CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE U.S. NATIONALS
LUCAS OIL RACEWAY IN BROWNSBURG, INDIANA
QUALIFYING RECAP AND DRIVER QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
Chevrolet drivers pace Top Fuel, Pro Stock qualifiers
Brittany Force is first female in U.S. Nationals history to earn Top Fuel pole
Pro Stock points leader Bo Butner picks up 11th career No. 1 honor
John Force qualifies third, Robert Hight qualifies sixth in Funny Car
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (September 1, 2019) – Consistent in qualifying throughout the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) regular season, Brittany Force is looking forward to making consistent runs on race day that will put her in the winner’s circle of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.
Force, driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster, registered her sixth No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier honor of the season and 16th of her career with a Lucas Oil Raceway-record 3.645-second pass in the third of five qualifying sessions. She is the first female to be the low Top Fuel qualifier in the 65-year history of the U.S. Nationals.
The 2017 Top Fuel champion has qualified in the top half of the field in 15 of the 18 regular-season NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series races. Entering the event second in the standings, Force will aim for her second win of the season and carry momentum into the six-race Countdown to the Championship series.
“(Being the first female No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel) is a big accomplishment, but we want to do more. We want to win this thing tomorrow,” she said. “To win Indy it’s joining a list of legends. My dad is on there and so many drivers that I’ve looked up to. It’s the ‘Big Go,’ everyone wants to win Indy.
“(Consistency in qualifying) is key to us. If you look back at the beginning of our season, middle of our season, we’d get maybe one good run down the racetrack and the rest of them we couldn’t get the car down the track and that doesn’t help us out at all on race day.”
John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock, competing in his first Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, laid down his best pass of 3.726 seconds in the final session and is No. 12 in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster.
The 3.774-second bump spot is the quickest in NHRA history. Likewise, in Funny Car, the 4.005-second bump spot is the quickest in the history of the sanctioning body.
John Force, with a 3.876-second pass in the PEAK Chevrolet Accessories Camaro SS, enters race day third on the Funny Car ladder. Funny Car championship points leader Robert Hight, driving the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, qualified sixth at 3.884 seconds.
Pro Stock championship points leader Bo Butner secured his third low qualifier honor of the season in the Jim Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS and 11th of his career. Butner has reached the final round in 25 percent of his 100 career starts, winning 11.
FS1 will telecast eliminations live at 11 a.m. ET September 2, followed by FOX’s telecast at 1 p.m.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier): “(Being the first female No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel) is a big accomplishment, but we want to do more. We want to win this thing tomorrow. To win Indy it’s joining a list of legends. My dad is on there and so many drivers that I’ve looked up to. It’s the ‘Big Go,’ everyone wants to win Indy. (Consistency in qualifying) is key to us. If you look back at the beginning of our season, middle of our season, we’d get maybe one good run down the racetrack and the rest of them we couldn’t get the car down the track and that doesn’t help us out at all on race day.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 12 qualifier): “This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team ended our first Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals with a bang. Went third quick in the last session and set ourselves up nice for Monday. I’m proud of my guys keeping their heads down and putting up a nice number on the board. I’m ready to go win this deal.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK CHEVROLET ACCESSORIES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier): “I have a good race car so all the boys, (Brian) Corradi and Danny (Hood), they’re doing good and I have a car I know how to drive so we’ll see where it goes from here.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier): “First off, knowing we are going into the Countdown to the Championship sitting No. 1 feels pretty good. We get a little more of a cushion, not much, 20 points, but it’s more than the 10 that everyone else will be getting. Now it’s just time to go out and win the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. That’s an accomplishment in itself. We want to get a John Force Racing Chevy into the winner’s circle every weekend, but this weekend especially, and I want it to be the Auto Club Camaro.”
PRO STOCK
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO SALES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier): “The KB guys always give us a good car. We try a lot of stuff throughout the year but now it’s serious, it’s Countdown time. I really want to win Indy. That would top off my career and that’s my goal.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier): “My silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is a great hot rod, and I’m super excited about the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals tomorrow. I got a lot of bonus qualifying points – almost a full round. That’s pretty good. Since Brainerd, we’ve gotten all but two of the available points. My car is really good right now, it makes it really fun. I’m excited and just have to drive good and we have a heck of a good chance to do some damage.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier): “We’ve been improving throughout the weekend in qualifying and had a good Q5 run (6.589) to be low of the session. That gives up confidence heading into tomorrow, so we’ll see what the weather is and be ready to go. The Elite Camaro has been consistent, now we just have to make four good runs to get to the winner’s circle.”
MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier): “Our Total Seal Camaro has a really good racing package in it right now. The car has been very consistent through the Western Swing and at Brainerd and then even coming here we made five consistent qualifying runs and feel we’re in a position that we can cause some trouble for guys out there tomorrow.”
ALEX LAUGHLIN, LAUGHLIN RACING, HAVOLINE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier): “We had four good runs in qualifying and one that wasn’t so good. I believe this Havoline Camaro will be ready to take on anyone in eliminations and we’ll finally get that monkey off our back and get to the winner’s circle. It would be my career highlight to win the U.S. Nationals.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACNG EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier): “We know this red Summit Racing Chevy Camaro is a good car, but we struggled to make a nice, quality run and get the engine tune-up right. Unfortunately, we had both those things working against us in qualifying, so we’re disappointed – but tomorrow we have a shot to get it right. Not only do I want to go into the Countdown to the Championship as the No. 1 seed, I want to win Indy. I love this race and winning the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals trophy is what I want to do. I have to make some changes overnight to make that happen, and it’s going to take some work, but we can get it done.”
JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier): “Everyone is pulling out all the stops for the U.S. Nationals. There’s great parity in the class and we’re bunched up extremely tight. The only thing that separates us from a Wally tomorrow is one mile. Four quarter-mile sprints tomorrow. We’ve been fortunate to hoist that Wally a couple of times in my career here and want to put the JEGS.com Camaro in the winner’s circle again.”
FERNANDO CUADRA, KB RACING, CORRAL BOOTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier): “I never in my life thought I’d be in this position but here I am. I’ve got all the best stuff that KB Racing has to offer so I should be able to get it done. I’ve got the same power that (low qualifier) Bo Butner has. I just haven’t done as good of a job of driving as Bo has done. I’m working on it, but I cannot complain. I’ve been given everything I need to succeed. Now, it’s on me to make it happen. I’m big on responsibility. I try to teach that to my sons every day, so when I say that I am responsible for the success of the team, I mean it.”