Sixth No. 1 of 2017 has Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force pumped for Denver eliminations
Dear ol’ Dad in #2, Hight #3 in Funny Car, Brittany in at #6 in Top Fuel
DENVER – Courtney Force continues to pile up impressive numbers in qualifying on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag 
Racing Series tour.
And after grabbing her sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season, she’s more than ready to take the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS to the winner’s circle in the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Force qualified No. 1 in Denver for the second consecutive season, this time making a top pass of 3.889 seconds at 328.30 mph – setting both Bandimere track records in the process.
“It feels great being in the No. 1 qualifying spot for this entire Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro team,” Force said. “Due to all my guys, my crew chiefs Dan Hood, Ronnie Thompson, it’s pretty impressive what they can do up here for the Mile-High Nationals. It feels great to be in that top spot.
“I’m looking for a long race day (Sunday). That’s what we need, we need to pick up those points, we got to climb our way back up there. I think I’m feeling pretty good coming off of qualifying. I feel like we have made some pretty consistent runs, and we’re learning some things, for sure.”
Force now has 16 No. 1 qualifiers in her career, one more than her older sister, Ashley Force Hood. And she also has set five track elapsed-time records this season.
But Force is still looking for her first victory of 2017.
“I think we definitely learned something from today and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Force said. “It’s going to be a hot track all day long, so it will be interesting to see what we can do. It will be fun to see what kind of numbers people can lay down. I feel really good about where my team’s at and how we have been running. We will see what we can do.”
Force led a 1-2-3 qualifying sweep by John Force Racing, with dad John Force No. 2 and Robert Hight No. 3.
“I think it’s pretty amazing that dad and I are 1 and 2,” Courtney Force said. “I think it is really great for JFR. If you look at it last year, dad and I were in the final round. He took the win, and don’t think that’s not what I’m thinking about when we roll up for qualifying. I want to make sure he is not taking my top spot and that we hang on to it.”
Force will start eliminations against No. 16 qualifier Jim Campbell, who made a best pass of 5.316 seconds at 133.38 mph.
Final eliminations are slated for 11 a.m. Mountain, with Fox providing live coverage at 1 p.m. Mountain.
Brittany Force takes Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster to No. 6 for Mile-High Nationals
– Brittany Force took the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster to the No. 6 qualifying position for Sunday’s Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
And she’s hoping changes to her car and a new approach to the race weekend will put her in good position to win in the mountainous air in central Colorado.
Force’s best pass in four attempts came during the second qualifying session Friday evening, in which she ran 3.782 seconds at 318.84 mph. She recorded two other sub-four second runs, impressive at a track which sits more than a mile above sea level.
“Coming into the weekend, we’ve made a lot of changes, mostly to my seat and my view on things, and everything seems to be working,” Force said. “I’m putting my focus in different places than I used to, and really it’s about driving the car because you love it and staying positive.
“We’ve had a great weekend, ended up No. 6. I’m ready to take on the day, go some rounds, and end up in the winner’s circle.”
Force will face No. 11 Terry McMillen in the first-round of Sunday’s race. Force has already faced McMillen three times this season, winning each matchup.
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Mountain time, with television coverage on Fox beginning at 1 p.m. Mountain.
Defending Denver winner John Force brings fast PEAK Chevrolet to final eliminations
– Defending Mile-High Nationals winner John Force knows he has a fast PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Funny Car heading into Sunday’s final eliminations at Bandimere Speedway.
Force, who will start from the No. 2 spot, was in the midst of two good runs in qualifying Saturday, especially in the final session. And though his Chevrolet Camaro SS didn’t make full pulls, at least one was spectacular.
Force’s Camaro pulled a pretty substantial wheelstand at half-track during the fourth and final session, much to the delight of the Bandimere crowd – and to Force himself.
“Yeah, I’ve got a hot rod now,” Force said. “She wants to talk, she wants to take the power down the hill. I shortened the burnout, and I should’ve had plenty of fuel to bring the whole front end down, and it just got light out there. But, boy, it was truckin’, and I like that kind of race car. I knew it would be on fire, wheelstand or win, whatever comes first.”
The good news is Force won’t have to go to a backup PEAK Chevy, as the 16-time Funny Car champion was able to bring the car back to the ground relatively softly. It wasn’t quite like Cruz Pedregon’s fantastic wheelstand a year ago, but Force enjoyed it.
“I still haven’t got over Cruz’s wheelstand from a year ago – most awesome thing I have ever seen,” Force said. “It doesn’t look like it dented the car; it will be okay. I set her down soft. She came up, came back down and didn’t bounce on me.
“But that’s exciting, good for the fans, good for me. That won’t get your wins, but it shows that we got power. We’re fighting, right?”
Force’s best run in qualifying came in Friday’s first session, when he first reset the track record elapsed time – only to have daughter Courtney Force take it away one pair later. John Force remained No. 2 for the weekend with a pass of 3.899 seconds at 301.87 mph, second only to Courtney.
But both Forces want to be better on race day. John Force Racing went 1-2-3 in qualifying here, with Robert Hight No. 3, and the team has nine No. 1 qualifiers this season. But only John Force has won in Funny Car.
“We’re low ET almost every week,” Force said. “We’re low ET nine, 10, 11 races, but (someone else) is winning them all. We’ve got a problem. We’ve got to learn how to race on race day. Luckily, my car wasn’t hurt (in Q4), but she was trying to run another .80. It got up on me, but I’m going to be okay.”
Force will line up against Matt Hagan in the first round, after Hagan qualified No. 15 with a top pass of 4.942 seconds at 160.10 mph.
Final eliminations are slated for 11 a.m. Mountain, with Fox providing live coverage at 1 p.m. Mountain.
Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight earns No. 3 qualifying spot for Sunday’s Mile-High Nationals
– Robert Hight is ready to “get the monkey off my back.” And if his final qualifying performance for this weekend’s Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway carries over to race day, he stands a good chance to take the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS to the winner’s circle for the first time this season.
Hight’s best qualifying effort came in Saturday’s final round, when he took the car to down the track at 3.905 seconds at 318.17 mph. That netted him three bonus points, and put him back at No. 3, which he had earned Friday and maintained for much of Saturday before the final session. His previous best effort was Friday, with an opening-round pass of 3.973 seconds at 313.56 mph.
Hight said the bonus points were nice, but was happier that the car carried all eight cylinders from start to finish in the final round. He lost cylinders in the second and third qualifying rounds, and dropped a hole in a first-round loss earlier this month at Chicago.
The final-round qualifying effort also meant John Force Racing swept the top three qualifying positions for the second time this season and 19th time in team history.
“That’ll drive you crazy,” Hight said about losing cylinders. “(Crew chief) Jimmy Prock and these guys, they’ve been worried that if they get lean enough, once it goes, it’s going to hurt the engine or burn up. They’ve been picking at it, and they finally got it to run on eight cylinders. We ran right with our other teammates (No. 1 Courtney Force and No. 2 John Force) and that shows we’ve got a good combination.”
Hight has three victories at Bandimere Speedway – his rookie season in 2005, as well as 2010 and 2014. He has also won 11 of 12 first-round matchups at the track, and owns a 25-9 record at the mountainous setting. He’ll face No. 14 Todd Simpson, whom he has defeated twice in previous matchups – both at Denver and both in the first round.
“I’m ready for race day,” Hight said. “We’ve won here before, and we’re ready to put this thing in winner’s circle.”
Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Mountain time, with television coverage on Fox beginning at 1 p.m. Mountain.
