Advance Auto
COURTNEY FORCE WILL START NHRA PLAYOFFS FROM NO. 1
BROWNSBURG, IN – Courtney Force made quick work of her first assignment of the Labor Day weekend Friday 
when she drove her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car down the 1,000 foot course at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in 4.330 seconds at a finish line speed of 214.83 mph during the first day of qualifying for the 64th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.
By simply putting a time on the board, the second generation pro secured the regular season championship for Advance Auto Parts, Chevrolet and John Force Racing and earned the coveted No. 1 starting position for the six-race Mello Yell Countdown to the Championship that begins Sept. 16 in Reading, Pa.
The 30-year-old native Californian, who has led the Funny Car points since winning the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta on May 6, becomes just the second woman to win a regular season championship in one of the NHRA’s four professional categories during the Countdown Era (2007-to-the-present). Erica Enders was the regular season Pro Stock champion in 2015.
COURTNEY FORCE AND ADVANCE AUTO PARTS HAVE A SEMIFINAL FINISH AT BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
BRAINERD, MN — Courtney Force and the Advance Auto Parts team led John Force Racing with a semifinal finish 
at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals on Sunday. Brittany Force and Robert Hight each had quarterfinal exits and John Force had an early Sunday.
Courtney Force, who was the No. 10 qualifier after a less than desirable two days of qualifying, powered her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car past Jim Campbell and Jonnie Lindberg before being defeated in the third round by eventual race winner Jack Beckman. Against Campbell, Force made the quickest pass of the round at 3.973-seconds and 326.00 mph earning her lane choice against Lindberg.
The Advance Auto Parts team continued to look stout as they laid down a 3.945-second pass 326.48 mph against Lindberg, a time that would hold up to be second quickest of the event. In the semifinals, Force just didn’t have enough to get around Beckman. The Advance Auto Parts team ran 4.040 seconds at 320.51 mph while Beckman ran a 3.968 at 324.83.
POINTS LEADER COURTNEY FORCE FOCUSED ON FINISHING REGULAR SEASON ON HIGH NOTE
BRAINERD, MN — Current Funny Car points leader Courtney Force and her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro 
SS show no signs of slowing down as they head into the final two races of the regular season. With four wins and ten No. 1 qualifiers to her name, Force is looking towards the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in search of more consistency and more momentum to carry the team into the Countdown to the Championship.
“This Advance Auto Parts team is ready to head back to Brainerd,” said Force. “With how we’re running right now it will be a good weekend. We’ve never won there before but we’ve qualified pretty well and been able to go some rounds. We’ll be looking to get that win heading into the Indy race hoping to improve on our points lead and be ready for the Countdown.”
Force has qualified inside the top 10 for three consecutive years at Brainerd International Raceway. She was No. 4 last year and defeated world champion Del Worsham in the first round before making a second round exit to veteran Tommy Johnson Jr. In 2016, Force had her career best finish at the event starting from the No. 6 spot and beating Brian Stewart and Johnson Jr. before losing to Del Worsham in the semifinals. In 2016 she again qualified in the top five with a No. 4 starting position.
COURTNEY FORCE TAKES ADVANCE AUTO PARTS TO FINAL ROUND AT NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS
KENT, WA — Courtney Force and the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS team raced to their career best sixth 
final round of the season Sunday at the CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals ending the day with their second runner-up finish. Robert Hight made a quarterfinal finish and John Force and Brittany Force ended their racing early in the first round at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle.
Entering race day as the No. 3 qualifier, Courtney Force powered her Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro past familiar foe Jim Campbell in the first round of eliminations. Both Force and Campbell left the starting line early but Force’s light of -.015 compared to Campbell’s -.296 allowed her to move on to the second round while he earned the red-light.
The second-round match-up of Force and Shawn Langdon was one of the closest of the day. Force came from behind to run 4.023-seconds at 322.11 mph, chasing down Langdon’s 4.036 at 318.02.
ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB LAND NO. 2 POSITION AT NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS
KENT, WA — Two-time and reigning world champion Robert Hight maintained his No. 2 qualifying position at the 
31st annual CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals Saturday at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle. Courtney Force held onto her No. 3 position and John Force muscled his way into the No. 10 spot. In Top Fuel, Brittany Force will start race day from the No. 8 position.
