and I talked a lot over the off-season and we had a good tests session in Florida. We will be ready,” said Hight.

John Force Racing has won six of last eight Winternationals; Hight, 2006, 2008 and 2011; John Force, 2010 and 2012: Courtney Force, 2013. In 1999 JFR started season with eight consecutive wins; the longest consecutive win streak for team. In 2012 JFR started season with six consecutive wins.

“John got hot at the end of last season and we got hot in Countdown in 2009. We have started the season hot a couple of times but for me I want to be dominant for a whole season. You haven’t seen that in a while and I think it is because this Funny Car class is so competitive. If you go back to 2007 before John won last year there were six different Funny Car champions,” said Hight.

For Hight starting a personal win streak at the 54th annual Circle K Winternationals would start the momentum the 2009 Funny Car champion at one of his favorite tracks.

JOHN FORCE RUNS LOW ON SATURDAY AGAINST ANOTHER FORCE DAUGHTER

JUPITER, FL (January 18, 2014) — John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car made the last run of the 4th annual PRO Winter Warm-Up posting the quickest elapsed time of the day for the Funny Cars, a 4.013 second blast but for a couple hundred feet it looked like he might not be the first to the finish line. In the lane beside the 16-time Funny Car champion was 2013 Auto Club Rookie of the Year and Top Fuel driver Brittany Force. It was the first time these Forces have clashed and a quirk in the ladder provided the opportunity for Force to complete the trifecta and race his second youngest daughter. Previously Force had raced daughter Ashley Force Hood and Courtney Force.

“I have raced all my daughters I never knew if I would get a chance to race Brittany. The pairings worked out so we could match up and they asked if we would consider running together. I wouldn’t race anybody else. I want to race my own teams at a deal like this. You want to put on a show for the fans.  It was great,” said John Force. “She said she couldn’t see me when we pulled up to stage because she sits back in that dragster with the canopy. We both flickered the bottom light trying to get shallow. I knew if she went (down the track under power) she would beat me. Even with that 4.01 or if I ran 3.98 if she ran a 3.80 she would have me. I tried to get after her on the light but she actually left on me. It was fun for the crowd. We had great racing all weekend.”

For the soon to be sophomore driver racing her legendary dad came with its own pitfalls and challenges even before they took to the Palm Beach International Raceway track.

“That was pretty crazy. Just running him that one time makes me think I could never be in Funny Car. We had about 100 pep talks. I was fine going up there. I don’t ever worry or try and think about who I am running. He had me so worked up about him being in the other lane. He was just trying to help me but it was a little too much,” said Brittany Force. “It was definitely fun and I want to do it again. I have to beat him. He beat me down there and it was pretty cool for the fans. I didn’t see him until we did our burnouts and then I saw him again when I shook and he shot past me. I was fun to be able to say I raced my dad.”

The Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster shook the Goodyears loose at about 200 feet as the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car raced away to the finish line.

Force was the quickest on Saturday but he had to run quicker than teammate Robert Hight in the Auto Club Ford Mustang, 4.019 at 316.97mph and Del Worsham, 4.014 at 318.17 mph. Force’s first run of the day at the PRO Winter Warm-Ups was an impressive 4.036 seconds which was quickest of the first session. In the first session Courtney Force was second quickest with a strong 4.077 second pass in her Traxxas Ford Mustang.

HIGHT LEADS WAY FOR JFR ON FRIDAY OF PRO WINTER WARM-UPS

JUPITER, FL (January 17, 2014) — No one hoisted a trophy and there was no big check at the top end but that did not diminish the competitive fire on the first day of the 4th annual PRO Winter Warm-Up at Palm Beach International Raceway. Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang continued their steady performance improvements with a team leading elapsed time of 4.039 seconds at 315.56 mph in the second session on Friday.

“That run felt great. We have made a couple other runs in the 4.0s the past couple of days but with the fans in the stands and someone in the lane next to you it is just great to race. (Crew chief) Mike Neff and this Auto Club team have been testing a few things and we are focusing on the NHRA Circle K Winternationals. It has been cold here but we are working around that and seeing some good numbers,” said Hight, the 2013 Chevy Performance U.S. Nationals winner.

Hight’s Funny Car teammates also put on an exciting show for the fans on Friday. Courtney Force and the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car hazed the tires in both sessions but earlier in the day on Friday she lit up the scoreboard with a 4.06 second pass. 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion brought the crowd to their feet when he pedaled his Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car in both sessions shooting header flames above the roof of his 10,000 horsepower Funny Car. Force has consistently been in the 4.0s yesterday and today including a 4.03 second blast this morning.

“This is awesome to be back with drag racing fans. We won the championship last year and this was the first time for these folks in Florida to celebrate with us. That 4.03 this morning was a great run for this Castrol team and Robert has been running in the 4.0s and so has Courtney. We are all testing different things and then the brain-trust will get together and look at the data,” said Force.

“PRO does a great job with this event and thanks to team owners like Don Schumacher, Bob Vandegriff, Bob Tasca and Connie Kalitta, we have a great show for people to see. The Al-Anabi Dragsters ran great tonight and my daughter Brittany Force made a good 3.82 second run in the Castrol EDGE Dragster.”

The Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster driven by 2013 Auto Club Rookie of the Year Brittany Force made a strong showing during the exhibition runs posting elapsed times of 3.891 seconds and then improving to 3.824 seconds; fourth quickest of the second session.