DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MIKE NEFF NOT A LONGSHOT AT LAS VEGAS

John Force RacingMike Neff Pre-Race Package Event: 9th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals5th race of Countdown to 123nd of 24 events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing SeriesSite: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las VegasDates: Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2009 * * * *DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MIKE NEFF NOT A LONGSHOT AT LAS VEGAS Mike Neff on tuning and driving the Ford Drive One Mustang - “It is busy. You start making some runs and seeing results which helps you with the changes. You sort of feel your way though. (You are) nervous before the first run be we want to make sure we have everything covered. You just don’t really know what to expect. This car has been running good for a while.�?? - said Mike Neff.* * * *Team info at www.johnforceracing.comFollow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racingFollow John Force RaceStation store at www.twitter.com/JFRaceStationFollow Courtney Force at www.twitter.com/courtneyforce****The DriverMike Neff, 42, driver of the Ford Drive One Mustang, is entering the fifth race of the 2009 Countdown to 1 in the 10th spot. He clinched his Countdown to 1 spot when he qualified for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. He has reached two final rounds in 2009 (Phoenix and Reading). The 2008 winner of the Auto Club’s Road to the Future award that identifies the Rookie of the Year, he took over the driving duties for the late Eric Medlen, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a testing accident in March of 2007. * * * *Mike Neff By the Numbers:2 – Number of final rounds in 2009, Phoenix and Reading3 – Number of races Neff was the driver and crew chief this season, Phoenix, Gainesville and Richmond3 – Number of JFR drivers who have been named Auto Club Road to the Future Award winners, most recently Mike Neff was honored as the professional rookie of the year (Robert Hight, 2005 and Ashley Force Hood, 2007)5 – Number of finals Mike Neff has reached in his young career, most recently Reading, August 200910 – Neff’s position in the Full Throttle point standings159 – Difference in points between No. 10 Mike Neff and No. 1 Robert Hight in Funny Car Points150 – Total number of points available at each NHRA Countdown to 1 national event * * * *Full Throttle Point Standings after four Countdown to 1 races and 22 NHRA eventsFUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 2362; 2. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2349; 3. Tony Pedregon, 2314; 4. Ron Capps, 2299; 5. Tim Wilkerson, 2280; 6. Jack Beckman, 2276; 7. Bob Tasca III, 2259; 8. Del Worsham, 2227; 9. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2216;10. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Mustang, 2203.TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 2427; 2. Larry Dixon, 2380; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2359; 4. Antron Brown, 2346; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 2307; 6. Morgan Lucas, 2269; 7. Shawn Langdon, 2254; 8. Spencer Massey, 2225; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2218; 10. Clay Millican, 2093.PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 2524; 2. Greg Anderson, 2396; 3. Jason Line, 2373; 4. Jeg Coughlin, 2292; 5. Greg Stanfield, 2276; 6. Allen Johnson, 2244; 7. Johnny Gray, 2233; 8. Ron Krisher, 2222; 9. Kurt Johnson, 2184; 10. Rickie Jones, 2020.PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – 1. Hector Arana, 2420; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2392; 3. Michael Phillips, 2255; 4. Matt Smith, 2253; 5. Andrew Hines, 2249; 6. Douglas Horne, 2210; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2159; 8. Shawn Gann, 2157; 9. Craig Treble, 2136; 10. Matt Guidera, 2020. ****TRACK RECORDS:        Top Fuel-3.781 seconds by Tony Schumacher, Oct. ’08; 318.92 mph by Schumacher, Oct. ’08Funny Car -4.043 seconds by Robert Hight, Oct. ’08; 310.05 mph by Ashley Force Hood, Oct. ’08Pro Stock - 6.656 seconds by Mike Edwards, April ’09; 206.70 mph by Greg Anderson, April ’09Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.979 seconds by Matt Smith, Oct. ’08; 191.08 mph by Matt Hines, Oct. ’02(Top Fuel and Funny Car race distance is 1,000 feet; Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle race distance is 1,320 feet) NATIONAL RECORDS:               Top Fuel - 3.771 sec. by Tony Schumacher, Oct. ’08, Richmond, Va.; 319.60 mph by Antron Brown, Oct. ’09, Richmond, Va. Funny Car - 4.023 sec. by Ron Capps, Feb. ’09, Chandler, Ariz.; 312.13 mph by Ashley Force Hood, April ’09, AtlantaPro Stock – 6.509 sec. by Mike Edwards, Oct. ’09, Richmond, Va.; 212.36 mph by Greg Anderson, Oct. ’09, Richmond, Va. PS Motorcycle- 6.851 sec. by Hector Arana, Sept. ’09, Memphis, Tenn.; 197.45 mph by Andrew Hines, March ’05, Gainesville, Fla.(Top Fuel and Funny Car race distance is 1,000 feet; Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle race distance is 1,320 feet)****Race Schedule:Friday, Oct. 30Pro Qualifying:             12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31 Pro Qualifying:             11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.Sunday, Nov. 1Pre-race ceremonies      10:00 a.m.Final eliminations           11:00 a.m.* * * *TELEVISION:Saturday, Oct. 31, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 11 p.m. (ET).Sunday, Nov 1, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will air NHRA Race Day, at 2:30 p.m. (ET).Sunday, Nov. 1, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7:30 p.m. (ET). ****Team PR and Marketing Contacts:Dave Densmore, PR                  Elon Werner, PR                                 
Denswood Sports                     John Force Racing, Inc.               214-244-0008                             214-244-1184 denswood@aol.com                 Elon@johnforceracing.com       Chad Light, Marketing                Kelly Antonelli, Marketing           Andrew Hagstrom, SponsorshipJohn Force Racing, Inc.             John Force Racing, Inc.             IMG714-921-8123                             317-858-8900                             714.326.3450Chad@johnforceracing.com       Kelly@johnforceracing.com       andrew.hagstrom@imgworld.com Sponsor PR Contacts: Rick Lalor                                 Lori Anne Gola              Kevin KennedyAuto Club of SC                                    BP Lubricants               Ford Racing                
