BRITTANY FORCE BLASTS TO NO. 2 POSITION ON FRIDAY IN TOP FUEL

TEAM JFR QUALIFYING REPORT2016
NHRA Friday Qualifying Summary16th
of 24 races in the NHRA Mello Yello Series 29th
annual Protect The Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil
Pacific RacewaySeattle,
Wash.August
5-7, 2016Photos courtesy of Gary
Nastase Photography (JForce, BForce, CForce) and Ron Lewis Photography (Hight) for
media use only *
* * *BRITTANY FORCE BLASTS TO NO. 2 POSITION
ON FRIDAY IN TOP FUELSEATTLE, WA–
The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster powered to the provisional No. 2 position
on Friday at the 29th annual Protect The Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals
presented by Lucas Oil. Driver Brittany Force had to make the run racing into a
setting sun at the westward facing track but experience gave her the confidence
to make a solid pass. She moved to the top spot on the strength of her
3.729  second pass before being pushed
back one position by Steve Torrence.“The glare
is definitely tricky at this track. I remember it from last year. When the sun
starts going down you are driving right into it. When I got to that 1000 ft.
marker I got a little lost but Brian Husen, my crew chief, said I nailed it and
I drove it right to the finish line. That is just a feeling the driver has when
you know where you are on the track,�?? said Force. “That felt good. We ran 3.72
and ended up No. 2 which is an awesome place to be qualified. This Monster
Energy team is made up of the hardest workers that I know. I am proud to be the
driver of this Top Fuel dragster. I’ll be ready for Saturday.�??The fourth
year pro picked up two qualifying bonus points for her second run, which set
off the timing system 3.729 seconds after she hit the throttle. If this
qualifying position holds up it will be her best starting spot of her career at
Pacific Raceway. Last year Force was the No. 4 qualifier and raced to the quarter-finals.Courtney
Force charged to the No. 6 position in qualifying today. Her Traxxas Chevrolet
Camaro SS Funny Car posted a 3.923 second elapsed time at 325.06 mph in the
first qualifying session and improved with a solid pass at 3.902 seconds,
324.44 mph during the evening session.“It’s great
to be back at the track where I got my first win in Top Alcohol Dragster as
well as Nitro Funny Car. It definitely feels good returning to Seattle. Going
down on my first pass felt great. It was a good, clean, straight pass and we
picked up two bonus points for the run with a 3.92,�?? said Force.Force picked
up two bonus points for her team for making the second quickest pass in the
first qualifying session.“We improved
in the second session with a 3.90. We got bumped down to the No. 5 spot but
still a really great starting spot for our Traxxas Chevy Camaro SS team. We’re
wrapping up the Western Swing with this race, but it’s just the beginning of
this race weekend. I know it’s taking a toll on all the teams, but my Traxxas
guys have done a really good job getting the car down the track and getting it
ready every run.�??“I’m looking
forward to continuing qualifying tomorrow. I think we’re in a good spot to push
it a little harder and see what it’s capable of in Q4 when the conditions
improve,�?? added Force.The Auto
Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car came right off the hauler and Robert Hight
drove it right into the thick of a tough Funny Car field with a 3.928 second
pass. It was the fourth quickest run of the first session and the 2009 Funny
Car champion was only .006 seconds away from the top spot.In the
second session Hight was consistent but did not improve. His elapsed time of
3.935 seconds put Hight in the middle of the pack but going into tomorrow’s
final day of qualifying will have the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro team looking
for a race day tune-up. At the end of the day Hight was the provisional No. 9
qualifier one position in front of team leader John Force.The driver
who is seeking his second Western Swing sweep set the track speed record in the
first session with a monster 325.85 mph run and had John Force eager to get
back to the track for the second session. Force’s first session elapsed time of
3.941 seconds was slightly improved upon in the evening session when his
Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Camaro Funny Car tripped the timing
beams in 3.940 seconds. After the second session that saw Force settle into the
provisional No. 10 position Force talked to the fans over the Pacific Raceway
PA system.“We are a
little slow right now. That 3.94 was good enough for tenth. (Del) Worsham just
killed everybody out there with that 3.88. Tomorrow could be a little warmer. This
is the Western Swing and the fans are loving it. We are going to have some fun.
If we can get it we’ll get it if we don’t we don’t. We are going to go down swinging,�??
said Force, an eight-time winner at Pacific Raceway. �??You need three things to
win the Swing. You need to have a car that can run with the pack, you need to
have your team stay focused and you need destiny. I won five in a row one time
and I have won four in a row a couple of times. For some reason this Swing is
really tough. Anton has won it and Schumacher has won it. I got it years ago.
We’ll see if we can do it again and we are going to give it a try.�?? *
* * *NHRA ON TVSunday, Aug. 7, FS1 will televise one hour of qualifying coverage
at Noon (ET).Sunday, Aug. 7, FOX will televise three hours of live finals
coverage at 4 p.m. (ET). *
* * *THE DRIVERSJOHN FORCE, 67, Realtree PEAK Antifreeze
& Coolant 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying: 10th at 3.940, 325.85 mph Bonus Qualifying Points: 0ROBERT HIGHT, 46, Auto Club 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Qualifying: 9th at 3.928, 319.98 mphBonus
Qualifying Points: 0COURTNEY FORCE, 28, Traxxas 2016 Chevrolet
Camaro SS
Qualifying: 5th at 3.902, 325.06 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +2 (2nd quickest of Q1)BRITTANY FORCE, 30, Monster Energy
Top Fuel DragsterQualifying: 2nd
at 3.729, 325.06 mphBonus
Qualifying Points: +2 (2nd quickest of Q2)  *
* * *RACE SCHEDULE:Saturday,
August 63rd
round
qualifying                  
1:00 PM4th
round
qualifying                  
4:00 PM Sunday, August
7Final
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