Courtney Force puts Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet in Charlotte’s provisional No. 1 spot

Courtney Force knows all too well that every point from now until the end of the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season is important.
That’s why the Advance Auto Parts driver was ecstatic after her second of two qualifying runs Friday for the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. After smoking the tires with a pass too strong in the first session, Force took her Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to the top of the charts in the second round – a pass of 3.891 seconds at 330.07 mph.
That marked the first of two runs all day for Funny Car competitors in the 3.8s, and put her No. 1 with three bonus points through the first of two days of qualifying. Two more sessions are scheduled at 1:30 and 4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, with eliminations rounds at noon Eastern on Sunday.
“I wasn’t too worried about things after that first run,” said Force, still looking for her first victory of 2017. “It’s always good to have such a good team behind you. They are so positive and motivated to get after the next run. Then in Q2, we had that run, and I feel like we had even more left than we showed on the track. I’m excited for tomorrow, and happy with the performance that we had.”
Force recorded the quickest time in qualifying for this spring’s Four-Wide Nationals at the track with a track record of 3.851 seconds. Conditions kept her and other competitors from challenging the record, but the most important thing for Force and nine other competitors is putting together a run capable of bonus points.
“It’s important to start the Countdown to the Championship off this way, raking in some of those points,” said Force, who entered the weekend sixth in points. “It’s just a few, but every point counts. This is also the home track for (primary sponsor) Advance Auto Parts (based in Raleigh). I was there yesterday at their headquarters meeting with CEO Tom Greco and their employees, and had the chance to pump them up for the race this weekend. It feels great to show them what we can do.”
Force’s teammates, Robert Hight and John Force, put together sub-four second runs in hot conditions. Hight, in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, was No. 6, his best pass of 3.911 seconds at 302.75 mph coming in the second round. John Force, in the PEAK Motor Oil & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, was No. 9, completing a pass of 3.976 seconds at 314.31 mph in the opening round.
Brittany Force, in the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster, sat No. 5 after two rounds of qualifying, her best pass of 3.749 seconds at 329.18 mph coming in the second session.
John Force Racing PR
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