714-885-2085                             973-633-2393                 313-203-7108lalor.rick@aaa-calif.com                        lorianne.gola@bp.com kkennedy@pcgcampbell.com MIKE NEFFDRIVER/CREW CHIEF MIKE NEFF NOT A LONGSHOT AT LAS VEGAS LAS VEGAS, NV (October 27, 2009) --- Heading into Las Vegas Mike Neff and the Ford Drive One are still technically in contention for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car championship. Funny Car is the closest category of the four NHRA professional classes with 159 points separating Neff in 10th place from teammate Robert Hight in 1st. A team can pick up 150 points in one event so with two national events left on the schedule a strong Vegas showing by the Ford Drive One team could shuffle the Funny Car deck.Neff controls his own destiny behind the wheel and under the hood. For the fourth time this season Neff will be spearheading tuning duties on the Ford Drive One Mustang as well as piloting it down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Earlier this year Neff pulled double duty when crew chief John Medlen missed Phoenix and Gainesville to have heart condition evaluated in Indianapolis. He raced to a runner-up finish in Phoenix and qualified No. 5 in Gainesville.Three weeks ago Neff was pressed into the dual role again in Richmond when team owner John Force moved Medlen over to his Castrol GTX High Mileage team to work with his brain trust of Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. Neff tuned his Mustang to a No. 8 qualifying position and reached the semi-finals.The added workload keeps Neff hopping during the races but it is a challenge the world championship crew chief and 2008 rookie of the year is up for.“It is busy. It is stressful especially when you haven’t done it in a while and you are not really familiar with the moves that you are making. You don’t feel real sure of what you are doing sometimes. You start making some runs and seeing the results which helps with changes. You sort of feel your way though,�?? said Neff in Richmond. “I was nervous before the first run I wanted to make sure we had everything covered. You just don’t really know what to expect. This car has been running god for a while and John Medlen had it set up so this was the easiest deal to step into. Medlen was here all weekend (in Richmond) helping me. It just added more responsibility. I was thinking about the car all the time. When Medlen was making the tuning calls I just bopped around here with no worries until I got strapped in before the run. It just seemed like the wheels were turning non-stop this weekend.�??Racing to the semi-finals was a strong showing for Neff and the Ford Drive One team but they are really drawing a bulls-eye on getting the team’s first win. Neff knows that he can’t afford to make any mistakes if they are going to make it to the winner’s circle.“The positive thing (in Richmond) is we went down the track every run, seven times in a row. I made a change to the clutch and put more cutters in there (on Sunday) and I thought that would help. It appeared to be the wrong thing to do. It really fell off and then I was stuck. I couldn’t make it run like I wanted to. That was kind of a mistake on my part. We still learned a lot and we went a couple of rounds,�?? added Neff.Neff had a big win in Richmond that had huge Countdown implications when he defeated Tony Pedregon in the first round. Neff has been a solid teammate stepping up in the big moments all season. The win over Pedregon was huge with two races left in 2009.“That was a real big run for us. He is up there in the points and you know how much your teammates are counting on you. To be able to take him out was huge. Not so much for us but for the rest of the team like Robert and Ashley. It was big and I am glad we were able to get down the track. The bottom line is we got the win light and that is all that matters,�?? said Neff.JFR drivers at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:                                 Races     Starts     Finals     Wins      Won-LostRobert Hight LV Nationals           4              4             1             0             3-4
All LVMS events     9              9             2             1             11-8
FAST FACT: No. 1 qualifier in the Las Vegas Nationals the last three years, he moved beyond round one for the first time last season, reaching the final round before losing to eventual series champion Cruz Pedregon.  He is the track record holder for both the quarter mile and 1,000 foot distances (4.677 and 4.043 seconds, respectively).                                     Races     Starts     Finals     Wins      Won-LostAshley Force HoodLV Nationals           2              2             1             0             4-2
All LVMS events     5              5             2             0             8-5
FAST FACT: When she reached the finals in 2007, she became the first woman to compete in an NHRA Funny Car final round.  She followed up by reaching the finals at the spring race in 2008.                                         Races     Starts     Finals     Wins      Won-LostJohn ForceLV Nationals           7              7             2             1 (2006) 10-6
All LVMS events     17           15           2             1              17-14
FAST FACT: In the first round of the 2001 race, was victimized by an unusual double DQ precipitated by rival Bob Bode, who left the starting line before the system was activated, prompting Force to follow him.  Under a rule revised following the incident, he would have advanced.                                     Races     Starts     Finals     Wins      Won-LostMike NeffLV Nationals           2              2             0             0             1-2
All LVMS events     4              4             0             0             1-4
FAST FACT: As a driver, has yet to win a racing round in the Las Vegas Nationals and has won just one in four overall appearances at LVMS.  He will see double duty this week and in the season-ending Auto Club Finals, serving as both driver and crew chief on the Ford Drive One Mustang.Get team info here: www.johnforceracing.comFollow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing