CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA SPRINGNATIONALS
ROYAL PURPLE RACEWAY, BAYTOWN, TEXAS
MAY 1, 2016
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:
RACE WINNERS:
An interview with Funny Car winner COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: This is not only your first win of the season but the first with your brother-in-law as crew chief.
COURTNEY FORCE: “It’s a lot of fun working with my brother-in-law Dan Hood and Ronny Thompson – both of them tuning my race car. It’s such a great team and all they guys work really hard. I’m just lucky to be a part of it. It’s amazing to get this win. It seems a lot harder than the first one and took a lot longer, but definitely worth it. I felt we fought hard and it definitely feels good to win here in Texas.”
Q: That victory gives you a tie for the points lead. There’s a little bit of mojo going forward.
COURTNEY FORCE: My sister Brittany is in the points lead in Top Fuel and I’m tied for the points lead in Funny Car with Tim Wilkerson, and it’s pretty unbelievable. Just to be out here with my sister Brittany and my dad (Funny Car driver and team owner John Force) doing what we love to do because of all the sponsors is great.
An interview with Pro Stock winner GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
Q: You’re the only guy to beat your teammate (Jason Line) this year. What do you have over him?
GREG ANDERSON: He is a tough competitor, a tough one. Somebody just reached down and let my foot off that clutch. I don’t know how that happened. I do not want a rerun. It’s in the books; we got the victory. I feel just a little bit bad for him, but I’ll get over it. OK, I’m over it.
Q: Last year was a bit of a comeback year after the heart surgery and then a lot of turmoil in the offseason with the electronic fuel injection. But it’s come up roses for your team. How do you account for that?
GREG ANDERSON: Just a lot of hard work, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. The car has been a dream to drive all weekend, and it’s a 100 percent team effort. And I can’t thank the fans enough today. I don’t know what it was like in your world, but it was sunshine in my world.
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “Houston was tough for us this week. We struggled a little bit in qualifying battling this weather that has been back and forth. We need to get out of the first round, but we leave with the points lead and that’s probably the most important. We’ll try to keep that momentum (at Atlanta) and stay up there and hopefully improve.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS PEAK CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (on daughter Courtney winning Funny Car final): “I’m really proud of her. There’s a lot of pressure put on her at 27. (about his car) I’m struggling with my own seat in the car with a new team. It’s like I’m learning all over again in this car.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA TEXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “We’ve had a lot of success at (next race) Atlanta. I’ve won that race quite a few times and been runner-up a few times. All I can say is I wish it was next weekend. After a loss like today and losing the points lead I want to get right back at it and get the points lead back. We’re a better team than the last two races have shown.”
PRO STOCK:
DREW SKILLMAN, RAY SKILLMAN RACING, RAY SKILLMAN RACING CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “In the first round I darn near crashed the car and the second round I have a transmission failure. It’s shaping up to be one of those years. It’s frustrating but we’re trucking along. We’re getting a little better. We (as a team) sat down this weekend and talked about where we need to go next. We’re ready to keep moving.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, VALVOLINE/NOVA SERVICES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “It’s frustrating, but we’re not going to throw our hands in the air and give up. Nobody said this was easy, and it sure hasn’t been this year. But we’re not going to stop until we get it figured out. I’ve got some really smart guys on this team, and we’ll keep working on it. I truly believe we have plenty of power under the hood. Our guys back in the engine shop have been working extremely hard building good motors. We have the power; we just need to get it to the racetrack better. There’s only one way to get better, and that’s to keep working. We’re not afraid of that. If we can match the early numbers to the late numbers, we’ll be right there. I know we can.”
CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “First round was great especially since it was against Mopar. The fact that we took out Mopar is big. Winning on a holeshot against the Mopar car was awesome for Chevrolet. Second round we made a few little changes and was going try to go out there and make the same run as E1, if not better, and it didn’t work out. I was on the wrong side of the green and then we shook. We lost as a team.”
