CONCORD, NC – Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team raced to their fifth final round of the season and second runner-up finish Sunday at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team made a semifinal appearance while Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team raced to the quarterfinals and John Force with the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS team had a first-round exit.

Coming in as the No. 1 qualifiers, Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools team earned a first-round bye. It would be a throwaway run with Hight going red and the Cornwell Tools Chevy smoking the tires. In the second round, Hight faced Paul Lee. With cylinders out on the Camaro, Hight managed to hold on for a 3.963-second pass at 314.68 mph defeating Lee’s 4.643 at 176.70.

Hight would take on Funny Car up-and-comer Alex Laughlin in the semifinals. The Cornwell Tools team continued their impressive performance with a stout 3.934-second pass at 325.22 mph to defeat Laughlin’s 4.200 at 305.77 setting Hight up for the 101st final round of his career and fifth at the Carolina Nationals.

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CONCORD, NC – Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team earned their fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Brittany Force with the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster and John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS are in the No. 4 positions while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster are No. 10.

After a fiery end to their first qualifying day, Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools team jumped right back to the top half of the Funny Car field with a stout 3.849-second pass at 323.27 mph to land No. 3 heading into the final session. After a lengthy rain delay, Hight and the Cornwell Tools team threw down a 3.824-second pass at 330.15 mph to steal the No. 1 qualifying spot by one-thousandth of a second.

“Sometimes when you push and try real hard, it doesn’t work out. There are a lot of moving parts and everything has to come together, there are a lot of variables. It’s a science but there is some luck to it too. We were pushing on that run. We wanted the No. 1 spot because of the bye. To get it by one-thousandth of a second, it just shows you how tough it is out here,” Hight said. “Honestly, I thought with Bob Tasca III and Matt Hagan running behind us, I could still be third after that but you’re going to see a lot of these close races. Really, hats off to the Cornwell Tools team for pulling through after what we went through last night. I’m just really proud of them for working hard all night. I wouldn’t want to jump back in the car after what happened last night with any other team than them.”

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CONCORD, NC – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster team earned the provisional No. 2 qualifying spot Friday at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS are sitting No. 6 with Austin Prock in the Montanan Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster is No. 9. Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevy Camaro SS team had an engine explosion and didn’t record a time.

Force and the Flav-R-Pac team, who are looking for their third No. 1 qualifying position at the Carolina Nationals, laid down a stout 3.686-second pass at 332.75 mph in the first qualifying session. Their performance would be the second quickest of the night earning two bonus qualifying points for the reigning world champions.

“We are in the second race of the Countdown to the Champions and we currently sitting No. 2 after our 3.686 run. It’s a great start for this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team,” Force said. “We need to grab as many bonus points as we can and we grabbed two in our first pass. We hopefully get two more tries tomorrow under cool conditions. So, we are going to see if we can push it a little bit and take advantage of points and qualifying.”

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CONCORD, NC – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster team sit only 71 points back from the points lead as they head to the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway looking for a win to set them up for a run at their third Top Fuel championship.

Force and the Flav-R-Pac team have reached the Carolina Nationals finals twice in 2018 and 2021 both times they were also the No 1 qualifiers for the event. The two-time championship team has qualified no worse than third in their last four starts at the fall event at zMAX and they also have three No. 1 starts at the Four-Wide spring event. Last year, as the No. 2 qualifiers for the Carolina Nationals, Force had a quarterfinal exit.

“This Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is looking forward to getting to Charlotte. We’ve been making progress and I know we’re all eager to keep it going. Having these three races back-to-back to start the Countdown allows you to build momentum and that’s exactly what we’re looking to do,” Force said. “We’ve had success at zMAX, a couple wins and setting the track record earlier this year, we’re hoping to add to that. Nothing has changed in our game plan, we need to qualify well, get some of those small bonus points and then go rounds on Sunday. A lot can change with one good weekend. Excited to see what this Flav-R-Pac team can do.”

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CONCORD, NC – Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway sitting eighth in the NHRA points standings, just 131 points back from the lead with five races left in the Countdown to the Championship.

Prock and the Montana Brand team came up with the only Top Fuel win for JFR so far this season at zMAX Dragway in April, doubling up with teammate Robert Hight in Funny Car. After qualifying seventh, the Chris Cunningham and Joe Barlam led Montana Brand team outran Leah Pruett, Josh Hart and Steve Torrence in the final quad. Last year at the Carolina Nationals, Prock qualified 10th but lost in the first round. The result didn’t stop the young team’s momentum, jumping from 12th in the points to finish the season third.

“We’re ready to start our rebound this weekend at zMAX Dragway. I believe this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team has all the tools we need to succeed, we just need to put them to work,” Prock said. “I’m hoping we put on just as good of a show as we did in the spring. Can’t wait to get started.”

