CHEVROLET IN NHRA
AMALIE MOTOR OIL NHRA GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
TEAM CHEVY FRIDAY QUALIFYING REPORT
March 10, 2023
TEAM CHEVY TAKES THREE PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFIERS IN TOP FUEL, PRO STOCK, AND FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (March 10, 2023) – The 2023 NHRA season kicked off at Gainesville Raceway in strong fashion, with Chevrolet topping the charts with three provisional No. 1 qualifiers. Starting the year where she left off, Brittany Force powered her Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster to the top of the charts with her 3.699 ET at 336.99 MPH in Q1 after a rain-shortened evening.
In Pro Stock, Erica Enders also picked up where she left off, racing her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS to the top of the leaderboard with her 6.538 ET at 208.84 MPH run.
FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown saw 2022 champion David Barton also occupied the top spot in his COPO Camaro after Q2, crossing the finish line with his 7.738 ET pass at 177.30 MPH and setting low ET in both sessions.
“It felt really good just to come out at the first race of the season, first run, and to go to the top. Pretty incredible,” noted Force. “David Grubnic and all these guys, we spent a lot of hours testing, a lot of days testing, to get us here but it looks like we picked up where we were last season and we’re already moving right into this season. We have the same groove, the same team, the same group of guys, and it’s a good start. To get that run just motivated us all for the weekend, but not just for the weekend, but also the season.”
“It is definitely huge to start off on the right foot,” said Enders. “I was thinking while I was sitting in the car that was only my fourth run since November of last year. We did not do any off-season testing. We made two hits at Bradenton before coming here. We spent the winter in the shop working on the engines looking for more horsepower. We didn’t have a great first run. Decent, but I had a couple of mishaps, and our tune was just a little bit off. We came back, fixed everything up, and wanted to do really well for that night session. We were able to put our JHG car on top, and that’s all that matters to me.”
NHRA is back in action Saturday, March 11 with Q3 and Q4 as well as the Pep Boys NHRA All-Start Top Fuel Callout, broadcasted Sunday, March 12 at 9 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, leading into Sunday’s eliminations on FOX at noon ET.