BRITTANY FORCE AND ADVANCE AUTO PARTS SITTING NO. 1 FRIDAY AT NHRA ARIZONA NATIONALS
CHANDLER, AZ — Under uncharacteristically cold and wet conditions, the first day of qualifying at the Magic Dry 
Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals was cut short to only one qualifying session at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park outside of Phoenix. Brittany Force will head into day two of qualifying sitting No. 1 in the Top Fuel category with new teammate Austin Prock in fourth. In Funny Car, John Force is currently in second and Robert Hight is in ninth.
With inclement weather creating a difficult race track and conditions looking up for tomorrow, only six Top Fuel dragsters attempted to make passes. Brittany Force in her Advance Auto Parts dragster shook right at the hit of the throttle. Force pedaled her hot rod but ultimately went up in tire smoke to cross the line at 4.976-seconds and 185.28 mph.
“We battled the rain all day but we at least got one pass in. It wasn’t what we wanted, it blew the tires off it at maybe about 100 feet out. I pedaled it and it hooked up and went down there so it was good practice. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to be out and hopefully we’ll get in two more,” Force said. “We’re currently No. 1 but not every car made a pass in the field so we’ll just take what we got from today going into tomorrow.”
Austin Prock and his Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team were the last of the Top Fuel dragsters to make an effort to get down the track. Prock lost traction at the start and coasted to a 12.094-second pass.
John Force looked like he was on a good pass in his Q1 run as he left the starting line well but the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Camaro started to shake the tires. Force pedaled his Chevy Camaro but had to take his foot off the throttle for a 5.447-second run at 140.33 mph. He is second behind Matt Hagan who had the only clean pass of the day. Only 13 of the 17 Funny Cars on the event entry list lined up for Q1.
“Rough day all around but all our hot rods took the tree. Tomorrow weather is supposed to be better and hopefully that will help the track,” Force said.
Robert Hight and his Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro had a solid lead at the green light but shook the tires and had tire spin resulting in a 11.093-second pass for the No. 9 spot.
Qualifying at the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals will continue under a better weather forecast on Saturday with sessions at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
BRITTANY FORCE, 32, Advance Auto Parts Dragster
Qualifying: 1st; 4.976-seconds; 185.28 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +3 (quickest Q1)
AUSTIN PROCK, 23, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Dragster
Qualifying: 4th; 12.094-seconds; 83.05 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
JOHN FORCE, 69, PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS
Qualifying: 2nd; 5.447-seconds; 140.33 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +2 (2nd quickest Q1)
ROBERT HIGHT, 48, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SS
Qualifying: 9th; 11.0931-seconds; 75.62 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
Photo Credit: Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery; Auto Club Camaro: Ron Lewis
