TRIO OF NHRA FUNNY CAR DRIVERS HEAD TO LAS VEGAS WITH FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WITHIN THEIR GRASP

One of the most intriguing battles for an NHRA world championship title this season is unfolding in the Funny Car division. Three drivers head to the penultimate race of the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a first world championship trophy up for grabs. For each of them, this finally could be the year.

One driver finished second last season, just missing the opportunity by the narrowest of margins.

Another has come agonizingly close on three separate occasions, finishing second each time.

A third driver has won multiple championships as a crew chief, but none from behind the wheel.

Series points leader Jack Beckman, second place Ron Capps and third place Mike Neff head to the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, Oct. 25-28, each with an excellent opportunity to become a part of NHRA history and to lift the season champion Wally trophy that only 13 drivers have claimed since NHRA started crowning Funny Car world champs in 1974.

“You know, it’s an exciting time right now,” said Neff, who guided Gary Scelzi and John Force to separate series titles as a crew chief, but has never claimed one as a driver.

Neff, who serves as both crew chief and driver of his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, won the circuit’s most recent event in Reading, Pa., and is riding a bit of momentum, but sits in third place in the standings and trails Beckman by 54 points. He is 31 back of Capps.

“This is why you put all that work in over the last winter and go through this whole season to come to the very end here, and you just want to have a shot,” Neff said. “We’ve been running better here lately and I’m just happy to be in contention, and definitely these last two races out west are going to be exciting for everyone.”

Capps, who got hot after an early season crew change and raced to six consecutive final rounds in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger, was the top seed heading into the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. He and tuner Rahn Tobler built a sizeable lead after winning the first playoff race in Charlotte, N.C.  and advancing to the semifinals in round two at Dallas. However, the veteran driver has seen leads come and go, especially at crunch time over the years. With 37 career victories and three second place points finishes, Capps is one of the winningest drivers in the sport not to own a championship ring. He hopes to change that stat this season.

“I've said this before, we had a lot of people talking about the championship was going to be wrapped up by us when we had that 100-something points lead going into St. Louis, and it almost irritated me every time somebody would say something, whether it was media or just fans, because I think they forget how quickly things can turn around,” said Capps, the defending winner of this event who heads to Vegas 23 points behind Beckman. “I just had a hunch that was the way it was going to go. It wasn’t going to be an easy championship run for anybody. There are just too many good cars.”

Beckman emerged into the title conversation with a victory at St. Louis and a national record performance and semifinal finish at Maple Grove Raceway two weeks ago. The driver of the Valvoline/NextGen Dodge Charger pushed Matt Hagan to the wire last season in an incredibly close championship battle, so this is certainly not new territory for him.

He says nothing short of perfection over the next two events will get the job done.

“With only eight rounds left and in a sport where when you lose you don’t get those next few rounds, if somebody goes out second round at Vegas, they lose out on three rounds,” Beckman said. “I think we all want to be able to contest all eight rounds to have a legitimate shot for the championship, so you can’t have any screw-ups, mechanical issues, or tune-up question marks.”

In Top Fuel, Antron Brown holds a 104-point lead over teammate and series rival Spencer Massey. Tony Schumacher, Shawn Langdon and Brandon Bernstein are all still mathematically alive for the title.

Allen Johnson leads Pro Stock into Las Vegas with an 82-point lead over second place driver and defending champ Jason Line. Four-time season winner Erica Enders is third in the standings and also still in the title mix at 125 points back.

The Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson tandem of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines are one-two in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings and before they settle anything regarding the Las Vegas event they will need to decide the rain-delayed final round from the Reading, Pa. That final round will be run on Saturday afternoon during the day’s second qualifying session. The winner of the Reading final will be the points leader in the two-wheel class heading into Sunday's eliminations at The Strip at LVMS.

* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for noon and 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28.

* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. Please call The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444 or visit www.lvms.com.

* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 4 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 28, preceded by one hour of coverage at 1:30 a.m. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three-hours of eliminations coverage at 8 p.m. (ET), also on Sunday, Oct. 28.

* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 25 and continue through Oct. 26. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27.

