BRITTANY FORCE NO. 1 AT ROUTE 66 NATIONALS

TEAM JFR QUALIFYING REPORT2016
NHRA Saturday Qualifying Summary13th
of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series 13th
annual K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals
Route 66 RacewayJoliet,
ILJuly
8-10, 2016Photos courtesy of Gary
Nastase Photography for media use only *
* * *BRITTANY FORCE NO. 1 AT ROUTE 66 NATIONALSJOLIET,
IL – The Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster held onto the No. 1 spot after all
four qualifying sessions at the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals. In the
first session on Saturday Brittany Force stayed near the top of the performance
ladder. She made the third quickest run of the session beside Mac Tools
teammate Doug Kalitta who was second quickest of the third session. Force’s
3.800 seconds was a good starting point going into the final qualifying
session.“Today’s
conditions will be pretty similar to tomorrow. The main focus was getting two
consistent runs down the track today. We got four runs all weekend so we are
feeling pretty good. I think we are comfortable going into race day as No. 1.
We are not over confident and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do
tomorrow,�?? said Force, who picked up her first No. 1at Route 66 Raceway.“We
were hoping to run in the low 4.70s today. That 3.69 run last night was just
outstanding,�?? said a thrilled Force in the pressroom. “We had the conditions
for it last night. The runs that we made today should set us up for tomorrow.�??In
the final session Brittany Force stepped up her performance and ran the
quickest elapsed time of the session, 3.731 seconds, equal to technical alliance
teammate Steve Torrence. The Capco dragster and Torrence ran a faster speed of
327.03 mph to Force’s 325.69 mph to get the three qualifying bonus points and
Force picked up two.She
held on as the No. 1 qualifier for the 6th time in her career and second time
in 2016. The fourth year pro will face legendary driver Chris “The Greek�??
Karamesines in the opening round of eliminations. This is the third race in a
row for Force to face Karamesines in the first round. She has a career 2-1
record against the veteran driver.In
a strong start on Saturday for the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car team
Robert Hight made the second quickest run of the session, 3.931 seconds at
327.91 mph. Hight was pleased with the run and the continued positive
performance of his Auto Funny Car.Hight
closed out qualifying with an aggressive run that overpowered the race track.
The two-time finalist in Chicago will be racing for his first victory at Route
66 Raceway from the No. 6 qualified position in the quickest Funny Car field in
NHRA history. He will start his eliminations with a tough race against Cruz
Pedregon. This is the third time Hight has faced Pedregon in 2016 and he has
won the previous two meetings.“We
were aggressive but the track also wasn’t quite as good as last night. We can
run with anyone out here. This is the quickest field in Funny car history and
we were one of the quickest Funny Cars this weekend. This Auto Club Chevrolet
Camaro SS Funny Car team has a lot to be proud of and we will be ready to race
tomorrow. Cruz is a tough competitor but I am going to be ready,�?? said Hight.For
the first time in 2016, No. 7 qualifier Courtney Force will line up her Traxxas
Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car next to No. 10 qualifier Del Worsham in the
opening round of eliminations. Tomorrow’s Route 66 Nationals will mark the 13th
stop along a 24-race tour for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and Force
plans to take her brand new 2016 Camaro all the way to claim her ninth
professional Funny Car victory for Traxxas and team Chevy.“We
made four solid passes in qualifying and I think the consistency of this new
Chevy Camaro is great. This is the first time I’ve ever raced this body so it’s
pretty exciting how well it’s been working out for our Traxxas team. I think
we’ve made some good headway throughout qualifying. WE definitely learned some
things across those four runs,�?? said Force.Although
she is 6-9 overall to Worsham in previous events, Force has won five of their
last six match-ups. Their last meeting was in Norwalk in 2015 with Force
getting the win against the veteran driver in the semifinals. This is the first
time they have raced each other at Chicago.“I
was excited to see that our Traxxas Chevy made it to the other end with a
3-second pass in the heat of the day earlier today. That gives us confidence
for tomorrow. We ended up qualifying in the top half and picked up a few bonus
points as well. Our Traxxas team is ready to go, but we’re going to have to put
our game faces on and fight for it. We have a tough ladder ahead of us,�?? said
Force.Team
leader John Force slipped back to the No. 11 qualifying position after the
third qualifying session. Running beside long-time rival Cruz Pedregon Force
posted a 4.141 second run. His PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro
SS Funny Car was skating around at the finish line. The three-time Route 66
NHRA Nationals champion was running his 2015 Camaro body today due to nose
damage sustained in the last qualifying session on Friday.John
Force will head into the first round of eliminations as the No. 13 qualifier
and will race Ron Capps. Force posted a 3.982 second run on his final
qualifying run to position the winningest driver in NHRA history for his
possible fourth win at Route 66 Raceway. This is only the third time Force has
started from the bottom half of the field in his career racing at the K&N
Filters Route 66 Nationals.“We
are going to try to take him out. You have to have that attitude and I have a
job to do. We are in Old World Industries back yard with PEAK Antifreeze &
Coolant,�?? said Force. “I know how to race Capps. He wasn’t low be he has one of
the fastest hot rods out here and one of the most consistent. The way I look at
it is hopefully take him out early and then keep going rounds.�??In
addition to racing today Force was also hosting over 200 people from Old World
Industries and primary sponsor PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant. Force was
spending time with fans on the ropes plus both sides of the team’s new
hospitality tents.“This
is a lot of fun. When you can entertain people and they can enjoy and
appreciate that you are trying to run a race car and spend time with the fans.
We had a huge turn out from PEAK today. I made a lot of new friends and met a
lot of families,�?? added Force. *
* * *NHRA ON TVSaturday, July 9Qualifying                         10:00
PM - 12:00 AM ET (FS1)Sunday, July 10Qualifying                         1:00
AM - 3:00 AM ET (FS2)    REPLAYQualifying                         8:30
AM - 10:30 AM ET (FS1)    REPLAYFinals                               2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
ET (FS1)    LIVETuesday, July 12Finals                               6:30
AM - 9:30 AM ET (FS1)    REPLAYFinals                               7:30
PM - 10:30 PM ET (FS1)    REPLAYFriday, July 15Finals                               3:00
AM - 6:00 AM ET (FS2)    REPLAYSaturday, July 16Finals                               10:00
PM - 1:00 AM ET (FS2)    REPLAYThursday, July 21Finals                               6:00
PM - 9:00 PM ET (FS2)    REPLAY *
* * *THE DRIVERSJOHN FORCE, 67, PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant 2016
Chevrolet Camaro SSFinal Qualifying: 13th
at 3.979, 312.93 mph Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First Round Opponent (W-L): Ron
Capps (48-29)ROBERT HIGHT, 46, Auto Club 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 6th at 3.894, 325.22 mph Bonus Qualifying Points: +3 (3rd
quickest of Q2 and 2nd quickest of Q3)First Round Opponent (W-L): Cruz
Pedregon (22-13)COURTNEY FORCE, 28, Traxxas 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 7th at 3.895, 328.06 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +3 (quickest of 3rd session)First Round Opponent (W-L): Del
Worsham (6-9)BRITTANY FORCE, 30, Monster
Energy Top Fuel Dragster
Final Qualifying: 1st at 3.692, 325.69 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +7 (3rd quickest of Q1, quickest of Q2, 3rd
quickest of Q3 and 2nd quickest of Q4)First Round Opponent (W-L):
Chris Karamesines (2-1)*
* * *RACE SCHEDULE:Sunday, July
10Final
Eliminations                    11
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