NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES
NHRA LUCAS OIL NATIONALS
BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
BRAINERD, MINNESOTA
TEAM CHEVY POST-EVENT RECAP
Chevrolet Camaro SS Scores Big Wins in NHRA at Brainerd
Robert Hight takes Funny Car victory; Erica Enders claims Pro Stock win and points lead
BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 23, 2015) – Team Chevy picked up to event wins Sunday at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday. Robert Hight won his first Funny Car race of the season in his John Force Racing Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Funny Car Camaro SS, moments after Erica Enders claimed her 17th career Pro Stock victory in her Elite Motorsports Chevy Pro Stock Camaro SS.
It was a doubly good day for Enders, who reclaimed the Pro Stock championship lead heading to next month’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She beat Jason Line and his KB Racing Chevy Pro Stock Camaro SS on a holeshot, her 0.014-second reaction time proving the difference.
It was her second-best reaction time on the day having posted 0.002-second RT in an opening round victory over Mark Hogan.
“We talked about it before. We’ve certainly struggled and that’s no secret,” said Enders, who won the Lucas Oil Nationals for the second time. “But I think this is just the right time to pick up the momentum that we need. We have so much fun together, and this shows we’re capable of anything with the right people. I’m proud of my team and so blessed.”
Enders ran a 6.552/210.34 mph pass to Line’s effort of 6.541/211.06 mph in an all Camaro SS final. The Pro Stock semifinal also was an all-Chevy matchup. Enders, the No. 2 qualifier, bested Chris McGaha in one semifinal to end the latter’s two-event winning streak. In the other, Jason Line defeated No. 1 qualifier Shane Gray.
Enders got to the final by beating Mark Hogan in the first round and fellow Chevy Camaro SS driver Bo Butner in Round Two. Line’s path to the final included a first-round victory over V. Gaines and win against Allen Johnson in the second round.
Three Chevy Pro Stock Camaro SS drivers officially clinched berths in the Countdown to the Championship: Larry Morgan, Shane Gray and Jonathan Gray.
Hight’s event in his Southern California Auto Club Chevy Funny Camaro SS was his first of the season and 35th of his career. It also boosted his chances of qualifying for the Mello Yello series’ Countdown to the Championship. He ran a 3.956/323.58 mph in the final against a 4.130/316.52 mph pass from Tommy Johnson Jr.
“It has been a long dry spell,” Hight said. “I guess we wanted to make it a little interesting. I’m not going to be cocky. We made up a big difference in the gap in how the other cars are running in one weekend. We still have a lot of work to do, but with Chevrolet’s help and Auto Club… this is a big one!”
Three of Hight’s four elimination runs were under four seconds as he advanced out of the semifinals at Brainerd for the first time. The No. 6 qualifier in Funny Car, he beat Ron Capps, Brian Stewart and Tim Wilkerson before taking his first event victory since the Denver meet in 2014.
John Force made it to the second round of Funny Car eliminations in his Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet Funny Car Camaro SS, a result good enough to officially earn a spot in the Countdown for the Championship. The 16-time Funny Car champion and No. 2 qualifier topped Dale Creasey Jr., in the first round.
In Top Fuel, Brittany Force was the runner-up in her Monster Energy/John Force Racing/Chevrolet Top Fuel Dragster. The No. 11 qualifier, advanced to her first Brainerd Top Fuel final and missed an event win by just 0.076 in a good race with points leader Richie Crampton.
Force beat Antron Brown in the semifinals after having outrunning Dave Connolly and Doug Kalitta in the first two rounds.
The next stop for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Race Series is the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals on Sept. 2-7 from Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
FUNNY CAR
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in first round over Rob Capps; winner in second round over Brian Stewart; winner in semifinals over Tim Wilkerson; winner in final over Tommy Johnson Jr.: “We had a really good Chevrolet Camaro. It was running good and we were running a little quicker than Tommy Johnson Jr. I felt good but when you have these kinds of conditions you just never know what you are going to get. This Auto Club Chevy was a handful to drive today. We changed a bunch of things on the car and it is carrying the front end. I am not going to get cocky. The DSR cars have been dominant and really good. I would say we closed the gap this weekend but we have a lot of work to do.