* NHRA PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its final start of the 2012 season at the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. The first two qualifying sessions will be Oct. 26 at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Qualifying will continue on Saturday, Oct. 27 with a session at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by the first round of eliminations at 4 p.m. Eliminations will continue Sunday, Oct. 28 at approximately 2:30 p.m.

* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

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BIG O TIRES NHRA NATIONALS FACT SHEET

WHAT: 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, 22nd of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fifth of six playoff races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. The top 10 drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle - earn points leading to 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships.

WHERE: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas. Track is located approximately 15 miles north of Las Vegas off I-15.

WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 25-28.

SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, Oct. 25- LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 8 a.m.

FRIDAY, Oct. 26– LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 8 a.m.

PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at noon and 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, Oct. 27– LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begin at 8 a.m.

PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX qualifying at 10:30 a.m.; first round of eliminations at 4 p.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

SUNDAY, Oct. 28- Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX second round at approximately 2:30 p.m.

TELEVISION:

Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying highlights at 1:30 a.m. (ET).

Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying highlights at 4 p.m. (ET).            

Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of coverage starting at 8 p.m. (ET).

SATELLITE (Digital HD feed):

Friday, Oct. 26, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C

Saturday, Oct. 27, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C

Sunday, Oct. 28, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C

(3720 MHz, horizontal; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)

Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.             

2011 EVENT WINNERS: Del Worsham, Top Fuel; Ron Capps, Funny Car; Mike Edwards, Pro Stock; Eddie Krawiec, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST VICTORIES: Greg Anderson, PS, 4; Tony Schumacher, TF, 4; Ron Capps, FC, 3; Andrew Hines, PSM, 3.

TRACK RECORDS:            

Top Fuel - 3.779 sec. by Antron Brown, April ’12; 326.08 mph by Brown, April ’12

Funny Car - 4.030 sec. by Matt Hagan, Oct. ’09; 315.49 mph by Ron Capps, Oct. ’11

Pro Stock - 6.594 sec. by Mike Edwards, Oct. ’11; 208.84 mph by Edwards, Oct. ’11

PS Motorcycle - 6.879 sec. by Hector Arana Jr., Oct. ’11; 196.56 mph by Eddie Krawiec, Oct. ’11

NATIONAL RECORDS:

Top Fuel - 3.701 sec. by Antron Brown, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.

Funny Car - 3.986 sec. by Jack Beckman, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 320.58 mph by Beckman, Oct. ‘12, Reading, Pa.

Pro Stock - 6.477 sec. by Jason Line, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 214.35 mph by Line, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.

PS Motorcycle - 6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.

TICKETS: For tickets call The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444, or visit www.LVMS.com online.

* * *

NHRA FULL THROTTLE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS

GLENDORA, Calif. -- Point standings (top 10) following the 21st of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fourth of six races in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, NHRA's playoffs -

Top Fuel: 1.  Antron Brown, 2,491; 2.  Spencer Massey, 2,387; 3.  Tony Schumacher, 2,355; 4.  Shawn Langdon, 2,351; 5.  Brandon Bernstein, 2,314; 6.  Morgan Lucas, 2,267; 7.  Doug Kalitta, 2,228; 8.  Steve Torrence, 2,212; 9.  David Grubnic, 2,193; 10.  Bob Vandergriff, 2,149.

Funny Car: 1.  Jack Beckman, 2,437; 2.  Ron Capps, 2,414; 3.  Mike Neff, 2,383; 4.  Johnny Gray, 2,246; 5. Cruz Pedregon, 2,244; 6.  John Force, 2,217; 7.  Courtney Force, 2,216; 8.  Robert Hight, 2,211; 9. Tim Wilkerson, 2,207; 10.  Jeff Arend, 2,180.

