At Sonoma, record speed, career-best time gives Auto Club driver Robert Hight 52nd No. 1 of his career
John #2 and Courtney #4 in Funny Car, Brittany #2 in Top Fuel
SONOMA, CA – Robert Hight’s stellar record-setting pass in Friday’s second qualifying session for the NHRA 
Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway was strong enough for his 52nd career No. 1 qualifier in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Hight’s pass of 3.807 seconds at 339.87 mph in the Auto Club of Southern California/California Highway Patrol Chevrolet Camaro SS was more than four hundredths quicker than the field over the four qualifying sessions, and his speed was the first to top 339 mph in any professional NHRA category.
He also garnered another bonus point in Saturday’s final session, with a run of 3.909 seconds at 329.26 mph. That run was what Hight considered a baseline setup and will be similar to what the team will run Sunday, as qualifying Saturday was contested in the heat of the day.
“Things are definitely going the right direction for us,” the 2009 Funny Car champion said. “It’s a big deal because everybody always talks about sweeping the Swing. We got one leg down, and to come in here and get low ET and to set the quickest run in history, that is pretty awesome.
“I am just glad our Auto Club Chevy made it down the track this last run because you don’t want to go into Sunday, no matter what position you are in, making only one great run like that moonshot that we took last night. So it was a good baseline run for us tomorrow and we are going to take them one at a time and see how it goes.
“I hope there are plenty more of these green hats (given to the No. 1 qualifier in each category) because I want to give them to the great California Highway Patrol guys that have been hanging around with us all weekend. I want to hopefully give each one of them a green hat, and with a little luck, give them a yellow one (given to the race winner in each category) at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Hight’s pass Friday earned him his second career No. 1 at Sonoma – his “home track,” as he grew up in northern California – and third of the season. It is also the 10th No. 1 for John Force Racing in 2017. Teammates John and Courtney Force qualified No. 2 and 4, respectively.
“I have only won (Sonoma) once as a driver, and I want to do it again,” added Hight, the 2008 Sonoma winner in Funny Car. “This really is my home track. I grew up about six hours north of here in northern California and the first national event I ever attended was right here. So I have been to every single national event here either as a fan, a crew member and now as a driver. But I also won it with Jimmy Prock, and we are back together.”
Hight is also looking to avenge a pair of first-round losses earlier this season as the No. 1 qualifier, as dropped cylinders in Epping and Chicago forced early exits.
And, if his top speed holds up through Sunday, it will be the ninth race in 15 this season he will have run the top speed this season.
Not that any of that really matters to Hight. What he’s aiming for is a Western Swing sweep; he won last weekend’s Mile-High Nationals in Morrison, Colo., for his first victory of the season, extending his streak of seasons with at least one victory to 13 – all in succession.
Track conditions are obviously different – Bandimere Speedway in Colorado sits more than 5,800 feet above sea level, while the elevation of Sonoma Raceway is just 15 feet. The air is also different.
“In Denver, you have to change everything,” Hight said. “Your spare engines have to be changed and when you get back from there you have to put everything back to a sea-level tune-up. I think it’s almost 2,000 miles after you drive to California and then we go on up to Seattle which is another great race track where you have great air, lot of trees, lot of oxygen. What is cool is to start out that Western Swing with a win and get some momentum, get everyone’s attitude up, and on a high note. Our guys couldn’t wait to roll in to Sonoma, get set up, and get out here on this race track.”
Hight will matchup against No. 16 Todd Gibbons in the first round Sunday, marking the first time the two will compete.
Elimination rounds begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, with live television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
Monster Energy driver Brittany Force earns No. 2 qualifying spot for Sunday’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals
– Brittany Force earned the No. 2 qualifying position in the Top Fuel category for Sunday’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway, the second race of the Western Swing and 15th race on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Force’s best pass came in the second round Friday, when she ran 3.689 seconds at 330.63 mph midway through the session in the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster. While she celebrated the strong run Friday, the car struggled Saturday.
The team failed to make a full pass, with mechanical issues in the third round resulting in a slow pass. An oil leak ahead of the fourth round kept her from making a pass at all, as the team pulled the car off the starting line moments before the Christmas Tree turned green.
“Today was really frustrating,” said Force, who is looking for her first career victory at Sonoma. “That first run we didn’t even get past the Christmas Tree. We blew the tires off the thing trying to push it too hard. We were trying to make a run in the heat, which is where we have really been struggling. That is the most important thing going into Sunday, so it was frustrating to lose that run.