“You can’t be relaxed with the way this Funny Car field is. There are way too many good cars. Look at Tim Wilkerson he is out here running 3.92 first and second rounds. That car is stout. I have always had confidence in my team. I have confidence in myself but I always try and get better. You have to work hard to get better. We have a lot of work to do.
“The way the cars ran in qualifying with warmer temperatures we knew we had our hands full. It was not a time to be weak or be conservative. You had to come out here and get after it. In the first round last year my car shook real hard and I had to get out of it. You hear some the cars out in front of you having to pedal it this morning and you have to be ready for anything. I had to pedal it first round today luckily got the win against Ron Capps who has a tough car.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in round one over Dale Creasey Jr.; defeated in round two by Tim Wilkerson: “That is what Auto Club pays us for. We made the Traxxas Shootout on the last day and Courtney has a chance to win the fan vote. My Peak Chevrolet running a 3.93 and Robert running a 3.92 and Courtney running 3.95… we have some good Chevy hot rods. Our game plan hasn’t changed and the competition is tougher than I have ever seen. We will use this week for testing.
“It (clinching a Countdown spot) is exciting especially for Jon Schaffer and this young team. I have made it before and sometimes it takes a little bit of luck. Hell, half the time you could have the car that was the second quickest in eliminations and you get taken out. This is great for Peak, Chevrolet, Auto Club, Traxxas, Lucas Oil and Mac Tools.”
COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS RADIO CONTROL CARS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: defeated in first round by John Hale: “That was not fun from a driver’s perspective. I have had cars blow up in my face before and those seem like nothing compared to that run for some reason. It was quite an experience. The car went up and it shook. I did a quick pedal trying to get it to recover back but obviously conditions are great here. We tried to get this Traxxas Chevy down to the other end and that was the most important thing. It was just on its side right and left and I was trying to keep it away from the wall. I was just hoping it would coast down there. You could tell on the replay my foot wasn’t even on the throttle.”
TOP FUEL
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING-MONSTER ENERGY TOP FUEL DRAGSTER: Winner in round one over Dave Connolly; winner in round two over Doug Kalitta; winner in semifinals over Antron Brown; defeated in final by Ritchie Crampton: “I am a little disappointed. I definitely thought it was our day. We want to get this win for this Monster Energy team. Overall when you look at our entire weekend we struggled some in qualifying and to come out here on race day and take down some tough competitors. Drivers like Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta and go all the way to the final I don’t think you can be too disappointed by that. We moved up in the points and we are closer to clinching a spot in the Countdown. I have an awesome team behind me and I am so proud of every single one of them. I know how hard they have worked and it just wasn’t our weekend.”
PRO STOCK
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in first round over Mark Hogan; winner in second round over Bo Butner; winner in semifinals over Chris McGaha; winner in final over Jason Line: “This is a really crucial time in our season, especially heading into Indy [in two weeks], where it’s worth points and a half, so it’s a great time to get that momentum to swing back to our side of the fence, and I’m so proud of my team. It’s an amazing win for my group. It’s really exciting for me because it’s hard not to get frustrated collectively as a group when things aren’t going your way, but that’s what makes our team work so great. We don’t allow ourselves to get down in the dumps and just dig deep and play with all our heart.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in first round over V. Gaines; winner in second round over Allen Johnson; winner over Shane Gray in semifinals; defeated in final by Erica Enders: “My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is a good car. We made it better all weekend long, and so that is a pretty good feeling for us at this time of the year. We went through a little bit of a struggle getting back to the final round after the Summit Racing Southern Nationals in Atlanta earlier this year, but we got back there. We made some good moves as far as making our car faster, and it was a good day. It’s too bad I didn’t finish the job, but it was still a good day.
“I thought I was going to win today. I just made a big error in the final, and I had to pay for it. It’s just one of those things, and I feel bad I let our Summit Racing guys down. We had the car to beat, and we should have won – but that’s the way racing goes. You just recognize that it could be worse, and you move on. We’re ready for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in just a couple of weeks, and then we’ll be ready for the Countdown to the Championship after that.”
CHRIS McGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in round one over Deric Kramer; winner in round two over Larry Morgan; defeated by Erica Enders in semifinals: “I knew the only way I was going to lose was on a holeshot or because of parts breakage, and it was parts breakage. We broke a clutch finger, and I think it might be broken second round because we slowed down. You could see some things weren’t right, but it really finished itself off in the semis.
