CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
ARBY’S NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS
ATLANTA DRAGWAY IN COMMERCE, GEORGIA
POST-RACE RECAP
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2019
Chevrolet drivers continue to rack up points
Brittany Force reaches final round for the third time in past four races
Funny Car points leader Robert Hight advances to semis for 6th time in 7 races
Chip Johnson drives to Stock Eliminator win in all-COPO Camaro final
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 5, 2019) – Brittany Force advanced to the final round of Top Fuel eliminations for the third time in the past four National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events to lead Chevrolet Racing at the Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals.
Force, who drove the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster to the No. 1 qualifier for the third time this season, moved to second in the Top Fuel championship points with the final-round appearance. She had the early advantage against Steve Torrence but lost momentum when the tires lost grip on the Atlanta Dragway strip.
John Force Racing teammate and Funny Car points leader Robert Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, lost in the semifinals. Hight has advanced to the semifinals in six of the seven races to start the season.
Hight claimed the No. 1 qualifier honor for the fifth time in the seven races. He’s the first to accomplish that feat since 1987. It was the 65th low qualifier of Hight’s career, which is one off tying Kenny Bernstein for sixth all time.
Teammate John Force, who qualified No. 3 on his 70th birthday in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil BlueDef Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell in the quarterfinals. He is an eight-time winner at Atlanta Dragway.
Austin Prock, the No. 11 qualifier in Top Fuel driving the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, fell in the first round of eliminations.
In an all-Chevrolet COPO Camaro Stock Eliminator final, Chip Johnson of Fayetteville, North Carolina, defeated Jeff Warren of Clinton, North Carolina. Darren Poole-Adams owns both COPO Camaros.
“I’ve been racing 38 years trying to get one of these (Wallys) and finally got it done,” said Johnson, a first-time NHRA national event winner. “Everything went smoothly all weekend. I had to run my teammate in the final and was lucky today.”
In Super Stock, Brandon Bakies of Alexandria, Louisiana, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to his fourth career final round before losing.
Chevrolet Pro Stock drivers return to action with other pro classes at the May 17-19 Virginia NHRA Nationals.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier; fell in final): “Good weekend in Atlanta for this Advance Auto Parts team. We were No. 1 qualifier, picked up a handful of points. We went to the final round, couldn’t get the job done and the thing spun down there about 600 feet and (Steve) Torrence got around us. We were ahead of him but that’s the game of racing, that’s how racing goes and congrats to that team. This Advance Auto Parts team is going to pack up and we get a week off, then we go to Richmond and plan to dominate again.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 11 qualifier; fell in first round): “Got beat on a close race today. We qualified on the bottom half of the field and that puts us in a tough position on race day. We ran decent and lost but we’ll regroup and go to the next one. It’s a good running race car. We have potential, we just need a few more laps and we’ll get there.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier for fifth time in seven races; fell in semifinals): “We dropped a cylinder in the semis and, you know, summer’s here. It usually doesn’t happen to our car, we’re usually pretty good on dropping cylinders but today was our day to drop them,” explained Hight. “We’re going to bounce back from this. We’re leaving here with a bigger points lead than what we came in with. That’s all positive. It gives us a little room to test and try to get even better which I think there’s room for improvement.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL BLUEDEF CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “Good weekend for John Force Racing with Robert Hight and Auto Club getting low and Brittany and Advance Auto Parts getting low. The Advance Auto Parts dragster is coming around it’s up there in the points, made it to the final round. Robert is in the lead with that Auto Club car, it’ll get a couple more wins. My car is up there in the top of the points, running good. Austin Prock’s car is coming around with Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist. What I’m saying is, we all know the drill. We wanted to win here, everybody did but, I think, as a team, we’re doing good.”