JFR HAS BEST QUALIFYING EFFORT OF 2013 AT AAA INSURANCE MIDWEST NATS

Madison, IL – The 2013 season has had its ups and downs for John Force Racing but this weekend at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals the on-track performance was the best of the year with the three Funny Car qualifying in the top four and the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster qualifying No. 5 going into eliminations. Led by AAA Insurance backed Robert Hight in the No. 2 spot followed by John Force and Courtney Force the three JFR Ford Mustang Funny Cars were some of the most consistent and dominant this weekend.

On Saturday the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang driven by John Force was the quickest of the first session and second quickest of the last session of the day. In the first session Force blasted to the best of session elapsed time of 4.063 seconds as the sun beat down on the Gateway Motorsports Park track. As the conditions improved and cloud cover rolled in Force’s crew chief Jimmy Prock stepped up the tune-up and saw an immediate improvement in performance with a 4.047 second run.

“Having confidence is what it is all about. The crew chiefs get on a roll winning rounds like we did in Dallas. You build confidence as a team and in myself. Jimmy is doing good and you look at all the crew chiefs Jimmy, Mike Neff and Ron Douglas. We have three good Funny Cars that can do some damage out there,” said Force. “If we get one car in the lead then the other cars can take out hitters along the way. I feel good about my race car and I feel good about my driving. I feel good that I have gotten away from all the business and I am back focused on winning. I am glad to see the Castrol EDGE continuing to run good. We have all our race cars in the top half with lane choice and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

While Force was consistently going down the track the AAA Insurance team was working with the crew chief brain-trust to see how hard the track could be pressed for a solid tune-up. Robert Hight and his crew chief made the second quickest run on Friday night and settled in on Saturday to find boundaries for all three JFR Funny Cars.

“I feel good about tomorrow. Conditions should be similar to today and we will press it as hard as we need to. Robert is doing a great job driving and we will give him the best car we can. These guys have been working hard for three weeks and we have a win and a semi-final finish,” said Mike Neff, AAA crew chief.

In 2010 Robert Hight took the win at his sponsor’s race and tomorrow he is looking for a repeat performance. He as qualified well at Gateway Motorsports Park and tomorrow he will be looking to get another win at the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals.

“I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have Jeff Arend in the first round and you know they will be tough. Jim Dunn will have a good tune-up that will go up and down the track so we will have to be ready. I have a lot of confidence in this AAA team and I am going to go get a good night sleep and be ready for a long day tomorrow hopefully,” said Hight. “We need to go rounds and hope that some of the guys in front of us go out early. This is a sponsor race for me so we want to get this AAA Ford Mustang in the winner’s circle tomorrow.”

Courtney Force qualified in the No. 4 spot today, making this the ninth race this year that the 25-year-old has had a top five starting spot on race day. The sophomore driver will go head-to-head against veteran Tony Pedregon to see who will drive their hot rod into round two.

Today alone, Force and the Traxxas Ford Mustang team picked up four points in qualifying. The first session brought a 4.077 second run at 314.31, Force’s best speed of the weekend. Her pass was third-quickest of the session, gaining the team one bonus point.

“We picked up a point in Q3, the first session today, when we ran a 4.077. That was good for us. Every little bit helps. My dad one-upped me and ran a 4.06, but our Ford are running good out here and that’s exciting. This track here at Gateway Motorsports Park has been good to us,” said Force.

In the last qualifying pass, Force wowed fans when she went low of the session with an impressive 4.037 and picked up three qualifying points. The 25-year-old also ran a career-best speed at 319.82 mph.

“The conditions were better, cooler, for the last qualifying shot and the track was right for us. We ran a 4.03 which moved us up into the No. 4 spot. It felt good. We picked up three points in that session, which was huge. Everything little point counts when you’re in the Countdown to the Championship, so I’m very excited and so proud of my team.

“We got a career-best speed tonight as well at over 319 mph. I’m feeling confident and I think we have a pretty good hotrod out here. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We’re definitely hoping to do some damage on race day and go some rounds because we need it,” I’m definitely looking forward to race day tomorrow,” said Force.

Both drivers, Force and Pedregon, have raced full seasons for the past two years, but have never found themselves in a meeting on race day.

“We’re matched up against Tony and I have never raced him in eliminations. I’ve been up there and watched him run, but it will be exciting to have a new competitor in the lane next to me to start the day. I think we have a competitive car and we’re just going to go out there and do the best we can,” said Force.

Castrol EDGE Top Fuel driver Brittany Force had a bit of a struggle in her final two qualifying attempts Saturday for the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

During her two final qualifying attempts, the 27-year-old Road to the Future Award candidate didn’t make it down the track as her dragster went up in tire smoke, forcing her to shut it off early. Although she didn’t make two full passes, she wound up fifth on the eliminations ladder going into Sunday after Friday night’s stellar run of 3.79 seconds at 308.92 mph. Force is confident in her driving abilities and her team that they can turn things around.

“Unfortunately, our car didn’t make it down the track like we wanted to today,” said Force. “We had a really good run last night. We ran a 3.79 and that was my best ET I’ve run all season, so we’re super excited about that. We know this car and this team is capable of running in the 3.70s, so we’re just hoping for the best tomorrow. Like I said, the final two qualifying runs didn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn it around.”

Force will face Brandon Bernstein in the opening round of eliminations. They have previously competed against one other in round one at the Winternationals in Pomona back in February.

“I’m excited to be running Brandon,” Force said. “I’ve known him forever. I grew up watching his dad (Kenny Bernstein) race. I raced Brandon at the very first race of the season in Pomona, so I’m excited to be running him again. He’s an awesome competitor and I can’t wait to get on the track with him. I’m feeling good about tomorrow. I have a great team behind me and I have a good race car. Each run I learn something new and we’re going to do what it takes to get the Castrol EDGE car down the track.”