Courtney Force wins lottery drawing, advances to Traxxas Shootout

INDIANAPOLIS – Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force will defend her Traxxas Nitro Shootout title, as she won the lottery-style drawing on Wednesday at an NHRA press conference to earn the final spot in the special race.

Force, who beat John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight in the Traxxas Shootout, will be the No. 8 seed in the Shootout and will race No. 1 seed Ron Capps in the first round on Sunday.

“It’s definitely not going to be easy,” Force said. “Huge thanks to the fans. I wouldn’t be able to have this opportunity without them, their support and the votes they made. I really want to say thank you to them. I really appreciate it.

“I’m really excited for my Advance Auto Parts team. My crew chiefs keep texting me asking for the results, so I can’t wait to call them and let them know that we’ll be in it and we’ll be going for that Traxxas Shootout. Hopefully we can win it like we did last year.”

Force won the Traxxas Shootout fan vote, earning 50 percent of the votes cast on NHRA’s Facebook page. That earned her 50 balls for the lottery drawing, nearly twice as many as second-place Tim Wilkerson.

Force will race her Chevrolet Camaro in the Shootout first round at 12:45 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. The second round is slated for 2:45 p.m. and the final at 4:40 p.m.

First prize for the Traxxas Shootout is $100,000.

Force’s lottery win continues a stretch of good fortune for JFR, as a team driver has won the Shootout lottery six years in a row.

JFR History at Traxxas Shootout Lottery
2012: Courtney Force won Funny Car lottery
2013: Brittany Force won Top Fuel lottery
2014: Brittany Force won Top Fuel lottery
2015: Courtney Force won Funny Car lottery
2016: John Force won Funny Car lottery
2017: Courtney Force won Funny Car lottery