ENNIS, TX – In danger of going winless for just the second time in his last 37 seasons on the NHRA pro tour, John Force took a big step toward changing that dynamic on Saturday when he drove the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to a time of 3.823 seconds, the quickest of the final session and the quickest of his career.  As a result, he and his PEAK team will start Sunday’s 38th annual NHRA Texas Fall Nationals from the No. 2 qualifying position.

After a pair of runs that pushed the envelope, including the first run on Saturday, Robert Hight and the AAA Texas / Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS team rallied in the final session to qualify third, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team took the No. 4 spot in Top Fuel and Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team will start eighth.

For Force, Saturday night’s monster run lowered his average for four weekend qualifying runs to 3.860 seconds and sends him into Sunday eliminations against No. 15 qualifier Jeff Diehl against whom he is 10-0 in his career.

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ENNIS, TX – John Force laid down a pair of 3.80 second qualifying runs Friday at the Texas Motorplex, propelling his PEAK Coolant and Antifreeze Chevy Camaro SS team to the provisional No. 4 position after the first day of the 38th annual NHRA Texas Fall Nationals.  Robert Hight and the AAA Texas / Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro SS team held down the No. 5 spot.  In Top Fuel, Brittany Force was fifth in the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster and Austin Prock 13th in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster with two qualifying attempts left.

Force, a seven-time winner at the Motorplex, opened with a 3.887 at a finish line speed of 325.95 mph and followed Friday night with a 3.871-second run at 325.71 mph, earning qualifying bonus points on both runs.

“Daniel Hood and Tim Fabrisi, and the whole team did their job and I did my job,” Force said of the Friday effort.  “We just still got some things in the driver’s seat that I’ve gotta get straightened around and I’m working on it, but It was good to get up there to the top, not at the top, but at least pretty close to it.  I hope we can stay up there tomorrow because that will give us a good start to get up there and start winning some rounds. The Countdown is here and we gotta see where it goes.”

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ENNIS, TX – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS team will be hoping to build some momentum as they head into this weekend’s Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex. Sitting ninth in points, they are looking for their first win of the season to give them a necessary boost through the final three races of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series season.

Force, who will be making his 36th appearance at the Texas FallNationals, has nine No. 1 starts the most recent came in 2019. He has picked up victories at the fall race at the Texas Motorplex six times (1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005) along with six runner-up finishes (2013, 2010, 2001, 1997, 1995, 1992). In the four years the track held a spring event, Force had one No. 1 start and picked up a win in 2000.

“Everything is bigger in Texas, so they say. Makes sense they have this Stampeded of Speed. I know fans have been out enjoying all the activities, gearing up for the race this weekend,” Force said. “Hopefully we can put on a good show for them. I know we need to. This PEAK team has been struggling, but we’re still competitive, still getting down the track, we can still win rounds and qualify well. It will come together. Three races left, still a lot of racing and a lot can happen.”

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ENNIS, TX – Robert Hight and the AAA Texas / Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS team sit only six points behind the lead as they head into the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, the third to last event of the 2023 season.

Vying for their fourth Funny Car world championship, a feat only achieved by three other drivers including John Force, Kenny Bernstein and Don Prudhomme, Hight started the Countdown to the Championship sitting third but after victory at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania, and a runner-up up finish at the Carolina Nationals in Charlotte, the AAA Chevy team have tasted the points lead and are looking to win it back with a strong showing in Texas.

“This Funny Car field is so competitive. These top cars, all of them are championship caliber. It’s really going to take the right combination of driver, crew chiefs, crews and a little luck to get the job done,” Hight said. “This AAA Chevy has been coming around and at just the right time. I’m really proud of what Jimmy and Thomas Prock and Nate Hildahl have been able to do, the whole team has been working really ahhardrd, we all had confidence that we’d be right in the championship hunt. This weekend in Texas will be important. It’s a great event with the Stampede of Speed all week long. But it’s all about getting those cowboy hats at the end of it all on Sunday.”

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ENNIS, TX – Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex sitting 10th in the NHRA Camping World points standings. With only three events left in the season, they’ll be looking for a jump in performance to finish 2023 on a good note.

The Texas FallNationals is one of two events in which Prock has qualified No. 1, the other being in Sonoma, California this year. Last year, Prock rode that No. 1 start into the final round for a runner-up finish that contributed to his 10-position jump in the Countdown to the Championship. He started the 2022 Countdown sitting 13th before finishing third.

“This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team had a successful event in Dallas last year and we are hoping for that again. This is a big one, everyone wants to leave with a truck full of cowboy hats,” Prock said. “We tested last week to get dialed in to go for a strong last three-race stretch. We made three nice passes, progressively getting quicker. I feel very confident heading to Dallas. The conditions should be similar to the test session so I’m hoping to drop the door strong. We may be out of the championship hunt but we’re not out of the Wally hunt.”

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ENNIS, TX – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex sitting within striking distance at seventh in the points standings, just 138 points back from the lead with three events left in the season.

