SONOMA, CA -John Force was racing for his 8th win at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals today against veteran Ron Capps. It was Force’s fourth final round in the last six races this season and even though he came up on the wrong side of the ET slip the 15-time Funny Car champion was not hanging his head.

“I have no complaints. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock brought this Prock Rocket back. I wasn’t where I should have been today on the tree. I thought I could get there. We’ll go to Seattle. I’ll work that gym harder and get up again. Ron Capps is a good driver but I had the best race car,” said Force after the final round.

Force has seven wins at Sonoma Raceway and this was his twelfth final round at the Northern California race track. His career record versus Capps stands at 44-26 and his final round record is 8-7 now.

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SONOMA, CA – It was a strong showing by John Force Racing today at Sonoma Raceway. Team leader and seven-time NHRA Sonoma Nationals winner John Force led the team as the No. 4 qualifier and showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with on race day. His Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car was the quickest Funny Car of both sessions today earning six valuable qualifying bonus points.

 “We got a good ole hot rod, The Prock Rocket! Sometimes change is good. Mike Neff is doing great, ran 4.07 and Courtney ran 4.07, but they had a problem there in the final run. I’m going to go find out what happened. I ran for a couple of sessions, but tomorrow’s race day. I ran 4.06 today and an 4.02 last night. My biggest highlight is my daughter Brittany (Force) in that dragster. Pulling it out right there at the end in the Castrol EDGE dragster and making the show. I’m so excited about that,” said Force.

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SONOMA, CA – John Force and the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang team led the way for Team JFR posting the 4th quickest elapsed time at the 26th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Force piloted his Jimmy Prock tuned Funny Car to a blistering time of 4.025 seconds at 316.60 mph. Matt Hagan is the provisional No. 1 qualifier with a track record 3.986 second elapsed time.

This was the second race for Force to drive with his new crew chief and the 15-time Funny Car champion continues to be positive about his decision to shake up his teams. Prior to the Mile High Nationals in Denver last week Force announced he would be driving for world champion crew chief Jimmy Prock and teammate Robert Hight would switch to running a Mike Neff tuned Funny Car.

“Well our cars are up there in the top half. It’s too early to tell what it shows. The dragster was trying too hard, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” said Force.

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SONOMA, CA – John Force doesn’t really understand all the fuss over daughter Courtney’s photo spread in ESPN The Magazine’s latest “Body Issue.”  After all, the 25-year-old wasn’t the first Force family member to pose sans seven layer Simpson firesuit.

Force himself did so in 2011, posing in the altogether for a sidebar entitled “The Body You Don’t Want” that focused on the numerous injuries suffered by the 15-time NHRA champion in a horrific 2007 crash at an NHRA event in Texas that led to the first complete re-design of the Funny Car chassis in 25 years.

Fortunately for the elder Force, the championship at this week’s 26^th annual Sonoma Nationals won’t be decided by either the application of the universal body fat index, which would certainly favor Courtney and others, nor by an arbitrary “hotness” factor which, again, would leave him lacking.

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SONOMA, CA – The 26^th annual Sonoma NHRA Nationals at Sonoma Raceway hold a special place in many racers and fans memories. For Robert Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang team their pinnacle of success in the Wine Country was winning the event in 2008 a year after they lost teammate Eric Medlen in a testing accident the previous season. Medlen was the defending Sonoma National champion and Hight picked up the win to keep the John Force Racing win streak going. The next year John Force took home the Wally.

As the teams reach the midpoint of the Western Swing Hight has his sights on another Sonoma NHRA Nationals win and he has a new team to possibly take him to the top. Paired with two-time world championship crew chief Mike Neff for the rest of the season Hight is fired up to bring high performance to Sonoma Raceway.

“We really ran well in Denver and that is tough to do on the mountain top. We were the quickest of two of the four qualifying sessions and we almost made it to the finals. We are battling at the bottom of the top ten and we want to be solidly in the top ten leaving Sonoma. We think that is a realistic goal,” said Hight, finalist earlier this season in Topeka.

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SONOMA, CA – Road to the Future candidate Brittany Force looks to continue riding that momentum from Denver as she travels to Sonoma Raceway for the second race of the Western Swing on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit.

