Monthly Archives: May 2017

John Force Racing

Brittany Force, Monster Energy team go down swinging in first round of Southern Nationals

Brittany Force, Monster Energy team go down swinging
in first round of Southern Nationals

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7) – Brittany Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team didn’t go down without a fight Sunday in the first round of the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Force faced an uphill battle all weekend, starting with driving a re-tooled race car. After the race in Charlotte, her team returned to the John Force Racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., to put a new front-half on the car. Continue reading Brittany Force, Monster Energy team go down swinging in first round of Southern Nationals →

John Force Racing

PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil driver John Force drops close quarterfinals race in Southern Nationals

PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil driver John Force drops
close quarterfinals race in Southern Nationals

Photo credit: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7) – John Force ended up seven-thousandths of a second from creating an all-John Force Racing semifinals and a guaranteed trip to final of Sunday’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

The quickest qualifier in the opening session Saturday and the No. 5 qualifier overall, Force fell just a few feet from defeating Ron Capps in the quarterfinals of the race, despite a slightly better reaction time. Force, as well as teammates Courtney Force and Robert Hight, all won their first-round matchups and were pressing for spots in the semifinals. Continue reading PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil driver John Force drops close quarterfinals race in Southern Nationals →

John Force Racing

Courtney Force, Advance Auto Parts team continue to make progress in Atlanta

Courtney Force, Advance Auto Parts team
continue to make progress in Atlanta

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7) – Courtney Force and her Advance Auto Parts team had a successful weekend with a backup Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, earning her fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier and racing to the second round of the NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway. Continue reading Courtney Force, Advance Auto Parts team continue to make progress in Atlanta →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–NHRA–Atlanta– Post Race

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
LUCAS OIL NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS
ATLANTA DRAGWAY AT COMMERCE, GEORGIA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2017

BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; earned second career Pro Stock victory; first two-time winner of the season; all seven Pro Stock events have been won by Chevrolet Camaro SS):

Q: WHAT DOES THIS WIN, FOLLOWING YOUR WIN TWO WEEKS AGO, MEAN TO YOU?
BO BUTNER: “I have to thank KB Racing for giving me one fast race car. I have gained a lot of confidence this year, especially on the Tree. It’s a very tight field among the Chevrolets in Pro Stock, so to win two times in seven races is an accomplishment that I don’t take lightly.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NHRA–Atlanta– Post Race →

John Force Racing

Robert Hight takes Auto Club Chevrolet to Southern Nationals semifinals

Robert Hight takes Auto Club Chevrolet
to Southern Nationals semifinals

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7) – Robert Hight set the elapsed-time track record twice in Sunday’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, but he fell in the semifinals to Ron Capps for the second time in three races.

Hight – driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS – overpowered Chad Head and John Force Racing teammate Courtney Force in consecutive rounds, with record-setting performances in both. His pass of 3.882 seconds at 328.06 mph against Head reset the mark established earlier in the day by Matt Hagan, by five thousandths of a second. That put head in another matchup against Force, whom he bested two weeks ago at Houston.

In the second round, Hight bested the track record again. He posted a run of 3.880 seconds at 320.81 mph, straight down the track, while Force smoked the tires and clocked in at 5.508 seconds at 118.26 mph. Continue reading Robert Hight takes Auto Club Chevrolet to Southern Nationals semifinals →

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Post Race

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 7, 2017

AJ ALLMENDINGER NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in multi-car accident on Lap 168
YOU WERE UPSIDE DOWN IN THAT CRASH. ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT HAPPENED?
ARE YOU OKAY? TELL US WHAT HAPPENED? 
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m happy I didn’t get hit upside down. I’m all good. Our race team does a great job with safety. It’s just Talladega. It’s all it is. The plan worked out. We waited in the back and got up front and I had (Dale Earnhardt) Junior pushing me, I had the best guy pushing me. I’m not sure. Chase (Elliott) was kind of… the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the No. 24 of Chase they were kind of moving around and at the time I think (Kevin) Harvick got behind me and we were shoving and Chase opened the door and then kind of closed it and I tried to check up just a little bit and tapped him and when I checked up it was a big wreck after that. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Talladega–Post Race →