Pro Stock: 1.  Allen Johnson, 2,502; 2.  Jason Line, 2,420; 3.  Erica Enders, 2,377; 4.  Vincent Nobile, 2,325; 5.  Greg Anderson, 2,272; 6.  V. Gaines, 2,235; 7.  Mike Edwards, 2,214; 8.  Jeg Coughlin, 2,187; 9.  Ron Krisher, 2,161; 10.  Larry Morgan, 2,157.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1.  Eddie Krawiec, 2,523; 2.  Andrew Hines, 2,506; 3.  Hector Arana Jr, 2,384; 4.  Hector Arana, 2,326; 5.  Karen Stoffer, 2,282; 6.  Michael Ray, 2,251; 7.  Scotty Pollacheck, 2,209; 8.  Matt Smith, 2,192; 9.  LE Tonglet, 2,182; 10.  Shawn Gann, 2,177.

C. FORCE AND TRAXXAS TO RUN PINK BREAST CANCER AWARENESS CAR AT READING

As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season winds down John Force Racing driver Courtney Force takes advantage of the month of October and the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway  to show her support for those who have been affected by breast cancer.

This weekend in Reading, Penn., Force will sport a pink Traxxas Funny Car Ford Mustang to commemorate breast cancer awareness month and to raise support for breast cancer prevention and research.

“I’m really excited to be able to run my first specialty car at our next event in Maple Grove. Being that it is pink and brings awareness to breast cancer makes me really proud to showcase this car in Reading. I really hope to get a lot of people’s attention with it and show our support from Traxxas and John Force Racing. It’s really cool to kick-off October with this. My crew guys are just as excited as I am even though it is hot pink because it’s for a great cause,” said Force.

The Action Racing Collectables die-cast of Courtney's Traxxas Pink Ford Mustang Funny Car is now available to order onwww.lionelracing.com.  A portion of the proceeds from each die-cast sold will benefit breast cancer awareness, research and prevention.

“So many women and families have been affected by breast cancer. Driving the Traxxas Pink Funny Car is just one small way I can show that I care and support them as we try to find a cure for this terrible disease,” said Force.

BROWN, BECKMAN, ENDERS AND KRAWIEC WIN AAA INSURANCE NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS AT GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK

Antron Brown raced to his sixth Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park and in the process increased his championship points lead.

Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners of the event, the first race for NHRA in the St. Louis area in more than two years.

Brown defeated championship rival Spencer Massey in the final round and moved 21 points ahead of the Texas driver as only three races remain in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Brown, who battled side-by-side with Massey all weekend, took the victory with a final round performance of 3.766 seconds at 325.22 mph in his Matco Tools/Aaron’s dragster, while Massey trailed with a 3.812 at 324.05 in his FRAM/Prestone dragster.

“Our team hit a grand slam here this weekend,” Brown said. “We qualified No. 1 and took it one round at a time. It was a great weekend, but it’s always a struggle. This class is very competitive, and these guys aren’t playing anymore. You have your struggles here and there, and you have to keep on overcoming them. I’m just so happy for our Aaron’s/Matco guys.”

Brown beat Bruce Litton, Steve Torrence and Brandon Bernstein in early rounds before unleashing his quickest run of the day in the final against Massey. 

“It was a stressful day where we matched up against some great competition,” Brown said. “Matching up against my teammate [Massey] in the final was big – we’ve been back and forth in the points.  It’s great to have six wins, but right now they’re all in the past.  We need to go back to the shop and get focused on these last three races. It’s just so competitive out here and this points race is going to go down to the last race.”

Beckman moved to within 30 points of Funny Car points leader Ron Capps by racing to his third victory of the season. He took the final round win in his Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger over Matt Hagan, who fouled at the start in his DieHard Dodge Charger.

“It’s nice to know that we have a car that can challenge for the championship,” said Beckman, who beat Alexis DeJoria, Jeff Arend and Tony Pedregon to advance to the final round. “This wasn’t do-or-die, but it’s getting pretty close. I’m not saying we counted points, but we had a tablet going with a lot of cross marks and updated math. Losing to Capps by four-thousandths in Dallas hurt a lot, but today went a long way towards healing that. It’s awesome to know that we have three races to go and are only 30 points back. All we want is a fighting chance going into Pomona."

Points leader Capps lost in the second round to Hagan, a non-Countdown performer and the defending world champ who has now advanced to back-to-back final rounds in the playoffs. Beckman was surprised when he saw Hagan blast away from the line so early in the final.

