BRISTOL, Tenn. – It is somewhat ironic that Superman returns to movie theaters this Friday, the same day that John Force returns to Bristol Dragway, the stage on which his 1999 portrayal of the Man of Steel elevated him to a status beyond that of mere mortal.

Driving a Superman-themed Castrol GTX Ford Funny Car and outfitted in a special blue-and-red firesuit emblazoned with the iconic “S” logo, Force dispatched five Top Fuel dragsters en route to a Winston Showdown victory that delivered the biggest single event payoff in NHRA history, a whopping $210,000.

Now, 14 years later, drag racing’s biggest winner hopes to mirror Superman’s latest comeback with one of his own in the 13^th renewal of the Ford Thunder Valley Nationals presented by the Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers.

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BRISTOL, TN – This Father’s Day weekend Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang will be looking for their second win at the historic Bristol Dragway. Last year Hight was the No. 9 qualifier and fell to Johnny Gray in the opening round. It was a tough race day for John Force Racing as all the teams lost in the first round including No. 2 qualifier Mike Neff and No. 5 qualifier John Force.

“The good news is last year was last year. You put that race behind you and focus on the next race. We are starting a stretch of four races in four weekends and you want to get some positive momentum early. I love Bristol Dragway and racing on Father’s Day is always kind of special. There will be a lot of families at the track all weekend,” said Hight.

Prior to last year’s race three of the previous four Ford Thunder Valley Nationals featured John Force Racing Funny Cars in the finals with Hight winning in 2011 and John Force taking title in 2010.

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BRISTOL, TN – Courtney Force, driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car is anticipating an exciting weekend coming up, kicking off Father’s Day with the 13th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers at Bristol Dragway. The tenth race on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series has the 2012 Automobile Club Road to the Future Award winner ready to get back on track.

“We had a weekend off in between races, but I’m ready to get back in the seat of my Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car this weekend in Bristol,” said Force, currently sitting No. 7 in the NHRA Mello Yello point standings.

“Our team is excited to get back on the road and start this three-race streak which will help us get a good rhythm down for the next month,” said Force.

Last year, she qualified in the No. 13 spot and suffered a first round loss on Sunday to driver Ron Capps.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – John Force nearly missed his warm-up today to start the 44th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals. His rental car had a dead battery but thanks to a chance encounter and some help from the Harley-Davidson Pro Stock Motorcycle technology team he was able to get to the track just in time to warm the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and get a first round win over teammate Robert Hight.

“We were lucky they have the morning curfew and we can’t start the race cars until 10 a.m. or I would have missed my warm-up. I made it just in time and I have to thank those guys from Harley-Davidson,” said Force.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – For the second year in a row Castrol GTX crew chief Mike Neff hosted seventeen underprivileged youth from the Metro World Child (www.metroworldchild.org) organization in New York City at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals on Saturday. Last year when Neff was driving and tuning the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang he was overwhelmed by the impact a simple day at the race track had on the kids and was eager to try and duplicate the effects this season.

In addition to Neff’s efforts thanks to Castrol and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park management the kids received complimentary tickets, suite passes, lunch and goodie bags. The group also met the four John Force Racing drivers before the first round of qualifying today and then between rounds they were able to meet Top Fuel world champions Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown from Don Schumacher Racing as well as Funny Car champion Jack Beckman and Ron Capps.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – As qualifying came to a close on Saturday at the 44th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals John Force Racing was trying to avoid a head to head team match-up in the first round. Unfortunately while the Funny Car teams improved their performance they did not create enough separation to avoid a John Force, No. 10, versus Robert Hight, No. 7, first round battle. One the other side of the ladder Courtney Force will have to race one of the hottest teams in Funny Car Johnny Gray if she hopes to win her first race at Raceway Park on Sunday. In Top Fuel Brittany Force bounced back from a tough Friday recording two solid runs and qualifying in the No. 13 spot.

The Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster was one of the quickest dragsters under the toughest conditions today posting a 3.921 second time in the opening session today to solidly get into the show. The Dean Antonelli and Eric Lane tuned dragster stepped up in the final session and ran 3.908 at 315.78 mph.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Friday at the 44^th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals was a mixed bag for John Force Racing as Courtney Force was the quickest Funny Car of the first session and then had a blower drive shaft on her Traxxas Ford Mustang break before she had a chance to run in the second session. John Force improved in the second session but Robert Hight and Brittany Force will have to race into the show on Saturday in their respective classes.

In the first session Courtney Force went to the top of the Funny Car field with a 4.130 second run at 306.05 mph and picked up three bonus points.

“We had a great first pass. We picked up three bonus points on just that run for being quickest. Our Traxxas Ford Mustang went down and ran a 4.13, which is a good run right out of the box,” said Force.

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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – It’s been 14 years since John Force last won a race at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.  That’s the longest the Hall of Fame Funny Car driver has gone without a victory at any track in the NHRA Mello Yello Series.

The fact is, he hasn’t even reached the final round since 2004 and is only 8-8 in his last eight appearances in the Toyota Summernationals, contested this week for the 44^th time.

Nevertheless, it would be ludicrous to discount the sport’s biggest winner from the title conversation when the world’s top drag racing professionals once again convene for the Northeast’s biggest event.

At an age when other 60-somethings are content to spend their weekends astride nothing more powerful than the riding mower, Force will climb back into the cockpit of a 10,000 horsepower Castrol GTX Ford Mustang with a better-than-average shot at ending his recent malaise on one of the tracks on which he got his start.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team have started the 2013 Mello Yello season the same way they started the 2009 season. They are winless through the first eight races but have shown signs as of success as of late. Luckily for Hight and his team 2009 turned out alright considering they hoisted the Funny Car World Championship trophy in Pomona. This weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park’s historic Toyota Summernationals Hight is looking to get his first win of 2013 and his first win at the storied East Coast racing facility.

“Englishtown is a major race just like a major event in golf. You want to win at Pomona, Gainesville, Indy and Englishtown. This place has seen some of the most famous drivers and some of the greatest racing. John (Force) used to match race here on Wednesday night and they would have all sorts of crazy things going on but it all came back to the racing. I want to get a win here and we were close last year,” said Hight.

While Hight has not been getting a lot of win lights at the start of the season that turned around in Topeka where he was the No. 3 qualifier and raced to his first final round of the season. Unfortunately for the first time in four final round meetings with veteran racer Johnny Gray Hight came up just a little short losing the final. Hight now holds a 3-1 final round record to Gray.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – 2012 Rookie of the Year, Courtney Force, will travel to Englishtown this week for the 9^th event on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series tour.  Old Bridge Township Raceway Park will host the 44th running of the Toyota NHRA Summernationals from May 30-June 2.

“I’ve had a pretty exciting week since our last NHRA race in Topeka, Kansas. My family and I flew home as quickly as possible to see my sister, Ashley, and her husband Danny, and to welcome my new nephew, Noah William Hood, to the family. I was in Michigan at Ford World Headquarters for a couple days and then drove to Indy for some of the Indy 500 festivities. I’m just ready to get back to racing this weekend in Englishtown,” said Force.

In 2012, Force qualified in the No. 13 spot, but went on to beat fellow Ford driver Tim Wilkerson and past champion Matt Hagan before losing to Ron Capps in the semi-final round. Force ran a 4.110 to Capps’ 4.079.

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