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Continuing to turn proverbial corner, John Force takes PEAK Chevy to Brainerd semis

BRAINERD, MN – John Force keeps saying he and his PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS are turning the proverbial corner. This weekend, they made seven strong runs and were inches from taking the car to the Funny Car final round.

After making four qualifying attempts in the 3.9-second range or better and qualifying No. 3, Force won his first two rounds in Sunday’s NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway before narrowly falling in the semifinals – by just two thousandths of a second to eventual race winner Alexis DeJoria.

Force won his opening-round matchup against Jim Campbell, running the fifth-fastest speed of his career with a pass of 3.901 seconds at 333.25 mph, while Campbell stumbled at the line.

Force’s next matchup came against Jack Beckman, their first meeting at Brainerd despite 41 previous elimination-round races at other tracks. Force was quick out of the gate and ran even faster, turning in a run of 3.896 seconds at 335.48 mph, his second-fastest speed ever.

DeJoria had the quicker time in her second-round appearance and lane choice, putting Force in the right lane. But he got the jump on reaction time, and narrowly led DeJoria for much of the race. But she inched ahead in the last 50 feet, and won the race by less than two feet. Officially, Force’s pass was 3.909 seconds at 331.94 mph.

As he made seven consecutive runs this weekend without any problems, and all seven under four seconds, Force showed he and his Camaro are ready to contest for his 149th career Funny Car win.

“We’re rounding the corner, just like I’ve promised,” Force said. “Just wish we could have won that one. That would have made the weekend a whole lot shinier. But I made seven runs in a row, and that’s something for me lately. Everyone is fast; Robert (Hight) took both ends of the national record. I told (sponsor) PEAK we’d be ready by Indy, and it’s time for Indy. I’m ready.”

Force and the rest of the John Force Racing team will compete in two days of testing this Wednesday and Thursday at Lucas Oil Raceway in preparation for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

Record-setting weekend ends in semifinals for Auto Club Chevrolet driver Robert Hight

– Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight left Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday with the national elapsed time record, second place in the Funny Car points standings and his 400th elimination round victory after the NHRA Nationals.

But Hight, who turned 48 on Sunday, wanted more – much more.

A bizarre semifinal match Sunday resulted in Hight’s six-round winning streak coming to an end after an impressive weekend for him and his John Force Racing team.

Hight made the first pass in a Funny Car in NHRA history under 3.8 seconds – 3.793 seconds – in grabbing his third consecutive No. 1 qualifier. That pass, run Friday night, garnered him both ends of the national record, as the speed of 339.87 mph recorded last month in Sonoma, Calif., is the fastest in Funny Car history.

He also moved up to second place in the points standings, with one race before the Countdown to the Championship begins.

And his first-round win over Dale Creasy was the 400th of his brilliant career.

But Hight was kicking himself for double-stepping in the semifinals, which eventually cost him a victory over Tommy Johnson Jr.

“It’s business as usual with this car lately,” Hight said. “I just screwed up. I did leave too soon, but I held the brake. I didn’t let go of the brake, so it didn’t go through the beams. I didn’t know that – I thought I red-lit.

“There’s a big yellow thing on the wall down there, and I looked and saw it and thought it was his win light on.”

Johnson struck the tires and started to pedal his car, while Hight thought the race was already over.

“Long Tree, and my foot moved,” Hight said. “I’ve got to do better. I cannot let this happen again. I’ve got to pay more attention and focus.”

Johnson’s pass was 6.875 seconds at 128.60 mph, while Hight coasted to a 9.806-second run at 78.40 mph.

The semifinals came after his first- and second-round ETs were low of each round. He ran 3.850 at 331.45 mph in beating Creasy and 3.828 at 336.23 mph in beating points leader Ron Capps in the second round.

“We leave here second in points, but we also could’ve left here with 40 more points that would’ve put us closer to Capps,” Hight said. “If everything goes right, we could still go to the top. We can go around him – we have to do everything right, and they have to stumble. Going into the Countdown with a lead over everybody else is big. That’s our goal.

“We’re going to go to Indy and test, learn some more. We’re already great, but maybe we can get better.”

Hight will test the Auto Club Chevy at Lucas Oil Raceway later this week in preparation for the U.S. Nationals, the next race on the schedule, Sept. 1-4.

Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force looks to Indy after Brainerd quarterfinals appearance

– Courtney Force and her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS team put together a strong performance in this weekend’s NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in which they continued to establish consistency and competed in the quarterfinals.

Force, who at one point held the track speed record this weekend and made four runs of 3.9 seconds or better, handily won her opening-round race Sunday before bowing out with a mechanical problem in the second round.

She defeated Del Worsham with a run of 3.862 seconds at a strong 334.90 mph in the first round, and earned lane choice for the second round. Against Tommy Johnson Jr. in the second round, Force got the jump at the Christmas Tree and led at the 60-foot mark.

But the car shut off shortly after, the result of a broken piston. The pan pressure in the car immediately went up and shut the car off, ending Force’s bid for her first semifinals appearance at Brainerd.

“It ended our day early, but I think if we wouldn’t have had that malfunction we definitely would have been able to get that round,” Force said. “But that’s racing and that’s the exciting part about it.”

But Force remains confident her first NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victory of the season is right around the corner. And she’d like none more than to win the next race, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway.

“It was a great weekend for our Advance Auto Parts team,” Force said. “Obviously, we didn’t go as far as we would have hoped. We have a lot of expectations with this car and it’s because we know we have a good car and a fast one. We qualified in the No. 4 spot going into race day and race a 3.86 right out of the gate in first round and got that win light.

“Really excited because our team did clinch a spot in the Countdown to the Championship after the last race and I feel really positive coming out of this race.”

Force and the rest of the John Force Racing team will compete in two days of testing this Wednesday and Thursday at Lucas Oil Raceway in preparation for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

Despite close second-round defeat in Brainerd, Brittany Force knows Monster Energy car is fast at right time of year

– This is the right time of the season to be running well, and since Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster driver Brittany Force is doing just that, she’s pumped for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and the Countdown to the Championship.

Force dropped a close second-round match in the NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway, but the Monster Energy car was flying all weekend.

“Looking over the weekend, we’re in a pretty good place,” Force said. “Qualified No. 2, and we’re sitting fifth in points. Plus, we had four consistent runs down the race track during qualifying and two awesome runs on race day.

“It’s unfortunate. I’m trying not to beat myself up over the holeshot. I still had a decent light – just Antron (Brown) is killer out there. I need to step up my game at Indy, and hopefully we can win the Big Go.”

After beating Steve Chrisman in the first round, Force battled defending Top Fuel champion Brown in Round 2. Force made a spectacular pass of 3.675 seconds at 332.75 mph, slightly better than his 3.681-second run at 332.43 mph.

The difference, though, was on the starting line. Force had a solid .060-second reaction time, but Brown was slightly better, .050, and he got the win by .004 seconds.

Force has stepped up her game on the Tree over the last few races, and it showed this weekend.

“We’ve made some changes, and I’m really lucky to have such a supportive team,” Force said. “No matter what I do, they have my back, and I have theirs.”

Force made a terrific run in the first round, too: 3.728 seconds at 327.03 mph. But she already had won the race because Chrisman left .329 seconds too soon.

Force will test her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster at Lucas Oil Raceway later this week in preparation for the U.S. Nationals, the next race on the schedule, Sept. 1-4.

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