JFR HEATS UP ON FINAL DAY OF QUALIFYING AT ENGLISHTOWN
ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – The sun came out and the temperature rose today at the 46th annual NHRA Toyota Summernationals giving the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series teams a whole new outlook for qualifying and racing tomorrow. Fortunately John Force Racing stepped up across the board posting improved times and consistently quick elapsed times heading into Sunday. Courtney Force and the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car held onto the No. 6 qualifying position as did her sister Brittany Force in the Top Fuel ranks behind the wheel of the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster. Robert Hight and John Force will start race day in the No. 12 and No. 13 qualifying positions, respectively but the Auto Club and Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Cars made solid laps that will serve them well on a hot track tomorrow.

Traxxas Chevrolet Funny Car driver Courtney Force continued her consistency today through the remainder of qualifying. She picked up four addition bonus points for making the second-quickest pass of both the third and fourth qualifying sessions. The 26 year-old ended up in the No. 6 position going into race day and will line up beside veteran and two-time Funny Car world champion Tony Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations.
“We had a pretty good day out here at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. We’ve had a very consistent race car all weekend and I think the hardest part for us is the car is still trying to spin down track. We’ve still got a fast race car. My team has done an amazing job this weekend,” said Force.
In the third session, Force posted a 4.044 ET at 306.40 mph, followed by a 4.045 ET at 306.81 mph to wrap up qualifying for the weekend. Force’s Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car had a small explosion at the finish line and still made a great pass.
“That last run bit us. It blew up in the lights, but we’re going to get this car back together. I feel bad for my team because they are going to have a heavy workload on them tonight. We’re qualified in the top half of the field in the No. 6 spot. We’re excited and we know we have a good race car, but we have to get it put back together and ready for tomorrow because we’re ready to get some rounds in for this Traxxas Chevy team,” said Force.
This will be the sixth time Force has gone head-to-head against Tony Pedregon, but their first meeting in 2015. She is currently 4-1 against him in previous events with their last match-up being Dallas of last year.
The Auto Club Chevy Camaro SS driven by Robert Hight made it best run of the weekend when it mattered the most, the final qualifying session, on the hottest track. In its previous three qualifying runs tire smoke and tire spin had undone aggressive passes but in the fourth qualifying session crew chief Mike Neff dialed in a tune-up that lit up the scoreboard with a 4.081 second elapsed time and moved Hight from the No. 16 position to the No. 12 spot.
“That last run was important for this Auto Club Camaro team. You want to get some data going into race day. The track was the warmest it has been all weekend and Neff put a tune-up in there that we knew would go right now there. We can tune from that for the first round. I am looking forward to the first round and hopefully having a long race day tomorrow,” said Hight, a 34-time Funny Car national event winner.
Hight will face Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round tomorrow. He is 10-5 against Johnson Jr. and 2-1 this season. This is their first meeting at Englishtown, the only one of the mythical “majors” Hight has never won.
Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster will face fellow Lucas Oil sponsored driver Richie Crampton for the third race in a row. Force has come up a few thousandths of a second short to the 2014 Rookie of the Year and the 2013 Rookie of the Year would like to reverse that trend tomorrow in the first round. As the No. 6 qualifier Force will be able to pick her lane and she has some momentum after a solid Q4 qualifying run.
“We have raced Richie Crampton the last two races. He got me in the semis in Topeka and the first round of Atlanta. I am familiar seeing him in the lane next to me and now I need to start outrunning him. We have a really good race car and we made three really good runs down the track this weekend,” said Force, a four-time Top Fuel finalist
“On that last qualifying run we ran a 3.82 and that was really helpful for tomorrow. The clouds moved out and it got pretty warm out there. I think those will be the conditions we will see throughout the day tomorrow and we are hoping to be running all day tomorrow. This Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster will get tuned up for tomorrow and we’ll be ready.”
Force will also have some Monster Energy momentum coming on the heels or rather hooves of Monster Energy sponsored American Pharoah’s win today at The Belmont Stakes less than 70 miles from Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. For the first time in 37 years there is a Triple Crown winner and while Force will have 10,000 hp behind her she would love to get a Monster Energy double up win.
“The Monster Energy team is ready for a win. We were close in Topeka and with three good runs in qualifying we will be ready for tomorrow. I don’t really follow horse racing but I was definitely pulling for American Pharoah today,” said Force, who has been flying the Monster Energy colors since the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
Team leader and 16-time Funny Car champion John Force will enter race day as the No. 13 qualifier. This is Force’s 34th straight start at Englishtown where he has never failed to qualify. However, starting from the 13th qualifying spot is his second worst starting position. He started further back only in 2002 (No. 15) when he lost to Tim Wilkerson in the first round.
On Saturday Force and his Peak Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car hazed the tires on its first run and then made a solid run beside teammate Robert Hight crossing the finish line in 4.12 seconds to give crew chief Jon Schaffer a clean run to tune off of for Sunday morning.
“In the cool air there were a few teams that ran quicker than us but we stepped up when it got into the heat today. We were as good as anybody else in the heat. We are going through a process with new engine combinations. We are learning how to race with a new budget and we are still focused on winning and safety. We aren’t making any excuses we just aren’t where we want to be right now,” said John Force.
Force will face Matt Hagan in the first round and for his career he is 14-12 versus the two-time Funny Car champ and he has won both meetings this year. He has had tough luck against the Virginian losing in his only two previous meetings with Hagan at Englishtown, 2011 and 2014, both in the first round.
“I enjoying racing here at Englishtown and I love the fans. They are absolutely the best. I have been racing here for 35 years but I am here with new colors and new sponsors. The fans are still trying to find me in the Peak blue and white and the Lucas Oil red and white. My daughter Brittany has those new Monster Energy colors. We are going to get our stuff together tomorrow and make every run count. We are going to try and get all our cars moving up in the points,” added Force.
The winningest driver in NHRA history has been less productive at Englishtown than at any other race in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series in which he has made at least five starts. He has gone to the finals ten times in 33 previous appearances with four wins for a 12.1% win percentage at Englishtown as opposed to 21.8 percent overall for his career, 142 wins in 650 starts.