Courtney Force continued her qualifying prowess at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, putting her Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS in the No. 2 spot for the NHRA Nationals.
Force has seven No. 1 qualifiers in 2017, second-most in Funny Car behind teammate Robert Hight. She has qualified in the top three 14 times in 23 races and in the top half of the field 22 times.
Force’s best pass was 3.878 seconds at 331.77 mph, run in Friday’s second qualifying session.
“We’re going into Vegas race day in the No. 2 spot from our 3.87 run, which gave us two bonus points for this Advance Auto Parts team,” Force said. “Great run by my guys. We were looking for a little more consistency going into race day, but we’re going to have to give it all we’ve got (Sunday). I know we’ve got a fast hot rod, so we’re going to have to stay positive.”
Force sits third in the Funny Car points standings – and she’d like to stay there.
“Those guys are creeping up behind me in the points, and we’ve got to stay ahead for when it counts, which is on race day and get those round points, because that’s going to be more important than the bonus points we got in qualifying,” Force said. “Going to have to stay ahead of these guys and make it a long race day for our team.”
Force starts race day against No. 15 qualifier Jeff Arend, whose best run was 4.075 seconds at 303.71 mph. She races with a pink paint scheme supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Young Survival Coalition for the final time on Sunday.
“This is the final race we’ll be running in our pink Breast Cancer Awareness car for Young Survival Coalition,” Force said. “I’m really happy that we were able to do this for everyone that is going through this battle with breast cancer, and really hope we can help bring awareness to that, and really hope people can head over to YSC and check out everything they have to offer and all the resources they have there.
“But I’m really proud of our guys running this car for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and hope we can get it in the winner’s circle for our last time in Vegas with the pink body.”
Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday. Fox Sports 1 will televise three hours of live finals coverage at 1 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.
4-Second Reads:
- Qualifying Round 1 (Right Lane): 5.041 seconds/148.05 mph; lost traction about 300 feet down the track and lifted (No. 13 of session and No. 13 overall; no bonus points in session)
- Qualifying Round 2 (Left Lane): 3.878 seconds/331.77 mph; straight down the middle for second quickest through her pairing (No. 2 of session and No. 2 overall; two bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
- Qualifying Round 3 (Left Lane): 4.826 seconds/162.61 mph; hazes the tires about 500 feet down (No. 10 of session and No. 2 overall; no bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
- Qualifying Round 4 (Right Lane): 9.786 seconds/77.94 mph; goes up in smoke almost immediately (No. 15 of session and No. 2 overall; no bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
- This is the fourth time this season and 16th time in her career Force has qualified No. 2 for a race. The last time she qualified No. 2 was in June at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H., a race in which she made it to the finals.
- This is the fifth time in 12 races that Force has qualified No. 2 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. She has qualified No. 1 or 2 more than half of her races at Las Vegas (also has two No. 1s) and in the top half of the bracket 11 of those 12 races.
- Force is looking for first victory from the No. 2 position and fourth finals appearance. She has made it to the finals of a race twice at Las Vegas after qualifying No. 2.
- Force’s first-round matchup against Jeff Arend marks the fifth time the two will compete against each other and first time this season. The two are tied at two victories each, with Force winning the last matchup, a second-round meeting in the 2016 season finale at Pomona, Calif.
John Force Racing PR/Photo Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