Kalitta Racing

Kalitta Earns Milestone Round Win

Post-Race Report
Event 07: NHRA Southern Nationals
Atlanta Dragway
Commerce, Ga.
May 5-7

Kalitta earns milestone round win
Race Recap: Doug Kalitta came back to the site of one of his most exciting wins, last season’s near tie with his teammate J.R. Todd, which was the closest finish in NHRA history. The Mac Tools team were looking for a repeat.

Kalitta and the Mac Tools team were solid again in qualifying earning another top five start with their 3.764 second effort in the afternoon qualifying session on Saturday. That gave him the fifth starting spot and a first round pairing with Chris Karamesines. Continue reading Kalitta Earns Milestone Round Win →

Chevrolet Racing

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Third Straight GTLM Victory and Championship Lead Garcia, Magnussen win second race of 2017 in No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Third Straight GTLM Victory and Championship Lead
Garcia, Magnussen win second race of 2017 in No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

Chevrolet assumes GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship lead
Second win for Corvette Racing at Circuit of The Americas
Milner, Gavin caught up in opening-lap chaos

AUSTIN, Texas (May 6, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen won their second race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Saturday with a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown. Continue reading CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: Third Straight GTLM Victory and Championship Lead Garcia, Magnussen win second race of 2017 in No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R →

Chevrolet Racing

CHEVY FAST FACTS GEICO 500 TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

CHEVY FAST FACTS
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
May 7, 2017

A total of 18 Team Chevy drivers will start the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Superspeedway. The 188-lap/500-mile contest around the 2.66-mile venue is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.

CHEVROLET DRIVERS STARTING IN THE TOP-10:
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevy SS, will start 2nd
Chase Elliott, No. 24 Hooters Chevrolet SS, rolls off 8th
Paul Menard, No. Valvoline/Menards Chevy SS starts 9th Continue reading CHEVY FAST FACTS GEICO 500 TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY →

Chevrolet Racing

Mopar Driver Schumacher Puts Top Fuel Dragster No. 1 in Abbreviated Atlanta Qualifying

Mopar Driver Schumacher Puts Top Fuel Dragster No. 1 in Abbreviated Atlanta Qualifying

­­­­­­­­Tony Schumacher qualifies U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster in top spot for NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway; it is the 82nd No. 1 qualifying effort of his career
Mopar HEMI®-powered Top Fuel cars have claimed four No. 1 qualifying positions in 2017
Mopar-powered Don Schumacher Racing Funny Cars will begin the day 2nd, 3rd and 4th
Five Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars qualify for 16-car field
Event featured only two qualifying sessions on Saturday due to Friday rain Continue reading Mopar Driver Schumacher Puts Top Fuel Dragster No. 1 in Abbreviated Atlanta Qualifying →

John Force Racing

Brittany Force, Monster Energy team look to claw their way from the No. 16 spot in Atlanta

Brittany Force, Monster Energy team look to claw
their way from the No. 16 spot in Atlanta

Photo Credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – Brittany Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team are more determined than ever to claw their way back to the top, despite a series of misfortune that continued to the NHRA Southern Nationals this weekend at Atlanta Dragway.

After falling in the first round at Charlotte last weekend, Force’s team returned to the John Force Racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., to work on her dragster. A new front half was constructed and built into the car in an effort to help Force find some consistency. Continue reading Brittany Force, Monster Energy team look to claw their way from the No. 16 spot in Atlanta →

John Force Racing

Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow?

Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow?

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – The colors red and green go well together. But Courtney Force wants red and yellow as her fashion statement for the NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway.