Force and her Flav-R-Pac team are still looking for their first win of the season, but they have picked up four No. 1 qualifying positions and made four semifinal appearances while also picking up a runner-up finish in Topeka, Kansas. A solid weekend at Texas Motorplex just outside of Dallas would put the Flav-R-Pac team back in the thick of a heated points battle.

“We head to the Stampede of Speed next in Ennis, Texas and this entire Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is excited to get there. It’s a fun event; it’s filled from the start of the week to the end of the weekend with a fanfest, fifteen thousand dollars is on the line for being low of Friday and then raceday on Sunday,” Force said. “We are looking forward to getting this team back out there, making some good runs, chasing down some money, making up some ground to move up in the standings and having some fun while we’re doing it.”

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MADISON, IL – Robert Hight and the AAA Missouri / Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS team leave the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway No. 2 in points with a quarterfinal exit on Sunday. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS also had a second-round finish while Brittany Force in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragster and Austin Prock in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster had first-round exits.

Robert Hight and the AAA Missouri team put their difficult qualifying behind them when they came out for round one of race day. Lined up against longtime rival Cruz Pedregon, Hight and the AAA Chevy blasted to a 3.940-second pass at 314.85 mph to be the quickest of the session and beat Pedregon’s 4.024 at 320.36. The win set Hight up with a quarterfinal race against championship contender Bob Tasca III. Hight would have the better elapsed time at 3.977 seconds and 317.49 mph, but coupled with his .077 second reaction time, the AAA team would endure a holeshot loss against Tasca’s .018 reaction time and 4.008 pass at 323.74.

“The whole team did their job to get us through qualifying and that first round. This AAA of Missouri team is clicking. We put qualifying behind us and had a great start to race day. Being the eighth pair down the track, it was getting warmer, the track was getting worse. So, hats off to Jimmy and Thomas Prock and Nate Hildahl and the whole team for getting low ET of the first round. We’ve got some work to do heading into the last three races of the season but we’re still in it. We’re right there.”

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MADISON, IL – Points leaders Robert Hight and the AAA / Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS team battled through qualifying at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway to ultimately jump from No. 18 to No. 8 on Saturday. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS are in the No. 4 spot while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team are No. 10 and Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team are No. 11.

Without a clean run on Friday night, Robert Hight and the AAA team struggled Saturday afternoon. Tire smoke early forced Hight to shut off the Chevy Camaro and coast to 5.851 seconds at 117.21 shifting down to the No. 18 spot. Entering the final session not yet qualified, Hight held on for a 3.953-second run at 323.89 mph that got the AAA team securely in the show at No. 8. The jump in performance puts Hight and the AAA Camaro up against Cruz Pedregon in the first round.

“You never want to be in that position, not being qualified with one run left. Especially in a fuel car, you never know what could happen. You could drop a cylinder, anything could happen. You have to believe in everybody, our crew chiefs, the crew guys, and me as the driver, and work together. We did that and we got AAA qualified,” Hight said. “That would have been a bummer for the points leader not to be in. I think the way it was set up, Jimmy had it so that it would go down a dirt road. I didn’t think it would be in the top half but all that matters is that we are racing tomorrow. It’s a new day, it’s race day and anything can happen.”

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MADISON, IL – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS team landed in the provisional No. 3 spot Friday night at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway. Robert Hight in the AAA / Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro SS sit No. 13 with Austin Prock in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster No. 14 and Brittany Force in the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac dragster is No. 16 with two qualifying attempts left.

John Force and the PEAK team came out of the box with a solid first pass at World Wide Technology Raceway. Force handled his Chevy Camaro to a 3.914-second run at 325.06 mph but ended the run with an engine fire at the top end.  to land him in the No. 3 spot for the night.

“We’re two races into the Countdown so if we’re going to make that move we got to make that move now, you know what I’m saying? Crew chiefs Daniel Hood and Tim Fabrisi made a good run out there because they knew we needed to qualify and they knew tomorrow was going to be hot. We wanted into the top half and that time should stay based on the weather tomorrow,” Force said. “It was fast, it got a little fire at the other end. Nothing serious, just a spark plug. In the dark, it looks more serious than it really is. It was a good night for this PEAK Chevy team. We’re ok to get ready for tomorrow and race day.”

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MADISON, IL – Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway sitting sixth in the championship points standings and are determined to make a splash through the last four races of the season.

While Force and her Monster Energy team are still looking for their first win of the season, they have been on a hot streak qualifying in the top five for the last four consecutive races. While they’ve been consistent through qualifying, they haven’t been able to translate that performance to race day. In the first two races of the Countdown, they’ve had second-round exits.

“The Midwest Nationals is race three of six in this Countdown. It’s easy to stay motivated when you’re coming right out of one event into another. We competed in Reading, Pennsylvania then Charlotte and now St. Louis for three back-to-back races. This Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team enters this event sitting sixth and we still have complete confidence we can make some big moves to get us closer to the top,” Force said. “Our qualifying has improved the last several weekends, we’ve been more consistent and earning bonus points to put us higher in the field. With three attempts this weekend, we want to take full avenge of those small points with some solid runs to put us at least in the top five. We need to go rounds on race day, we set the track record speed last year, but this year, we need to bring home a St. Louis win.”

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