JOHN FORCE No. 3 HEADED INTO RACEDAY AT GATORNATIONALS

GAINESVILLE, FL – John Force will start the 46th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals from the No. 3 qualifying position behind the wheel of his BlueDef/Peak Anti-freeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car tomorrow at Auto-Plus Raceway. The winningest driver in NHRA history will race John Hale in the first round and Hale will officially become the 138th different opponent Force has raced in his 38 year long career. This will also be the 38th consecutive year Force has raced at least one new opponent.

Force clocked the second quickest run of the first session today 4.068 seconds at 315.19 mph running beside his long-time nemesis Cruz Pedregon. It was a great side by side race to close out a tough first session that saw more than its fair share of tire smoke as many of the team battled with a tricky track.

“We started all over again this season with these Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Cars. The biggest issue is we are in the heat now and we have to adapt to it. I ran 4.08, then 4.07 then 4.06 and on that last run we tried to push it harder. It was still hot and the track wouldn’t take it. I think we have a 4.06 car and who knows if we will need that to win a round tomorrow. It is probably going to take a couple of those to win the race. That is where we are focused,” said Force, a seven-time Gatornationals winner.

In the final session Force was once again paired with Pedregon and the Funny Cars both launched hard before smoking the tires. Force was not worried about the less than stellar run since he knew that his team was pushing an aggressive tune-up.

“Going back to testing I have been real impressed with my team and Jon Schaffer. We smoked the tires in Pomona and then Robert took us out in Phoenix. It is early in the season and I see progress. We know how to win and we will get there. My team is starting to make the call and they are getting faster.”

Courtney Force qualified in the No. 8 spot this weekend at the NHRA Gatornationals and will go into Sunday’s eliminations against Ron Capps. She put her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS in the top half of the field with a clean 4.104 second elapsed time at 312.13 mph on Friday. Force will have lane choice over Capps.

“We had a good race car today. We’re definitely looking forward to tomorrow. We were hoping to move up a few spots, but we’re lucky that we still ended up in the top half of the field. We’ll have lane choice over Capps tomorrow starting the race in the No. 8 spot with this Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car,” said Force.

The winningest female in Funny Car has raced Capps a total of fourteen times in her four-year professional Funny Car career. Force is 4-10 to the veteran driver in previous events. This will be the fifth time they have met in the opening round and the first time they have matched up this season, but only the second time they have raced each other at the Gatornationals. Their last meeting at the Gatornationals was the first time they ever squared off during eliminations and it was in 2012 during Force’s rookie season.

“Our incremental times look good so I’m excited. I’m having a tough time in the right lane so we’re glad to have lane choice tomorrow. We have a good car if we can just keep it consistent,” said Force.

In the final qualifying session the Auto Club Chevy Camaro SS hazed the tires before the halfway point but his early numbers were good with a quick of the session .893 60-foot time. Hight slowed to 4.336 seconds at 215.00 mph as he crossed the finish line stripe beside Tony Pedregon. Earlier in the day his Auto Club Chevy Funny Car smoked the tires early in their first run and posted an elapsed time of 6.928 seconds at 94.37 mph.

“That last run it almost made it. We are being methodical with this tune up and I am not worried going into tomorrow. (Crew Chief Mike) Neff can dial us back and we will be ready for the first round. We were trying to jump up in to the top half of the field but I think we can run with the cars in the top eight. The track was just a little tricky today. I am going to get some rest and be ready to my job tomorrow morning for this Auto Club Chevy team,” said Hight.

Hight will race veteran Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round and he holds a career record of 9-4 against Johnson.

The JFR Top Fuel dragster will start Sunday from the No. 7 spot and will race Top Fuel rookie Dave Connolly in the opening round. This will be the first meeting between Brittany Force and Connolly, the Pro Stock veteran turned Top Fuel pilot.

Brittany will have lane choice on the strength of her 3.817 second run at 318.09 mph from Friday. Today her JFR Top Fuel dragster made representative runs and the team feels good about going into race day looking for their first round in at the historic Gatornationals.

“It is definitely exciting to be qualified in the top half of the field for the Gatornationals. We are No. 7 which is the best we have qualified here. We’ll get lane choice tomorrow which is always nice. We made a couple good runs but we will definitely have to step it up tomorrow morning. The track got a little tricky with down time and the weather change,” said Force.

Force’s first run of the day was delayed for about forty five minutes after Larry Dixon’s Top Fuel dragster went out of control and crashed near the finish line. Dixon miraculously climbed out of his mangled race car under his own power. The wait affected all the teams as conditions changed and each driver had to re-focus on the task at hand.

“When you have to wait it is definitely hard. You get worked up and ready in the car. You are all suited up and strapped in and then you have to get out and refocus. That burst of energy you had you have to mentally gear up again. I am glad Larry is OK and we weren’t the only team affected,” said Force.