The Castrol EDGE top fuel pilot is coming off her best race of the season, qualifying third for the national event as well as earning her fifth career round win against fellow competitor Scott Palmer. In the process, Force debuted a brand new, lighter dragster with several changes. Despite the changes, she feels they contributed to the team’s success.

“I’m glad we had that first run in Denver to adjust to the new car without the canopy,” Force said. “We only took it to half-track on the first run, but it was something I needed as a driver. Now after making some passes in it, I feel good about it.”

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SONOMA, CA – Sophomore sensation, Courtney Force, has a long couple of week ahead of her, competing to get every point possible to move up the Funny Car ladder and stay in the top 10. Force will take a shot this week at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals and try to improve on her current No. 7 standing.

Force has racked up three wins and four finals in her short, two-year Funny Car career. So far in 2013, Force has an average qualifying position of No. 5, and has qualified in the top half of the field eight times.

Last year at Sonoma Raceway, Force qualified in the top half of the field, but fell victim in an upset against Matt Hagan in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

“I’m excited going into Sonoma. It’s one of my favorite race tracks to run on. I’ve raced here in super comp and A-fuel dragster. Last year, we qualified in the No. 5 spot. We had a great car, we just had a tough upset first round against Hagan and got that win take from us. We’re hoping to come back here and repeat how we ran and just hopefully go more rounds,” said Force.

The 25-year old and her 27-year-old sister, Brittany Force, will have plenty of chances to tell their story this week. The pair will star in the NHRA Sonoma press conference on Wednesday in advance of the race, with a visit to Comcast Sports Net to follow.

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Morrison, CO – Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car team came to Bandimere Speedway looking to make a move up the Mello Yello point standings. They dominated qualifying and raced to the semi-finals but despite their best efforts his new team led by crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer will head to Sonoma, the second stop on the Western Swing, in the same position they came into Denver. Hight lost a close race to fellow Ford driver Bob Tasca III in the semi-finals.

“Unfortunately we didn’t make up any ground this weekend. The good news is we didn’t lose any ground either. We are only one round out of the Top Ten. I am not trying to get the 10th spot. We are aiming to get solidly in the Top Ten in the next couple of races,” said Hight a two-time Mopar Mile High Nationals winner. “Neff gives you confidence. We ran great in qualifying and in the semis we just dropped a cylinder. I am excited to be over here and I am excited John (Force) is with Jimmy (Prock).”

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Morrison, CO – At the end of the day on Saturday Brittany Force solidified her qualifying position at the Mopar Mile High NHRA Nationals by re-taking her No. 3 qualifying position with a 3.918 second pass at 309.63 mph. The rookie driver had slipped to No. 4 after Steve Torrence jumped to the top spot with a blistering 3.880 second run. Force moved around Khalid alBalooshi and the Al-Anabi dragster, the most recent winner, to reclaim the No. 3 spot in Top Fuel and a first round match-up with journeyman Scott Palmer.

“The first qualifying pass we smoked the tires at about half-track, so I lifted and just coasted on down the track,” Force said. “The final session we made it all the way down the track and improved from our run yesterday. We ended up running a 3.91, so we earned another bonus point. That ended up bumping us up from the No. 4 position to the No. 3 position. The team is so pumped right now. They’re so excited about it. This is exactly where we needed to be. We have (Richard) Hogan who came on board to help out my crew chiefs Dean Antonelli and Eric Lane, we got a new hot rod that is 100 pounds lighter and it’s definitely showing that it’s going to run.”

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Morrison, CO – Rookie of the Year candidate Brittany Force finished her first day on the mountain at Bandimere Speedway with a solid 3.926 second run which was good enough to hold down the No. 3 qualifying spot heading into Saturday. The Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster’s previous best qualifying effort was No. 8 in Bristol. The crew chief trio of Dean Antonelli, Eric Lane and Richard Hogan gave the young driver a great tune-up in a brand new Hadman dragster today.

In the first session Force only took the dragster to half-track but the early numbers were quick enough to put her in the top half of the field. She stepped up her performance in the second session has the Automobile Club Road to the Future contender excited about the prospect of success at Bandimere Speedway.

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