HIGHT, B. FORCE QUICK AND CONSISTENT AT ENGLISHTOWN

TEAM JFR QUALIFYING REPORT2016
NHRA Final Qualifying Summary10th
of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series 47th
annual NHRA Summernationals
Old Bridge Township RacewayEnglishtown,
NJJune
10-12, 2016Photos courtesy of
Gary Nastase Photography (JForce, BForce, CForce) and Ron Lewis Photography
(Hight) for media use only *
* * * HIGHT,
B. FORCE QUICK AND CONSISTENT AT ENGLISHTOWNENGLISHTOWN,
NJ – Robert Hight in the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car along with
Brittany Force in the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster held onto their Friday
provisional qualifying positions and will go into race day as the No. 3 and No.
4 qualifiers, respectively. Courtney Force and John Force also held form and
will face each other in a tough No. 8 versus No. 9 first round match-up.Robert Hight
impressed the nearly packed Old Bridge Township Raceway stadium with a session
best 3.930 second run to close out qualifying today at the 47th annual NHRA
SummerNationals. It set up the 2016 Gatornationals winner with three more
qualifying bonus points and confidence going into race day. Hight will face
journeyman Jeff Diehl in the first round.“(Crew
chief) Mike Neff made sure it was going to go down the track. I am really proud
of these guys. We came here with a lot of new things on this Auto Club Camaro.
We have a lot of things that are completely different than parts we have run in
the past,�?? said Hight.�?? We changed a lot of things from Epping. To come in here
and qualifying solidly the first run. We have been working it out since that
run. You make a nice run like that and get three points we have a good team
here. They are doing a great job and it is obviously showing there is more out
there and there is a lot of potential with these changes we have made.  I am excited.�??The Auto
Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car was looking to fine tune their race day tune
up in the first session today running beside Tim Wilkerson. The 2099 Funny Car
champion smoked the tires just past half-track crossing the finish line with a
4.693 second run. They held onto the No. 3 qualifying position.The Funny
Car qualifying session started with a single run by John Force in the
PEAK/Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. John Force improved his
performance slightly running 3.964 seconds but at a much slower speed of 294.95
mph. He stayed in the No. 9 spot and did not move up in the qualifying order.
The Camaro was on a solid run but it spun the tires down track and Force lifted
before the finish line.“It spun
before the lights probably at 800 or 900 feet. I just took my foot off of it because
it spun so hard. It might have run a little bit better time. I am trying to get
off that match-up with my daughter Courtney Force in that Traxxas Chevy in the first
round,�?? said Force. “I have a lot of PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant and Monster Energy
customers. I am running the Advance Auto Parts Funny Car this weekend. I love
those guys and they take good care of me. I want to give them a good race car
but right now I am not where I want to be.�??Force’s run
held up as the second quickest run of the session and earned the 16-time
champion two qualifying bonus points.In the final
session Force was looking to move up in the field but his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro
smoked the tires and Force cruised across the finish line with a pedestrian
elapsed time of 6.743 seconds. Force will have to try and outrun his youngest
daughter in the first round for just the eleventh time his career.“The only
good thing is Courtney is in the points lead and I am trying to get in the Traxxas
Shootout so one of us will go to the second round. Whoever wins at least that
is a win for JFR. What we do is race our lane,�?? said Force, a four-time
SummerNationals winner. “We are going to go up there and stage it and go. It
doesn’t matter if Courtney is beside me or some other driver. All we try and do
is our best with this Camaros. We thought we could step up and run a 3.92 or a
3.93 like Robert but it got loose down there at about 750 feet in that last
session and smoked the tires. We didn’t get the job done but we are a team and
we will keep trying.�??Although
Courtney Force and her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team ran a solid
3.96 in the heat this evening at Old Bridge Township Raceway, it wasn’t enough
to step up from her 3.947 elapsed time at 319.29 mph from Friday which put her
in the No. 8 qualified spot. Despite the impressive pass in Q4, she wasn’t able
to shake up the ladder that had her lined up with her father in the first round
of eliminations tomorrow.“Our Traxxas
Funny Car is qualified in the No. 8 spot so we aren’t exactly where we would
like to be. We definitely tried to improve our time all day today. The last two
