BRITTANY FORCE STRONG ON SATURDAY AT LUCAS OIL NATIONALS

TEAM JFR QUALIFYING REPORT2016
NHRA Final Qualifying Summary17th
of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series 35th
annual Lucas Oil NHRA NationalsBrainerd
International RacewayBrainerd,
MNAugust
19-21, 2016Photos courtesy of Gary
Nastase Photography for media use only. *
* * *BRITTANY FORCE STRONG ON SATURDAY AT
LUCAS OIL NATIONALSBRAINERD, MN–
  Brittany Force and the Monster Energy
Top Fuel dragster saved their best for last at the 35th annual Lucas
Oil NHRA Nationals. In the final qualifying session Force blasted to the No. 2
qualifying position with a stellar 3.693 second run. Eventually the two-time
2016 winner settled into the No. 3 qualifier spot, her best start at Brainerd
International Raceway.“It always
boosts your confidence when every time you go out there you improve on your
performance. To end on the best run we made all weekend, a 3.693, that is an
impressive run. Going into race day with a killer run like that just boosts everyone’s
confidence. We go up against Terry Haddock who I have never raced before. I am
excited for tomorrow and I will be ready,�?? said Force.Force will
face Terry Haddock in the first round tomorrow. The 2013 Rookie of the Year has
never faced the journeyman racer in eliminations. Last year Force started the race
as the No. 11 qualifier and finished race day as the runner-up to No. 1
qualifier Richie Crampton.“I love this
track. We went to the final last year. Just when I pull up to the track I have
great memories from last year. That just gets you ready for the weekend,�?? added
Force.In Funny Car
Saturday was a day of aggressive driving with no improvement in qualifying
position for Courtney Force, John Force and Robert Hight. The trio of Chevrolet
Camaro SS Funny Car racers all qualified and will face tough competitors in
their respective first round match-ups.Courtney
Force and the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS bounced back from a serious accident
in Seattle to qualify No. 6 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. On the strength of
her run from Friday, a 3.892 second pass, Force was able to hold onto a
position in the top half of the field. Today in the third qualifying session
Force was ready to make her run with a quick rain shower forced her team to
return to the pits. When the Traxxas Funny Car made its first run of the day the
2012 Rookie of the Year experienced severe tire shake and had to abort her run.“The fact
that it rained and we had a lot of downtime actually was not that bad. The NHRA
Safety Safari and track crew did an amazing job getting the track back in
shape. The fans didn’t have to wait around that long and we were back on the
track pretty quickly. You saw national records out there today. The rain was a
little bit of a delay but we still had an amazing race track. I think we will
have more great conditions tomorrow with cool weather,�?? said Force, who is No.
2 in the Funny Car points.In the final
qualifying session under dark skies Force once again launched hard but the
Goodyear slicks on her 10,000 hp Traxxas Camaro SS Funny car lost traction and
she was unable to improve her position. Force will face Brian Stewart in the first
round and the pair have never raced on Sunday.“I think we
were definitely pushing this Traxxas Chevy to the limit today. We were trying
to make a great pass because the conditions were so strong. Unfortunately we
had some severe tire shake on both runs. We pushed it hard but luckily we made
two good passes yesterday that locked us into the No. 6 spot,�?? said Force. “We’ll
be racing Brian Stewart in the first round. It will be a tough race and when
you look over in that other lane and see Tim Wilkerson’s son Danas the crew chief,
you know he is a lot like his dad. It will be a tough race for sure. I am just
excited to be back out here in my Traxxas Funny Car in a brand new blue paint
scheme.�??John Force
was looking to move up in the qualifying order as well but his Blue DEF PEAK
Antifreeze logoed Camaro SS Funny Car suffered through some of the same issues
as his teammate and daughter. A 3.915 second pass on Friday held up to keep
Force in the top half of the field and set up a head to head race with veteran
Tim Wilkerson in the first round tomorrow. On both of Force’s runs today he
overpowered the track but the team learned valuable information to put together
a race day tune-up.“I get
excited to see that Monster Energy dragster make a great run like that on
Saturday night. The conditions here were really good. We struggled a little but
the brain trust will get together and I know all the crew chiefs will talk. We
made good runs yesterday and today we just missed on a couple runs. I have a
lot of history at this track,�?? said Force. “The fans have been great. We were
over at Lucas Oil today signing and I had a great time. All my sponsors like
PEAK and Blue DEF are pulling for me and I’ll be ready for Wilkerson in the first
round. He will be tough just like me.�??  Force has
raced in fifteen final rounds at Brained International Raceway and has eight
wins to his credit. The winningest driver in NHRA history will be looking to
add to his 75 round wins at the track location in the land of 10,000 lakes.The Auto
Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and Robert Hight didn’t improve from their
Friday efforts. In both sessions today Hight’s Mike Neff tuned Funny Car made
strides towards improved times but tire shake derailed his efforts. The
defending event winner is undeterred as he rolls into the first round of eliminations.
For the second week in a row Hight will be the No. 9 qualifier and will face
Chad Head in the first round. Two weeks ago Hight got the win over the second
generation driver in Seattle.“We’ll be
ready for tomorrow. Today was tough to just get a handle on the track. It was
really good and the key is to be aggressive. I know Mike Neff will have a great
tune up for this Auto Club Camaro. I won here last year and I have a lot of
confidence going into race day,�?? concluded Hight.*
* * *NHRA ON TVAug. 20, FS1
will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 pm (ET).Aug. 21, FS1 will televise three hours of live
finals coverage starting at 2 pm (ET). *
* * *THE DRIVERSJOHN FORCE, 67, BlueDEF/PEAK Antifreeze 2016
Chevrolet Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 7th at 3.915, 328.06 mph 
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First round
opponent (W-L): Tim Wilkerson (35-17)ROBERT HIGHT, 47, Auto Club 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 9th at 3.933, 318.99 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First round
opponent (W-L): Chad Head (8-3)COURTNEY FORCE, 28, Traxxas 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Final Qualifying: 6th at 3.892, 317.34 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0First round
opponent (W-L): Brian Stewart (0-0)BRITTANY FORCE, 30, Monster Energy Top Fuel
Dragster
Final Qualifying: 3rd at 3.693, 323.97 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +1 (3rd quickest of Q4) First round
opponent (W-L): Terry Haddock (0-0)  *
* * *RACE SCHEDULE:Sunday, August
21Final
Eliminations                   11:00 AM ****FOLLOW
JOHN FORCE RACING AT www.twitter.com/jfr_racing****Contacts: Elon
Werner                                               
                              John
Force Racing,
Inc.              .214-244-1184                           
                
Elon@johnforceracing.com           www.johnforceracing.com