COURTNEY FORCE RACES TRAXXAS CHEVROLET TO NATIONAL SPEED RECORD

TOPEKA, KS – During the third qualifying session of the 27th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals Courtney Force drove her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car into the record books as the NHRA Funny Car national speed record holder with a run of 4.020 seconds at 325.06 mph. On Friday night Force ran 324.20 mph which was faster than the current national record set by her father, John Force, at 324.12 mph at the Winternationals in Pomona in 2014

“My dad was picking on me a little bit because I didn’t realize he held the old record. Our Traxxas team has been capable of running fast speeds since we ran 327 mph in Las Vegas but we weren’t able to back that speed up for the record. It is exciting to be able to set the record here in Topeka. I feel like I have had some pretty good luck at this track. We made another great memory here with that run,” said Force. “We were hoping to back up the 324 mph run and to be able to run faster and have that run back up a new record makes me proud of my whole team which is led by (crew chief) Ron Douglas. They give me a great race car and even though we didn’t have the quickest ET we are happy with the speed. Our real goal is to have a consistent race car this weekend.”

This is the first time a Chevrolet has ever held the official Funny record which will be certified at the conclusion of the event. This is the 14th time a JFR driver has set a national speed record in the Funny Car division and Courtney is the fifth different JFR driver to do so.

“Now that we are the national speed record holder that just gives us even more confidence to back up the names Traxxas as the fastest name in radio control and NHRA Funny Cars,” said Force, a seven-time NHRA Funny Car national event winner.

“Once you are going faster than three hundred miles per hour you just get into a zone and you can feel when the clutch engages and the car starts pulling you to the finish line. You can tell when your car is pulling hard and making a fast run but once you get past 320 mph the runs all feel the same. It is exciting for the fans to see speeds like that.”

John Force has set the speed record ten different times, the first time at Topeka on Oct. 2, 1994, the first time the record exceeded 300 mph (300.80 mph). Other JFR drivers who have held the national record for speed are Ashley Force Hood, Robert Hight and Gary Densham

This is the fourth time a JFR Funny Car has set the speed record in the 1,000 foot era. John Force still holds the national record for speed on the quarter mile course at 333.58, a mark he established on Oct. 3, 2004 at Joliet.