“You know, every race is a new race. Every round is a new round. You try to hold onto what you did good in the past, but it’s new – and when you start winning that many rounds in a row you start thinking that any minute lightning is going to strike and something is going to go wrong. You’re trying so hard to make sure it doesn’t, but eventually it has to. But Jim Yates told me once that it isn’t always about winning. If you can get to the semifinals every weekend, you’re a badass.”
SHANE GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, GRAY MANUFACTURING TECH CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Bye in in first round over Matt Hartford; won in second round over Greg Anderson; defeated in semifinals by Jason Line: “It was a good weekend, but it wasn’t a great weekend. We made some gains with my car, and we’re leaving here with the track record for speed and a real good package. I feel confident going to Indy. I think that’s going to be a great weekend for us, and maybe we have built up a little bit of momentum after this race. The weather today was a lot different from what we had the rest of the weekend, and I think our guys responded to it well.
“We would always like to leave with a win, but we’re working towards that. Jonathan [Gray, brother and Gray Motorsports teammate] and I both got into the Countdown to the Championship, and that makes us real happy heading into this next race. We’ll go out there and have some fun and do what we need to do, and hopefully, we’ll get to the final round again and get that trophy.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in first round over Jonathan Gray; defeated in second round by Shane Gray: “We’re going to go home and regroup, and then we’re going to go test. We’ve kind of gone off the rails. We definitely lost some of the tune-up with my car. Jason (Line, Summit Racing teammate) had a car that ran well all weekend, so we’re going to figure out why mine didn’t. We’ve got a big race at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indy, and it’s my favorite race of the year. I’m still confident and happy, and I’m still excited – we just have a few things to fix before Indy. The good news is that we have a little time. We haven’t been able to test for a while with the Western Swing and all the races leading up to that, so thankfully we have a week off to go home and do this.
“We aren’t that far off, but in this class, a couple hundredths is everything. We have to get that couple hundredths back, and then the driver has to do a good job. We have to get the car back to its happy spot, and the driver has to get happy, too. We’ll get there.
“It’s fun this time of year. It’s so much better than it was last year for me, and you know, I love coming up here to race in front of our friends and family in Brainerd. You love to put on a good show for them, and we just weren’t able to do that last year. This year, I’m a little let down we didn’t do a great job, but the Summit Racing team got a car to the final round with Jason, and next race out, we can go and win the race. We feel positive. Things are good for the KB Racing team.”
JONATHAN GRAY, GRAY MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Defeated in first round by Greg Anderson: “We were glad to get our spot in the Countdown to the Championship sorted out. Now you can go to the rest of the races and just roll, you can stop worrying about that and just go to try to win races. It takes a little of the heat off the situation.
“Unfortunately, the results with my car this weekend were a little bit self-inflicted. Looking back, we should not have tried to run the motor that we did [in qualifying], but I wanted to know. Then we lost the fourth session to the weather, and that hurt a little bit. Aside from that, this was the first time I lost on a holeshot, and that stings. I know better, and I can do better. I didn’t feel like I did anything different, I just couldn’t get going.
“We’re going to test this next week in Charlotte before Indy. I think we need it. I think we need to get rolling, and I’d like to win Indy. If we can find some stuff in Charlotte, I think we can. If we can get the same package in my car that we have in Shane’s car, we could have a very deadly package. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get that together before the Countdown starts.”
LARRY MORGAN, GRAY MOTORSPORTS, FIREAIDE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: Winner in first round over Vincent Nobile; defeated in second round by Chris McGaha: “The car just shut off right when I let the clutch out. We had visions of grandeur after outrunning Vincent (Nobile in Round One). I thought we’d have FireAde back in the winner’s circle, I really did, but something jumped up and bit us.
“We had a great start there, but the car quit on us. We’ll analyze all the data and figure out what happened. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of whatever it may be –probably the proverbial 50-cent part.
“Heck, we’re still pretty satisfied. FireAde has given us a season to remember and we’re in the mix for making the playoff field, so we’ll be having fun until the very end. I can’t wait to get to Indy, sell some FireAde for Ron (Thames, CEO), and then go out and put this car on TV as much as we can so more and more people learn about FireAde. That’s what it’s all about.”