BRAINERD, MN – On a day when the winner’s circle eluded John Force Racing the team kept their eyes on the bigger prize as John Force and Courtney Force both clinched their berths in the 2013 Countdown to the Championship. By virtue of their first round wins and a first round loss by Del Worsham the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and the Traxxas Ford Mustang will be running for the championship over the last six races of the season.

John Force made the quickest run of the weekend in his first round win over Alexis DeJoria powering his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car to the stripe with an elapsed time of 4.027 seconds at a track speed record 319.45 mph.

In the second round the eleven-time Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals winner made a superior run against veteran driver Johnny Gray but at the finish line it was Gray taking the win light thanks to a minute starting line advantage. Force’s 4.061 second run was the second quickest of the second round and showed that he has a race car that can contend for the Mello Yello Funny Car championship.

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BRAINERD, MN – John Force showed today why Brainerd International Raceway is one of his favorite tracks moving up to the No. 3 qualifying position and putting the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car in position to win the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals for the unprecedented twelfth time. Force blasted down the track in the first session today with a time of 4.050 seconds and was just a shade slower than eventual No. 1 qualifier Jack Beckman (4.038 seconds).

Force races second year driver Alexis DeJoria in the first round tomorrow. Last year Force met DeJoria in the first round and advanced to the second round after a bizarre turn of events. Force red-lit but DeJoria smoked the tires. The rookie driver did not realize that Force had been disqualified, pedaled her Tequila Patron Funny Car and it crossed the center line. Under the NHRA’s “First or Worst” rule Force was reinstated in the race and ultimately advanced to the final round.

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BRAINERD, MN – With only two races before the Countdown to the Championship every pass down the track is important. Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team made the most of their efforts today posting the second quickest elapsed time of the Funny Car class to take the No. 2 provisional spot. Hight’s Mike Neff tuned Funny Car covered the 1000 ft race track in 4.054 seconds at 312.64 mph and earned two qualifying bonus points in the process.

“Given that we messed up the first run, we played it safe, which luckily safe turned out to be No. 2. This just shows that my guys have a great handle on this thing; to just go up there and run a 4.05 that easy,” said Hight. “We were trying to run a lot harder on that first run. If you look at the computer, it was going to try to run a 4.07 if it would have made it. We’re being aggressive, we’re counting every point and I think going to Norwalk helped because that was just two more runs we made before we came here. That gives us more experience and data. We made up points today on everybody that we’re fighting for the Top 10. It’s all good stuff.”

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YORBA LINDA, CA – Three John Force Racing drivers will be getting the race weekend started with a high horsepower appearance at Mills Ford (14858 Dellwood Drive,  Baxter, MN 56425) on Friday, August 16^th. John, Brittany and Courtney Force will be signing autographs and talking with fans from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Heading into the Lucas Oil Nationals all three Ford Mustang Funny Cars are sitting in the Top Ten with two races to go before the Countdown to the Championship. Last year John Force raced to the final round at Brainerd International Raceway. Fan will also get their first look at the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster piloted by rookie sensation Brittany Force this weekend.

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KENT, WA —- On the anniversary of Courtney Force’s first NHRA Funny Car win at the NHRA O’Reilly Northwest Nationals, the Traxxas Ford Mustang team came up short, but showed progress in the NHRA Funny Car point standings by moving around Jack Beckman to claim the No. 6 spot in the Mello Yello point standings.

“It’s great to be back here in Seattle where I picked up my first win last season in my Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car. We got qualified on the last shot which was a little too close for comfort. It was stressful on all of us,” said Force.

Force took on fellow female competitor Alexis DeJoria in the opening round. The 25-year-old former cheerleader posted a 4.086 to DeJoria’s 4.161 ET. This was their 6th meeting in eliminations and Force is now 5-1 to DeJoria.

“We had a great car today on race day and we were able to get that first round win over Alexis. She’s a good friend of mine, but we are both competitive out here, being the only females in the Funny Car category. We both want to win,” said Force.

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KENT, WA  – Tomorrow’s elimination rounds of the 26th annual NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals will be a critical day for Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car. The four drivers that are battling for the last few spots in the Mello Yello point standings are all on the same side of the elimination ladder. Del Worsham, Tim Wilkerson, Hight and Bob Tasca III sit 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th separated by 24 points which is just four points over one round of racing. Hight could face Wilkerson and Worsham would race Tasca in the second round.