“From my perspective, you’re ready to go up there and squeeze the trigger if anything happens,” Beckman said. “I heard noise, saw the red light come on, and saw the big DieHard logo from Matt’s car. We have a big respect for that car. Over the last four races, it might be the best-running car on average.”

In Pro Stock, Enders earned her fourth victory of the season and first ever in the playoffs by using a reaction time advantage to defeat series points leader Allen Johnson in the final round. She powered her GK Motorsports Chevy Cobalt to a 6.540 at 211.79 to finish just inches in front of Johnson’s Team Mopar Dodge Avenger, who posted a quicker, but losing run of 6.538 at 212.13.

“This is the win I wanted to get in Texas last week, but I’ll take it,” Enders said. “We were definitely consistent this weekend and that’s why we got to the final so I could race my bud [Allen Johnson] and get to the winner’s circle.”

Enders outran Shane Gray, teammate Dave Connolly and event top qualifier Jason Line to advance to her second straight Countdown final round appearance.

“It is a total team effort every week,” she said. “My team is the reason why I get to do this. They’re great. They helped me get down a tricky track when other guys were getting in pedal-fests. We were a little behind performance-wise in the final, but we made a good run and I did my job.”

With the runner-up finish and third straight final round appearance in the Countdown playoffs, Johnson increased his series lead to 109 over Line, while Enders moved to third in the standings, 126 back of Johnson.

Krawiec claimed his seventh Pro Stock Motorcycle victory of the season and increased his points lead to 33 over his final round opponent and teammate, Andrew Hines. Krawiec took his 18th career victory when Hines fouled on his identically-prepared Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

Krawiec took three of his round wins via red-light starts by his opponents, including his first round win over Steve Johnson and second round win over Chip Ellis. Krawiec used a strong performance on his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson to outrun Hector Arana Sr.’s Lucas Oil Buell in the semifinals.

“Andrew and I were lucky to take out the Hectors in the semis and that really helped us in the points,” Krawiec said. “I lost in Dallas due to rider error. I had a .066 light which is unacceptable. This week I was good on the tree and had a good bike which is what it takes to win some rounds. Yes, I had three red-lights against me here but I did well and all my runs were good. I pushed it a little in the final but I know the potential of what he [Andrew] has. He crushed me in Charlotte.”

The NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoffs continues with round four of six, Oct. 4-7 with the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pa.

* * *

MADISON, Ill. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the Inaugural AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.  The race is the 20th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

1.  Antron Brown; 2.  Spencer Massey; 3.  Brandon Bernstein; 4.  David Grubnic; 5.  Tony Schumacher; 6.  Khalid alBalooshi; 7.  Steve Torrence; 8.  Shawn Langdon; 9.  Doug Kalitta; 10. Bob Vandergriff; 11.  Larry Dixon; 12.  Clay Millican; 13.  Morgan Lucas; 14.  T.J. Zizzo; 15. Terry McMillen; 16.  Bruce Litton.

FUNNY CAR:

1.  Jack Beckman; 2.  Matt Hagan; 3.  Tim Wilkerson; 4.  Tony Pedregon; 5.  Ron Capps; 6.  Dale Creasy Jr.; 7.  Mike Neff; 8.  Jeff Arend; 9.  Johnny Gray; 10.  Jim Head; 11.  Alexis DeJoria; 12. Robert Hight; 13.  Cruz Pedregon; 14.  John Force; 15.  Bob Tasca III; 16.  Courtney Force.

PRO STOCK:

1.  Erica Enders; 2.  Allen Johnson; 3.  Vincent Nobile; 4.  Jason Line; 5.  Greg Anderson; 6. Buddy Perkinson; 7.  Dave Connolly; 8.  Mike Edwards; 9.  V. Gaines; 10.  Larry Morgan; 11.  Chris McGaha; 12.  Jeg Coughlin; 13.  Shane Gray; 14.  Greg Stanfield; 15.  Ron Krisher; 16.  Warren Johnson.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

1.  Eddie Krawiec; 2.  Andrew Hines; 3.  Hector Arana; 4.  Hector Arana Jr; 5.  Karen Stoffer; 6. Chip Ellis; 7.  Scotty Pollacheck; 8.  Shawn Gann; 9.  Matt Smith; 10.  Michael Ray; 11.  John Hall; 12.  Jim Underdahl; 13.  Jerry Savoie; 14.  Mike Berry; 15.  LE Tonglet; 16.  Steve Johnson.