runs we made we tried to push the car hard. It was hotter today than it was
yesterday so we were battling different track conditions. We did our best and
still ran in the 3.0s, but couldn’t run quick enough to get around some of our
other competitors.“We’ll be
facing my dad in the first round of eliminations tomorrow and it’s going to be
a tough day. It’s unfortunate one of our teams are going to be on the trailer
early, but we’re really trying to hang onto the points lead. Our Traxxas team
is in the fight and we’re going to need a long race day tomorrow to keep that
momentum. We’ve raced my dad several times before and we have a pretty good
race car so I think we have a pretty good shot at it tomorrow,�?? said Force.The
27-year-old youngest daughter of John Force is 7-10 to her famous father in
previous events. She has come out on the losing end of their last four
match-ups, but will have lane choice in the first round tomorrow. This is the
second time the pair of JFR drivers have met in eliminations this season, but
the first time they have race each other during the SummerNationals in
Englishtown.  Almost half of their elimination meetings have occurred in
the opening round on race day.Brittany
Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster were looking to improve their
qualifying position on Saturday during the opening qualifying session.  The No. 4 qualified dragster launched hard and
it was powering down the track when it overpowered the racing surface and lost
traction slowing to a 4.904 second run at 145.47 mph.In the final
qualifying session Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster made
a strong run to hold onto their qualifying position. Under race day like
conditions Force lit up the scoreboard with a 3.876 second pass at 314.61 mph.
The Monster Energy Top Fueler will go into race day facing No. 13 qualifier Luigi
Novelli. This will be the second time Force has raced Novelli. She defeated him
in their previous meeting, the 2014 Kansas Nationals.“It definitely
feels good to end on a run where you get down the race track. We struggled some
this weekend. With this Monster Energy Top Fuel team led by Brian Husen and
Alan Johnson struggling even a little in qualifying is really unusual for us,�??
explained Force from her pit area. “We usually go down the track every single
run. I know as a team we will get it figured out going into race day. We have
Novelli in the first round and we want to go rounds and get another win.�??Last year
Force raced to the final round before losing a close race to local hero Antron
Brown. This year Force is looking to get one more round win and add a third win
to her record.“Having
success here gives you an extra boost. We just need to take it a step further.
Going rounds here last year definitely gives me confidence for tomorrow,�?? said
Force.*
* * *NHRA ON TVJune
12                 Qualifying            1:00 AM - 3:00 AM ET     (FS1)                                Qualifying            9:00 AM - 11:00 AM ET   (FS2)    REPLAY                                Finals                     4:30 PM - 7:30 PM ET      (FS1)June
13                 Finals                     3:30 AM - 6:30 AM ET     (FS1)    REPLAY                                Finals                     7:00 PM - 10:00 PM ET    (FS2)    REPLAYJune
14                 Finals                     8:30 AM - 11:30 AM ET   (FS1)    REPLAYJune
16                 Finals                     9:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET   (FS2)    REPLAY *
* * *THE DRIVERSJOHN FORCE, 67, PEAK/Advance Auto Parts 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SSFinal Qualifying: 9th at 3.964, 316.90 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +2 (2nd quickest
of Q3)First Round Opponent (W-L): Courtney Force (10-7)ROBERT HIGHT, 46, Auto Club 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 3rd at 3.915, 323.74 mph Bonus Qualifying Points: +5 (2nd quickest
of Q2 and quickest of Q4)First Round Opponent (W-L): Jeff Diehl (4-0)COURTNEY FORCE, 27, Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 8th at 3.947, 319.29 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First Round Opponent (W-L): John Force (7-10)BRITTANY FORCE, 29, Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster
Final Qualifying: 4th at 3.753, 323.66 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First Round Opponent (W-L): Luigi Novelli (1-0)*
* * *RACE SCHEDULE:Sunday, June
12Final
Eliminations                    11:00
AM ****FOLLOW
JOHN FORCE RACING AT www.twitter.com/jfr_racing****Contacts:Elon
Werner                                        
Sarah
Adams               
                              John Force Racing,
Inc.                        John
Force Racing Inc.214-244-1184                           
           
812-249-9823               
Elon@johnforceracing.com                  
Sarah@johnforceracing.com  www.johnforceracing.com