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CONCORD, NC – Entering as the points leaders by three, Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team will look to carry over the momentum and consistency they’ve built into this weekend’s betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Hight’s chances of building his points lead are favorable at zMAX Dragway. Hight has won at the facility a career-high seven times, four in the Carolina Nationals (2009, 2013, 2017, 2019), and three in the spring Four-Wide event. Despite his success at the Carolina Nationals, it is the only event in the series where he has not started race day from No. 1. He has started from No. 1 in the spring event three times, but his best starting position in the fall has been No. 2. After winning the Four-Wide in April this year, Hight will attempt to win both North Carolina races in the same season for the first time.

Hight earned his three-point lead in the standings with a victory at last weekend’s event at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania where he knocked off heavy hitters Matt Hagan and Ron Capps. In addition to a victory at the opening event of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship and the Four-Wide at zMAX in the spring, Hight also has a win at the Arizona Nationals and a runner-up finish at Brainerd International Raceway.

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CONCORD, NC – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS team are only 129 points out of the Funny Car points lead. With five races still left in the Countdown to the Championship, the gap could easily be closed with a solid weekend at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte.

Force will be competing on a track where he has had recent success, qualifying No. 1 in four of his last five starts including two straight No. 1s in the Carolina Nationals. In addition to his recent dominance in qualifying, he is the track record holder at 3.850 seconds (April 29, 2022) as well as the event record holder (3.854 on Sept. 23, 2022). Force won the Carolina Nationals in 2016 but he has won the companion event, the Four-Wide Nationals in the spring, three times (2010, 2021 and 2022). In 2022 at the Carolina Nationals, after qualifying No. 1, Force went on to a semifinal finish, losing to eventual race winner and reigning world champ Ron Capps.

“I love coming to Charlotte, zMAX Dragway, the Bellagio of drag strips. It’s Bruton Smith’s legacy. Now his son, Marcus, is carrying it over. It’s something else getting to race there,” Force said. “We’re in the Countdown now. One race down. This weekend will be important. We all know it and we’re ready. It will be exciting. Exciting for the racers, teams, and sponsors but exciting for the fans who get to see it all happen, too.”

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READING, PA – After rain delayed the completion of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway to Monday morning, Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team made the day count with their third win of the season, second consecutive at the facility and a jump into the points lead.

Hight and the Cornwell Tools Chevy had already gotten through Jim Campbell and Matt Hagan in the first two rounds of racing on Sunday. They came into the semifinals to face reigning world champion Ron Capps. The Cornwell Tools Camaro had a smooth ride down Maple Grove Raceway recording a 3.861-second pass at 330.31 mph while Capps smoked the tires almost immediately to cross the finish line at 11.331 and only 59.00.

In Hight’s 100th career final round, he’d handle the Cornwell Tools Chevy to a 3.854-second pass at 330.39 mph to defeat Chad Green’s 3.928 at 327.27.

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READING, PA – After inclement weather-plagued race day Sunday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, racing was delayed to Monday morning. Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro SS team will continue their event defense when they face off with reigning world champion Ron Capps in the semifinals.

John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS and Brittany Force in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevy dragster had a quarterfinal finish and Austin Prock in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team had a first-round exit.

Coming in as the No. 2 qualifier, Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools Chevy continued to keep up their performance with the quickest pass of the round at 3.875 seconds and 331.20 mph to defeat Jim Campbell and his 6.603 at 98.93 after driving into tire smoke. In the second round, Hight had a monster matchup against Matt Hagan with huge points implications. Hight and the Cornwell Tools Chevy laid down a 3.852 pass at 327.66 to defeat Hagan’s 3.859 at 335.48 and move around him in the points standings. His win lines the Cornwell Tools team to take on Ron Capps in the semifinals.

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READING, PA – Brittany Force in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team locked into the No. 2 qualifying spot in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS secured the No. 3 spot while John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS went No. 7 and Austin Prock in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster went No. 8.

Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team didn’t miss a beat coming out in the first session of the day to run a clean 3.790-second pass at 330.39 mph. In the final session, Force laid down a 3.712 at 333.33. She locked in the No. 2 qualifying spot with her 3.689 pass from Friday evening. She’ll start her chase for a first win at Maple Grove Raceway with a matchup against first-time opponent Jacob Opatrny in the first round.

“Good two days of qualifying for the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team. We qualified in the number two spot and face Jacob Opatrny first round during Sunday’s eliminations,” Force said. “We really made use of every four of those qualifying runs. We got down the racetrack with solid passes and we were low in two of the four sessions. This car is running well. This team is ready for race day and ready for the rest of the Countdown.”

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