No. 1 qualifiers in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series receive green hats as a prize – and race winners get yellow hats. Force drives a bright red Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and has now donned a green hat for four consecutive races. Continue reading Can Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS driver Courtney Force turn green into yellow? →

Jegs Racing

Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ

Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class
comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — For the first time in a long time, Troy Coughlin Jr. did not qualify for elimination action in the J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. The DNQ snaps a streak of 36 consecutive national events dating back to the fall of 2013 in which Coughlin had successfully made the cut.

“They say we put together the biggest span of any of the Pro Mod cars to qualify for every single race so that’s a very big accomplishment and I’m very proud of it,” Coughlin said. “We just got behind the eight-ball a little bit on the first pass and really didn’t recovery quite as quickly as we should have.”
Continue reading Longest qualifying streak in Pro Mod class comes to an end with Troy Coughlin’s DNQ →

John Force Racing

Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals

Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals

Photo credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – Robert Hight will start from the No. 9 qualifying position in Funny Car for Sunday’s 37th-annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, the seventh race on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Hight – driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS – turned in a time of 4.024 seconds at 274.89 mph, in the second of two rounds Saturday afternoon. That effort came despite losing a cylinder a second-and-a-half into the run. Two sessions Friday were canceled because of inclement weather, forcing teams to alter strategy. Continue reading Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight earns No. 9 qualifying position for Southern Nationals →

John Force Racing

PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals

PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory
from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals

Photo credit: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Funny Car driver John Force will attempt to win his eighth NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday, and he starts from the No. 5 qualifying position in the Funny Car event in the seventh stop on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Continue reading PEAK driver John Force chases eighth Atlanta victory from the No. 5 spot for Southern Nationals →

Wood Brothers

Blaney To Start 16th At Talladega

Blaney To Start 16th At Talladega

May 6, 2017

Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion will start Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway from the 16th position after Blaney turned a lap at 189.256 miles per hour in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Blaney’s said he was a little short on speed on Talladega’s long straightaways, but he’s not concerned about being able to race at the front of the pack on Sunday.

“I feel pretty fine about it,” he said. “The car has always raced pretty good. We’ll be just fine tomorrow.”

Blaney and his fellow Cup drivers will start Sunday’s race with a limited amount of practice due to persistent showers on Friday that cut short the practice session.

Blaney was seventh fastest on Friday with a best lap at 195.748 mph in the draft but ran just 10 laps. He said the lack of practice shouldn’t be a factor in Sunday’s race, but he also said that anything can happen at almost any time and place in the draft at Talladega.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said.

Sunday’s race is set to start just after 1 p.m. (2 p.m Eastern) with TV coverage on FOX.

Erica Enders

Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection

Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — Two-time world champion Erica Enders’ 21 national event trophies places her second on the all-time list of female professional drag racers, but the Houston, Texas, native has yet to score one at Atlanta Dragway, something she’d love to change Sunday at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.

“Atlanta is one on the to-do list for sure,” Enders said. “We’ll get there. Our performances across the board have been trending up all year and if we’d been able to make four runs here instead of two we’d have shown a little better. No matter what, we’re in the top half of the field and we’re ready to battle. Continue reading Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders wants Atlanta trophy for her collection →

Jegs Racing

Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot

Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first
victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) — Six-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will try for his fourth Atlanta crown from the favored side of the elimination ladder after qualifying his JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 4 position at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals.

Coughlin posted a best run of 6.590 seconds at 210.41 mph in Saturday’s opening session. Due to rain, qualifying action was shortened to just two rounds, both taking place Saturday. Coughlin’s second run was a 6.604 at 209.79 mph. Continue reading Jeg Coughlin Jr. takes aim at first victory of the year from No. 4 starting spot →

Allen Johnson Racing

Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals

Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6, 2017) – Allen Johnson and the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart team have smiles from ear to ear after qualifying a season high No. 9 at the 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals.

After qualifying got cancelled before any runs were made at Atlanta Dragway on Friday for the Pro Stock class, Johnson knew capitalizing on Saturday’s qualifying would be crucial. Continue reading Allen Johnson Rockets Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart to Season High No. 9 at NHRA Southern Nationals →