Brittany Force puts up a Monster run at Gateway, holds on to third in Top Fuel points standings
MADISON, IL – A career-best run propelled Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster driver Brittany Force to the second 
round of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals on Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park.
She stumbled in the second round, though, failing to advance to the semifinals of a 2017 Countdown to the Championship race for the first time.
“Unfortunately, we went out early,” Force said. “Right now, we’re still hanging third in points and we’re hoping to keep that through the rest of the day. We’ll just battle it out at the next one.”
Force remains third in the Top Fuel standings after three of the six Countdown races. She reached the semifinals in Charlotte before winning in Reading last weekend to jump into the mix of championship contenders.
Force started Sunday’s race with a killer run. Her pass of 3.644 seconds at 332.26 mph was the third-quickest run in NHRA history and easily better than her previous best of 3.674 seconds in Topeka earlier this year.
That run also dispatched No. 12 qualifier Pat Dakin, who made a run of 3.870 at 270.16 mph.
“To be able to come out on race day and run your career-best ET and third-best run in Top Fuel is pretty outstanding,” Force said. “A 3.64 – we went way beyond our previous best run of 3.67. It’s not like we came close or right around it – we stepped up big-time. We put that number on the board, and I was very proud of this team to do that, especially on race day. That’s not easy to do.”
Force and her team couldn’t repeat that run, as she drove into tire smoke near half-track in the second round. Her run of 4.250 at 231.83 mph was overcome by race runner-up Doug Kalitta’s run of 3.717 seconds at 329.83 mph.
Force and her Monster Energy team have a weekend off before racing in the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals on Oct. 13-15 at Texas Motorplex.
PEAK driver John Force now sixth in Funny Car points after Gateway semis appearance
– John Force made it to the semifinals of Sunday’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park and jumped to sixth in the points standings as the NHRA’S Countdown to the Championship reached the halfway point.
Force, driving the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS, defeated Brian Stewart and daughter Courtney Force in the first two rounds to make it to the semis. And, despite leading at the 660-foot mark in his appearance against Ron Capps, his car began to drift toward the wall and he lifted just before the line. That ended up being the difference, as his pass of 3.962 seconds at 274.33 mph fell just short.
“I can’t make any excuse,” said Force, who qualified No. 2 after tying his career-best elapsed time of 3.832 seconds in qualifying. “I let it get over and it got me into the wall. I know the left lane will suck you outside and the right lane will take you to the right, but I didn’t feel it. I moved over but not enough that I thought it would make any difference. I didn’t even know I was over, and the next thing I knew I was into the wall. I did scrape the wall.”
Neither of Force’s elimination round wins came without some sort of excitement. In Force’s first-round matchup, against No. 15 Stewart, he was away first and never challenged, however, he smoked the tires and began weaving back and forth in the right lane. He pedaled the car three times, but with Stewart’s car far behind after smoking the tires at the line, he won with a pass of 5.566 seconds at 228.58 mph.
That pitted Force against daughter Courtney Force, who earned lane choice with a strong first-round pass of 3.884 seconds at 334.32 mph. John Force took off with a .041-second reaction time. He never trailed, recording a pass of 3.913 seconds at 330.88 mph, with Courtney Force’s pass of 3.888 seconds at 328.30 mph coming up a few feet short.
Force took off with a .045-second reaction time in the semis, falling behind at the 60- and 330-foot increments before edging ahead at 660 feet. But the car slowed and smoked as it reached the finish, and Capps drove by, winning by about 20 feet.
Still, it was John Force’s first semifinals appearance since August, when he advanced to the third round of the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. It also bumped him from eighth in the standings to sixth, as he continues to make ground and chase after his 17th NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car title.
“I finally got a race car that I can race and I had a car that could win today,” Force said. “If you’re going to win, you have to live on the edge. I had a car that could win and we’ve moved up in the points (sixth).”
The next race on the NHRA circuit is the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force maintains third in points after St. Louis quarterfinal finish
– Courtney Force maintained third in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car points standings after a quarterfinal finish in Sunday’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Force, driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS, made two strong passes in the 3.88-second range, winning her first-round matchup against No. 10 J.R. Todd before falling to her father, No. 2 John Force, in the second round.
Her 3.884-second pass at 334.32 mph was her second-best pass of the weekend, just seven thousandths of a second off her best qualifying run of 3.877 seconds. She ran right down the middle of the track, while Todd smoked the tires early and finished without a challenge. That paired her up against John Force, who advanced to the second round despite smoking his tires midway down the track.
John Force got the jump on the Christmas tree with a .041-second reaction time, and that made a big difference. Courtney Force closed the gap at several increments but couldn’t pass her father by the finish, falling by about 14 feet.
“Came out in Round 2 and had a matchup against my dad and that PEAK car, and unfortunately he beat me on a holeshot, so it was a tough day,” Force said. “It’s a tough loss for me as a driver. My guys gave me a great race car and we’ll be ready to go again in Dallas.”
Still, Courtney Force stayed third in the standings. She recorded a pair of finals appearances leading into St. Louis, and is still within one race of the points lead with three races remaining in the season and the Countdown to the Championship.
“It was a great job by my Advance Auto Parts team,” Force said. “I’m really proud of my guys. They gave me a fast race car all day. We’re halfway through the Countdown and still in a good spot as we retained the No. 3 spot even after this weekend. We’re going to have to make things happen in Dallas.”
The next race on the NHRA circuit is the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
AAA Missouri driver Robert Hight reaches semifinals at Gateway, maintains second in Funny Car standings
– Robert Hight took the AAA Missouri Chevrolet to the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals semifinals Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Hight ran into some misfortune in the semis, as he fell in a close race to eventual race runner-up Jonnie Lindberg.
Hight maintained second place in the Funny Car points standings, remaining in the thick of the title hunt as the Countdown to the Championship reached its halfway point.
“It was a good weekend to show off in front of AAA Missouri: No. 1 qualifier,” Hight said. “No matter what, we’re leaving here within striking distance.”
Hight is 46 points behind leader Ron Capps with three races remaining in the 2017 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Twenty points are awarded per round victory – with 30 given in the season-finale in Pomona – meaning Hight is a little more than two rounds behind with 12 rounds up for grabs.
Hight won his seventh No. 1 qualifier of the season this weekend, racing Dale Creasy in the first round Sunday. Creasy was told to shut off before his race with Hight, but Hight ripped off a pass of 3.872 seconds at 336.57 mph to get the victory.
That set up a Countdown battle with Matt Hagan, but Hight was up to the task. He left first with a .034-second reaction time and made a run of 3.919 seconds at 330.31 mph to beat Hagan’s 4.253-second run at 216.17 mph.
“We struggled yesterday, and then first round made a nice, solid run,” Hight said. “Second round, got a win against a big competitor. It hurt (cylinder) No. 7, though, so we had a lot of work to do between rounds.”
Hight made it to the starting line in time to face Lindberg, but Hight had trouble at the hit of the throttle.
“It dropped a cylinder, picked it back up at almost a second, but that was enough to kill the run,” Hight said.
As Lindberg made a clean run of 3.898 seconds at 331.20 mph, Hight labored to a 3.943-second pass at 331.20 mph.
Still, Hight remains confident with his AAA team heading to the next race, the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals on Oct. 13-15 at Texas Motorplex.
“It’s not like we’re struggling or searching for a combination,” Hight said. “I feel like we can roll right into Dallas and right off the trailer, qualify No. 1, get three more points, and that’s what we’re going to do. It’s another big AAA race for us, and I’m looking forward to that.”