Robert Hight will begin his NHRA Northwest Nationals championship defense from the No. 2 position after racing to a 3.919-second pass at 327.82 mph on Friday evening. Saturday, Hight and his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car had a solid 4.010-second pass and smoked the tires to run 6.346-seconds but with good early numbers, a good sign as they head into similar weather conditions on race day.
“You know, we pushed it pretty hard tonight. We were trying to run 3.95 this evening and it probably just wasn’t going to happen under those conditions. The numbers looked good early on but we had one good run today and, after tonight, we also know where our limits are for tomorrow,” Hight explained. “I’m excited. We have a tough competitor with Gary Densham. He’s one of the guys that taught me how to do this back when he was at JFR. Always have to be ready for him, but I really like our chances of repeating at this race.”
COURTNEY FORCE TRYING TO REPRISE EARLIER SUCCESSES AT PACIFIC RACEWAYS
KENT, WA — Funny Car points leader Courtney Force resumes her Jekyll-and-Hyde relationship with Pacific 
Raceways this week when she drives the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS in pursuit of the Funny Car championship at the 31st annual CatSpot NHRA Northwest Nationals, the final event in the arduous Western Swing.
“It’s a track we’ve won on in the past,” said the 12-time Mello Yello tour winner, “so coming from a decent weekend at Sonoma where we qualified No. 1 (for the 10th time in 15 races) but didn’t have much luck on race day, we’re really hoping to be able to go some rounds at Seattle and finish out the Swing on a positive note.”
Although she has won at Pacific Raceways in both the Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car categories, she has had to deal with some adversity, too.
“I’m hoping it’s even now with that love-hate thing,” she joked. “I had a high in 2009 when I won in Top Alcohol Dragster and a low the next year when I had really bad tire vibration that caused a rear tire to explode just before the finish.
“Going out there and getting my first win in Funny Car in 2013 was definitely a high but then crashing there (in 2016) was another low. So, I think we’re due for another high which I hope is our Advance Auto Parts team ending up in the winners’ circle again.
Defending Denver winner John Force gunning for fourth consecutive final at Bandimere
DENVER – PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil driver John Force hopes to keep an impressive streak going in the Mile-
High Nationals this weekend at Bandimere Speedway.
The Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car driver has been to three consecutive final rounds in Denver, winning last year by beating daughter Courtney Force in the final.
“Any time you can get to a final, it’s like winning the race – you just don’t get the trophy,” Force said. “But you got the exposure. We want to come back and repeat. Hope I can have two cars in the final again.”
The 2016 win gave John Force a total of seven victories at Denver, the most among Funny Car drivers and tied for most among the professional classes.
Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight joins 338 mph club, races to Topeka semifinals
John out in Round 1, Courtney and Brittany in round 2
TOPEKA, KS – Robert Hight and his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car keep getting 
faster and faster.
Hight raised his career-best speed at the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals on Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka. But he fell short of the ultimate goal of winning the race after smoking the tires in the semifinals.
“We are going rounds, we are running so good,” Hight said. “Anything less than a final round, you feel like you failed. We are going rounds, (I’m) driving all right. This was kind of a different set of circumstances with the conditions we had this weekend, it was pretty amazing. We just gotta put four together.”
Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force holds on to No. 1 spot for NHRA SpringNationals in Houston
BAYTOWN, TX – First mission complete. Courtney Force kept her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS at the 
top of the Funny Car time charts, earning the coveted No. 1 qualifying spot for Sunday’s NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway – the fifth stop on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Force stood on a time of 3.851 seconds (tying her third quickest time of her career) at 330.23 mph she set Friday evening to earn the No. 1 spot. Saturday’s two sessions were run under significantly different track and weather conditions she expects to face Sunday.
However, she turned in a time of 3.897 at 323.89 mph in her final qualifying attempt Saturday afternoon – in the heat of the day. Conditions for Sunday’s elimination rounds are expected to be cooler than Saturday’s qualifying attempts.