Tasca, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Team Ready to Rock Resort Town as World’s Fastest Motorsport Returns to Brainerd

Bob Tasca III expects temperatures this weekend in Brainerd, Minn. to be close to those that yielded his No. 1 qualifier in Bristol this spring. You won’t hear the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team complain.

“It’s going to be very different than what we’ve seen certainly in the last five races,” Tasca said. “We’ve improved with consistency on our hot-weather tune-up, but we’ve done much better in cooler conditions than warmer conditions. We’ve been in the heat heavily since Chicago and (the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis) is going to be hot again, so we’ll look to take advantage of the cooler weather while we can.”

Tasca is 10^th in the NHRA Full Throttle Series point standings with two races to go until the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The top 10 drivers will be eligible for the 2012 championship titles in each professional category.

After this weekend’s race in the resort town of Brainerd, Minn. the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car team heads straight to Indianapolis for the traditional mid-season round-robin test session that ends in a “hero session” under the lights before the legendary U.S. Nationals at the same track.

“We have a seasoned, veteran team with (Crew Chief) Dickie Venables, (and Co Crew Chiefs) Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner,” Tasca said. “These guys have been down this road many times. We have a talented crew. I’m as confident as I’ve ever been heading into this part of the season. I wouldn’t bet against us.”

For live updates, follow the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang team on Twitter (MQL_Racing) and Facebook (click on the “Twitter” icon). Follow driver Bob Tasca III on Twitter at @Tasca3 and Facebook.

FORCE BACK IN HIS COMFORT ZONE AT BRAINERD

With his record streak of 27 consecutive Top 10 finishes in jeopardy, John Force could not find himself in a more comfortable environment this week when the NHRA Full Throttle Series moves to Brainerd International Raceway for the 31^st renewal of the Lucas Oil Nationals.

After all, the 63-year-old drag racing icon, who is battling Bob Tasca III, Tim Wilkerson and reigning series champion Matt Hagan for one of the last two spots in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, has won more races at BIR (11) than the combined total of every other Funny Car driver in the field (eight). 

The father of Rookie-of-the-Year contender Courtney Force has gone to the finals in every other appearance at Brainerd (13 times in 26 races) and has compiled a 66-15 individual record, a winning percentage of 81.5 percent.

That said, it’s been five years since his Castrol GTX® HIGH MILEAGE™ Ford last rolled into the winners’ circle and three years since he last won a racing round at BIR.  The reality of the situation is that if he is unable to recapture his old form, he faces the prospect of watching from the sidelines when his teammates vie for the $500,000 Funny Car title he’s won 15 times in his career.

Despite his struggles since winning the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., Force for once expects to benefit from the Countdown format that was introduced in 2007 largely to prevent the kind of runaway championships the former truck driver manufactured in the 1990s and early 2000s when he won 10 straight titles.

Currently ninth in points, the recent inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala., is focused this week on one goal and one goal only.

“Robert (teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight) won the championship in 2009 from No. 10,” Force said, “so we know you can do it.  Whoever gets the hot hand can win it all.  They say, ‘you gotta be in it to win it,’ so we’re just fighting to get in – me and ‘Guido’ and Danny D (crew chiefs Dean Antonelli and Danny DeGennaro).”

Coming off a solid, if not spectacular performance in the grueling Western Swing (reaching the semifinals in the first and last events in the three-races-in-three-weeks grind), the 134-time tour winner earned himself some breathing room, moving from 10th to ninth in Full Throttle points. 

However, his participation in the six-race Countdown still is no sure thing especially with Hagan just 69 points behind with two races remaining before the points are re-adjusted. 

