CHEVROLET RACING NHRA AT PHOENIX
47TH AMALIE MOTOR OIL NHRA GATORNATIONALS.
GAINESVILLE RACEWAY, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
POST-RACE WINNER QUOTES
MARCH 20, 2016

CHEVROLET TRIPLE TODAY AT GAINESVILLE!

BRITTANY FORCE CAPTURED HER FIRST CAREER NHRA TOP FUEL VICTORY TODAY IN THE GATORNATIONALS AT GAINESVILLE RACEWAY. HER JOHN FORCE RACING TEAMMATE ROBERT HIGHT CAPTURED HIS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON IN FUNNY CAR. GREG ANDERSON CAPTURED HIS SECOND VICTORY OF THE YEAR IN PRO STOCK:

BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “This is awesome! Thank you fans for all of your support. Last weekend at Phoenix we almost made it there. Definitely bummed after that, but proud of my team. They have worked so hard to get here. This weekend we came out and I was feeling good. Sometimes a driver just feels that way and I had it. I felt it in my stomach, and I was hoping we were going to go all the way, and we did. I’ve been chasing this for so many years. It is a very proud moment to be standing here. I have to thank my team and everyone who helped me get here!”

ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “That is what is crazy about this sport and this Funny Car class. Tell you what, when you race Ron Capps and you can beat him peddling, you have done something. This is a great Gatornationals win for the Auto Club Chevy. Pretty fortunate that my car has been going up and down the track a lot and when you finally feel a little shake, it’s out of the ordinary because the car has been running so well. You react to it so quick. Where you are really screwed up is where it rattles every run and you don’t know when to catch it, when to pedal it, or whether it’s going to go through it. But I knew that wasn’t going so I gave it a quick slap and hoped he wasn’t coming around me.”

JOHN FORCE, TEAM OWNER:

WITH ROBERT GETTING A WIN AND BRITTANY GETTING HER FIRST WIN, AS AN OWNER, WHERE IS YOUR HEAD AT TODAY? “As an owner, you can’t expect much more than this today. To look at Robert Hight, and we know he knows how to drive a race car, and Mike Neff. The whole operation, with all the changes, we expected that car to come around. Robert’s driving ability on the race track is unbelievable. And with Brittany, we put her with a brand new team and with Alan Johnson…..it’s all about putting the right team together.

“Like I said before, I failed as an owner, as a father, everything. We don’t know how to run dragsters. It wasn’t the people running it, it was the combination of people from a Funny Car. But to put them with Alan Johnson and let him choose his team, putting Brian Husen as the crew chief, and at the same time he has that Capco car that he is working with Torrence with. They won out there at Pomona and then Brittany runner-up at Phoenix – that deal is going to be pretty good. I can’t wait to see where it’s going to go. At least now the team is being competitive, and Brittany is doing her job, staying calm and cool all day, and getting to that final and just delivering.”

HOW PROUD OF BRITTANY ARE YOU FOR HER TO STICK IT OUT AFTER EIGHT FINAL ROUNDS: “Took several years for her to struggle and go through all the teams that she loved and the crew chiefs. But what Alan said, was that you could put me over there with that other stuff but to make me any better, put me with what I know. And that is what we did. It’s early in the season, but just mentally this is great to deliver for Monster Energy, to deliver for Chevrolet, to deliver for Auto Club that’s been so loyal to us, to Mac Tools, to Peak and everybody. The only one that didn’t deliver today was me, but what I think I am looking at is that I made the right calls. A lot of it is money, and I have had to take money out of my pocket to make this program work. I invested in this Top Fuel team and in Alan Johnson and he made this team work.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “Definitely surprising to win on a holeshot. It was a great weekend for KB Racing. As the weekend went and we made run after run after run and Jason (Line) was absolutely the strongest car; I told myself, you know what, if you can just do your job tomorrow, and find your way to the final round, take a runner-up; go home and try to make things better for the next race. I would have been happy if we could make it an all Summit final. We did that, and somehow I found a way to steal a victory away from him.”