Brittany Force eyes strong finish to Western Swing with Monster Energy team

Published August 3, 2017

KENT, WA – Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team wrap up the annual three-race Western Swing this weekend at Pacific Raceways seeking their second victory of the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Force has five semifinals appearances in the last seven races, including a victory at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. Her semifinals run at last weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in California vaulted her into fifth in the Top Fuel points standings for the first time since April.

The team’s push for consistency is evident, as she seeks a strong conclusion to the regular season and a high seed for the Countdown to the Championship, which begins next month.

“Once we get there, we can’t hold back – everything needs to be running on all cylinders,” Force said. “We can’t afford any mistakes. Each week we’re getting better and better, and this weekend is not going to be any different.”

Without looking too far ahead, however, Force wants to end the Western Swing on a high note and turn around her statistics at Pacific Raceways. She is in search of her first semifinals appearance at the track, with her only elimination round win coming in 2015. But with momentum on her side, she believes she can achieve that and go further in the process.

“The plan for next week in Seattle is to take it off the trailer and end up in the winner’s circle,” she said. “We always want to go further; we don’t want to stop at the semis. We feel good about where we are.”

The NHRA Northwest Nationals begins Friday with two nitro qualifying sessions, at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Pacific (one-hour television coverage at 6 p.m. Pacific on Fox Sports 1). Two more qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2 and 4:30 p.m. Pacific on Saturday (one-hour television coverage at 11 p.m. Pacific on FS1). Elimination rounds are scheduled for 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday (three hours of television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific on FS1).

Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force ready to end Western Swing on a high note in Seattle

– Funny Car star Courtney Force said she and her Advance Auto Parts team had a “turnaround weekend” in Sonoma, and now they’re looking to continue their positive momentum into the NHRA Northwest Nationals this weekend at Pacific Raceways.

Force qualified No. 4 and raced to the semifinals at Sonoma Raceway last Sunday, finding some consistency that is crucial to success on race days.

“Now we get back after it out in Seattle, a track where I have won at in the past,” Force said. “I got my rookie win there. So I’m looking forward to ending the Western Swing on a high note. We’re excited to get to a track that we are familiar with and see what we can do.”

Force earned her first career victory in Seattle in 2012, beating Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III, her dad John Force and then Matt Hagan in the final round. She’s added seven other wins in her career and is now the winningest female in Funny Car history.

Force, though, is still looking for her first victory of 207 despite some superior performance during this NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Her Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car has six No. 1 qualifiers and reached two final rounds this year. She sits sixth in the Funny Car points standings with two races remaining before the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis and three races before the Countdown to the Championship starts.

Seattle marks the final race of the three-race “Western Swing” that sends the NHRA into the final stretch of the season.

“I am really excited about our performance last weekend,” Force said. “I feel good about coming out of the middle part of the Western Swing by going a few rounds and picking up some more points.”

Two qualifying sessions are scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Pacific, with two more Saturday at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Final eliminations are slated to begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Fox Sports 1 will provide one hour of qualifying coverage at 6 p.m. Friday Pacific and 11 p.m. Saturday. Fox will broadcast three hours of live finals coverage at 1 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Fast speed in Sonoma has PEAK Chevrolet driver John Force pumped for Seattle and beyond

– PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil’s John Force joined the 337-mph club last weekend, becoming only the fourth Funny Car driver to reach that lofty plateau.

And heading into the NHRA Northwest Nationals this weekend at Pacific Raceways, the 16-time champion hopes to build on that impressive streak and add some more numbers to his already gaudy resume.

Force recorded a speed of 337.16 mph during qualifying for the Sonoma Nationals last weekend at Sonoma Raceway. That matched John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight for sixth-fastest speed in NHRA history and was the fastest Force had ever gone.

“Pretty cool,” Force said. “But let’s see what we can do with it.”

Force has been evolving his team this season, as crew chief Jimmy Prock returned to JFR before the season. Prock is crew chief for Hight’s Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, with crew chief Mike Neff and co-crew chief Jon Schaffer leading Force’s team.

JFR now owns seven of the eight fastest runs in Funny Car history. Hight broke the speed record in Sonoma (339.87 mph) and has five of the eight fastest speeds. Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force owns the third-fastest speed.

Now, though, John Force wants to turn that speed into round wins and race wins. He’s won eight times in Seattle, the most among NHRA professional classes. His most recent victory here was 2014, and he also has six No. 1 qualifiers in Seattle.

Force has one victory in 2017 and sits seventh in the Funny Car points standings. Two races remain before the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis and three races are left before the Countdown to the Championship starts.

“I’m starting my career all over again, and it’s a brand-new ballgame,” Force said. “I ain’t quitting. Just have good days and bad days, and we just have to make them all good days.”

Two qualifying sessions are scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Pacific, with two more Saturday at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Final eliminations are slated to begin at 11 a. m. Pacific on Sunday.

Fox Sports 1 will provide one hour of qualifying coverage at 6 p.m. Friday Pacific and 11 p.m. Saturday. Fox will broadcast three hours of live finals coverage at 1 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Auto Club driver Robert Hight looks to wrap up Western Swing with another victory

– Robert Hight has had two strong showings in the Western Swing and looks to bookend the annual three-race campaign with his second victory out west and the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season in NHRA Northwest Nationals this weekend at Pacific Raceways.

Hight won the Western Swing opener July 23 at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., then backed it up with career-best elapsed time (3.807 seconds) and NHRA-record speed (339.87 mph). Both were just shy of monumental marks – no driver in NHRA history has ever recorded a time in the 3.7-second range, nor reached the 340-mph threshold.

While Hight declared he wants to be the first to reach both milestones, his focus over the next three events is going rounds and winning races. The Northwest Nationals is a key race on the schedule, as drivers are looking to wrap-up the regular season and make a push to earn the highest seeds possible in the upcoming Countdown to the Championship, which is made up of the final six races of the season.

Hight is currently fourth in the standings, within one elimination-round victory of third and within sight of second with only three races remaining in the regular season, which ends with the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Therefore, a strong result in the Northwest Nationals is imperative.

“I’ve won five races before the Countdown, and then didn’t do anything in the Countdown,” Hight said. “Peaking at the right time is pretty critical with a Countdown format. We need to work on our race setup and when we roll into Indy – we are ready to go. We want to win Indy and carry that momentum of winning the biggest race of the year over to the Countdown and not look back.

“If you notice, a lot of the teams that have won, they’ve had some luck,” Hight added. “They haven’t had the great performance, but they’ve had the luck. We’ve got to put all three things together: Performance, consistency – and it wouldn’t hurt to have a little luck.”

Hight is still seeking his first victory at the Seattle-area track, the only facility he has yet to win on during the Western Swing. He’s been close – he made the finals in 2005, only to lose to teammate Eric Medlen. He also has four of his 52 No. 1 qualifiers at the track.

“It will be hot, and will be nice to get back at it since you don’t have a weekend off, get right back to work and redeem yourself,” Hight said. “I want to win Seattle. We can run well there. There’s great air up there, lots of trees around, and it’s a beautiful track. It’d be the perfect place to get back on top.”

As he’s said throughout the season, it’s consistency that he knows he and his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro team needs every race. Hight has earned the fastest speed in nine out of 15 events this season. He believes he has the team to achieve that consistency and transfer his qualifying results over to race day.

“With the people around us and the teams we have, it’s easier to find consistency than it is to find performance,” Hight said. “When you have to find performance and run quick and fast – and you don’t know how to do that – you’re going to be in big trouble. We already know how to do that. We’ve just got to do it a little more consistently – and four times on race day.”

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