As the No. 2 qualifier Hight will be looking to move up solidly into the Top Ten but first he has to outrun rookie John Hale of Addison, Texas. Hight posted his best qualifying run in the first of the only two sessions, covering the 1000 foot racing surface in 4.056 seconds tying his track elapsed time record. Jack Beckman took the top qualifying spot and track record elapsed time a few minutes later when he crossed the finish line in 4.049 seconds at 303.64 mph. Beckman will race teammate Johnny Gray in the first round tomorrow.

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SEATTLE, WA – John Force hasn’t stayed on top of his game the last quarter century by being unwilling to change.

However, the 15-time champion’s most recent moves were extreme, even by his standards, and yet, entering this week’s 26^th annual O’Reilly Northwest Nationals, Force once more is beginning to look like a chess master after swapping crew chiefs, crews and race cars with teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight.

“Sometimes, you just have to shake things up,” explained the Hall of Fame inductee (Motorsports Hall of Fame of American in 2008 and International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2012).  “You gotta get the right people in the right place.”

As a result, Mike Neff, who won the NHRA championship with Force in 2010 and started the season with the 135-time tour winner, now is making the performance decisions for Hight on the Auto Club Ford.

Conversely, Jimmy Prock, who took Hight to the championship in 2009, now is turning the wrenches for Force on the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.

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SEATTLE, WA – Robert Hight was cruising to his third semi-final appearance of the season in the second round when a fire-bottle deployed and his Auto Club Ford Mustang hazed the tires. As Hight slowed down Alexis DeJoria sped past the 2009 Funny Car champion and into a semi-final match-up with John Force.

“That was a tough loss for sure. Miek Neff had this Auto Club Ford Mustang flying. We ran 4.01 in the first round and I didn’t think there was anything that could have stopped us from getting our first win of the season. It was just a fluke deal with the fire bottle and honestly if something like that has to happen I would rather it happen now instead of the Countdown,” said Hight.

With Hight’s first round win over Bob Tasca III Hight moved back into the Top Ten heading into the O’Reilly Northwest NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceway. Hight and Tasca have been trading the tenth and eleventh spot in the Mello Yello point standings for over a month. Neither driver has been able to pull away and solidify a Top Ten position in the points. The 8^th through 11^th spot in the points are separated by twenty-five points which is barely over a round of racing.

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KENT, WA– One last event stands between Courtney Force and the completion of the “Western Swing.” The 26th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals will run Aug. 2-4 at Pacific Raceways, the site of her first NHRA national event win in the Funny Car category.

“Seattle is one of my favorite race tracks on the circuit. I’m really looking forward to racing at Pacific Raceways this year,” said Force. “I’ve won there twice. It was my first win in Top Alcohol Dragster and my first win in Funny Car just last season. I’m excited to get back there this week. Hopefully we can have our Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car going rounds.

Last weekend in Sonoma, Force took out Cruz Pedregon before getting a holeshot win over Jack Beckman and driving her car to the semi-final round, where her Traxxas Ford Mustang had a fuel system malfunction and blew the burst panel off.

“Sonoma was pretty good to us, and we just had a tough break there at the end of the race weekend. We’re finishing up the Western Swing. We moved up a little bit back in Sonoma so hopefully we’ll have just as good luck as we had last year at Pacific Raceways. I am confident in my team and car for this weekend in Seattle. This is my lucky track, so we’re going to go there, do our jobs and hopefully pick up our third win on the season,” said Force.

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SEATTLE, WA – The final race on the Western Swing is fast approaching and John Force Racing, is hungry to get a win Seattle at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals. For Top Fuel rookie Brittany Force and her entire Castrol EDGE team, the motivation and persistency keeps them pushing harder to claim their first win.

Force, the second youngest daughter of 15-time Funny Car champion John Force, has proven herself thus far in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. With strong, consistent runs and amazing comebacks in qualifying, it’s that kind of hard work that leads to wins.

One of those amazing comebacks came last week in Sonoma, California, when after three qualifying sessions, Force was not in the show. However, crew chiefs Dean Antonelli and Eric Lane, along with Richard Hogan and her entire team tuned the Castrol EDGE just right and was able to pull off a great run to qualify for the event.

“It’s always stressful when you have to get in on your last qualifying pass,” Force said. “I have a great team behind me and great crew chiefs, so I was confident that they put together a good car and that we were going to get down there.”

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