JOHN FORCE COUNTING ON FAN SUPPORT IN BID FOR 9th SHOOTOUT VICTORY

JOHN FORCE COUNTING ON FAN SUPPORT IN
BID FOR 9th SHOOTOUT VICTORYBRAINERD, MN (August 21, 2016) --- The winningest driver in
NHRA history has enjoyed unrivalled support from his legions of fans for nearly
four decades. When John Force was starting his now historic career fans
encouraged him, cheered him and in many cases fed his low budget team. This
year Force will rely on his fans one more time in his bid to race in the 2016
edition of the Traxxas Nitro Funny Car Shootout. He has two wins in 2016 but the
surging Force in his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS was not one of the first seven
Funny Car drivers to win this season and will vie for the 8th and
final spot through the fan vote and lottery process. Fans can vote for John
Force by clicking this link http://bit.ly/Traxxas2016
which will take them to the fan vote on NHRA’s Facebook page. Voting is open
now and will remain open until 9 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday, Aug. 30.  “I have a great race
car and it just took us a while to get a win. We are No. 7 in the points and we
got wins in Denver and Sonoma which were two tough races. I have raced in a lot
of All-Star races and I definitely want to race this year in this PEAK
Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car,�?? said Force. “The competition has never been
tougher and I love being in my race car. These young kids led by my crew chief
Jon Schaffer are working hard at every race and I want to keep them busy at the
Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.�?? Through appearances at national events, match races and
sponsor events Force has signed more autographs and posed for more photos than
the 145-time winner can count. In addition to the race victories, round wins
and record setting No. 1 qualifiers Force has participated in 28 All-Star bonus
races over his legendary career.  Force
has won the Traxxas Shootout twice picking up wins at the inaugural event
contested at the Texas Motorplex in 2012 and then two years later in 2014 he
picked up his 8th Shootout win over teammate Robert Hight.  The 16-time Funny Car champion has won
specialty races eight times (1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2012 and
2014). Force has earned over 1.25 million dollars in All-Star specialty race
prize money.John Force Entertainment put together a short video to
support Force’s bid for the Traxxas Nitro Funny Car Shootout. The video comically
highlights Force’s well-documented challenges with social media as well as his
undisputed success on the race track. Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/Du8oricXzDA“I am learning Twitter and the internet but I still have a
lot to figure out. Fans can vote for me on the NHRA’s Facebook page after
Brainerd and until the Tuesday before Indy. I wanted to make a funny video
showing me messing around with my team, Courtney, Brittany and my grandkids but
that also showed what I am good at which is driving this PEAK Chevy Funny Car
and winning races,�?? summed up Force.The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout, which is a race within a race,
will be conducted at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil
Raceway at Indianapolis. The Funny Cars will be featured on Sunday September 4
with the winner earning the $100,000 top prize. The program will award the top
four finishers, with the runner-up receiving $15,000 and the semifinal losers pocketing
$7,500 each. The following drivers are qualified for the 2016 NHRA Nitro Funny
Car Shootout:Funny Car1.       Ron
Capps (Pomona1)2.       Tim
Wilkerson (Phoenix)3.       Robert
Hight (Gainesville)4.       Alexis
DeJoria (Las Vegas1)5.       Courtney
Force (Houston)6.       Matt
Hagan (Atlanta)7.       Tommy
Johnson Jr. (Bristol)8.       To
be determined by fan vote and lottery