“Then on the last run we had an oil leak on the starting line. They had to shut the car off and you don’t want to end qualifying on that. It’s tough, especially losing that Q4 run because it’s not night out, it’s still warm and it will be comparable to tomorrow. We really needed that.”
But the overall qualifying result is reason enough for optimism. It marks the third time this season Force has qualified No. 2, and the eighth consecutive race she has qualified in the top half of the bracket. The No. 2 effort pits Force against Steve Chrisman, whom she has faced only once – in the NHRA New England Nationals early last month. In that event, Force defeated Chrisman in the opening round, en route to winning the race. Ironically, she also qualified No. 2 for that race as well.
“The way I look at it is that you just have to throw (Saturday’s) runs away, throw them behind you, you can’t do anything about it and you have to keep moving forward,” Force said. “We have an awesome Monster Energy team and we are just going to throw down tomorrow. We will figure it out because I have (tuning consultant) Alan Johnson and (crew chief) Brian Husen and we will come together as a team.”
Elimination rounds begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, with live television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
For first time in stellar career, John Force tops 337 mph, qualifies No. 2 in Sonoma
SONOMA, CA – PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS driver John Force has accomplished plenty in his Hall of Fame career, from winning more championships (16) and races (148) than anyone in the long history of the NHRA.
But until Saturday, he’d never officially gone faster than 337 mph.
That’s exactly what happened in the fourth qualifying session for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, when Force jumped to the No. 2 qualifying spot in Funny Car with a scintillating pass of 3.848 seconds at 337.16 mph.
“I was so excited,” Force said. “It was trucking, and the front end stayed down.”
The speed, though, wasn’t what mattered to Force. It was the elapsed time, which topped Q4.
“I ain’t about speed,” Force said. “I’m about ET. I leave speed to the Highway Patrol. For PEAK, Chevrolet, Mac Tools, all those guys – we don’t look too shabby. We’re getting better. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
The California Highway Patrol adorns one of John Force Racing’s other Funny Cars, the Auto Club of Southern California Chevy driven by Robert Hight. Force was asked about nearly beating the elapsed time of Hight, who qualified No. 1.
“They said, ‘You almost got Robert’s record,’” Force said with a smile. “I said, ‘You never want to outrun the Highway Patrol.’”
But he does want to outrun the other Funny Cars, and Force was strong throughout qualifying, earning more bonus points than any driver (seven).
And that Q4 pass was memorable.
“I’m really trying to focus on staying in the middle of the groove,” Force said. “That’s why I drove it too far. It popped, but it didn’t hurt anything. We were a little lucky, but it popped on me. I thought I ran out of gas.
“I knew it was running a good number, and it was staying perfectly straight. I was looking for the cones to make sure I was centered in case the thing dropped a hole – it wants to move you around.”
Elimination rounds begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, with live television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
Courtney Force, Advance Auto Parts team finding their rhythm in Sonoma
– The consistency that Funny Car star Courtney Force and her Advance Auto Parts team have been searching for in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season appears to have been found at Sonoma Raceway.
And that has Force excited for final eliminations for the Sonoma Nationals on Sunday.
Force made three excellent runs in qualifying, topped by a best pass of 3.889 seconds at 327.03 mph that puts her in the No. 1 qualifying spot. Force made the quickest pass in Q3, 3.914 seconds at 329.91 mph, and was on another good run in the final session before getting off the throttle.
“We’ve found some consistency with our Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro,” Force said. “It definitely feels good going into race day. We’re in the No. 4 qualifying position. We pushed the car a little harder in Q4. It was on a good run, and I got out of it early because something felt a little strange to me. I got out of it to be safe, but it was on a great run.
“It feels good going into race day, knowing that we’ve got a pretty consistent race car. We know how to run it, so far this weekend, in the heat and when the track cools off as well.”
Force will battle No. 14 qualifier Jim Campbell in the first round Sunday. Force lost to Campbell from the No. 1 spot in Denver last weekend.
“Looking forward to tomorrow,” Force said. “We’ve got another first-round matchup with Jim Campbell, so we’re looking for a little revenge on the race track. Hope we can get that win. It’s pretty exciting to have Big Machine Records on board this weekend, and I’m hoping we can get them in the winner’s circle with this Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro.”
Elimination rounds begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, with live television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