“We still have to do our jobs,” said the first drag racer to earn Driver of the Year honors for all of American motor racing (1996).  “We’ve been struggling but we’ve addressed the issues.  We’re all working together – ‘Guido’ and Danny with Jimmy Prock and Mike Neff and Ron Douglas plus we’ve got John Medlen and Ron Armstrong on board.  That’s the ‘brain trust.”Prock, Neff and Douglas are crew chiefs on the other three John Force Racing Ford Mustangs.  Medlen is a former NHRA championship-winning crew chief for JFR (2003) who now manages the team’s R&D program and Armstrong is a former NASCAR engine builder and offshore boat racer who was instrumental in developing the RacePak data collection system that today is the standard in many motor sports.

“I told my guys, ‘as long as we work as one team, we’ll win as one team,’” Force said.

It’s a formula that has delivered NHRA Funny Car championships in all but five of the last 22 years.  Force sees no need to change it now.

FORCE ON TRACK TO CLINCH COUNTDOWN SPOT IN BRAINERD

One event on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series tour stands between Rookie Funny Car driver Courtney Force and her first ever Funny Car attempt at “The Big Go” that is the Mac Tools US Nationals in Indianapolis Labor Day weekend. Before Force can look ahead to such an event, she is faced with the pressure of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd and all the pressure surrounding it.

“I’m so excited going into the Brainerd race, especially coming in fresh off a win in Seattle.  I’m looking forward to hopefully doing well enough at the race to get my Traxxas Ford Mustang locked into the Countdown to the Championship, going into The Big Go,” said Force.

This weekend in Brainerd, several drivers have the opportunity to clinch spots in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series Countdown to the Championship. The 24-year-old out of Yorba Linda, Calif., can clinch by winning the first round of eliminations depending on qualifying position and qualifying bonus points, or will clinch by making it through the second round of eliminations.

“We’ve got a great race car and a pretty consistent one at that.  As a driver I just want to do my job right by keeping this Mustang straight in the groove, leaving good,  get it in the show and go rounds on Sunday,” said Force.

This past week Force launched her campaign for the 8th and final spot into the “Traxxas Nitro Shootout,” the race within a race that will be held during the Mac Tools US Nationals in Indianapolis.

“I had so much fun filming the campaign video for the Traxxas Nitro Shootout and hope that fans can see another side of me. I really wanted to show how much I want to be competing in that Traxxas Nitro Shootout against my teammates. I need the fans’ support and their votes on NHRA’s Facebook page following this weekend’s race in Brainerd.  My Traxxas team has put together a great race car for me all season long, so I really want to get into that Traxxas Shootout and show everyone what we’ve got,” said Force. 

With the fan vote/lottery style drawing, Force has a chance to join her fellow John Force Racing teammates in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout. You can view Force’s comical campaign video  http://youtu.be/YLvT9FL6qbw.

Two weeks ago at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Force wrapped up the Western Swing by taking home her very first Funny Car Wally. There was a little bit of struggle during qualifying on the Traxxas team’s end, but the youngest Force daughter swept past previous World Funny Car Champions Cruz Pedregon, John Force and Matt Hagan as well as Bob Tasca III in eliminations on her way to victory, and did it all the way from the no. 14 qualifying spot.

Force’s win put her back into the No. 6 spot in the points standings and placed her about two and a half rounds in front of Cruz Pedregon in the No. 7 spot.

“Getting my first win in Funny Car was such a huge accomplishment for our Traxxas team, but I really owe all the credit to the guys working on my car, as well as everyone at John Force Racing.  This was a dream come true; seeing that win light in the final round against defending champ Matt Hagan, and getting to hold that Wally in the Winner’s Circle was so surreal.

“Making it to three final rounds and getting that victory in only our 15^th race of my Rookie Season was huge! I’m so proud of my team, and hope to continue having a great season while hopefully clinching into the top 10 for the Countdown to the Championship,” said Force.

The rookie driver has been busy the last four weeks. She and father, 15-time Champion John Force attended Summit Motorsports Park’s annual “Night Under Fire” in Norwalk, Ohio the weekend after Seattle, where Courtney took home the trophy. Fellow Funny Car drivers including Alexis DeJoria, Jeff Arend, Jim Head and Dan Wilkerson were also in attendance along with over 850 sportsman racers.

“It’s always exciting getting to go to Night Under Fire and just race without any pressure.  Racing is what I love to do and am passionate about so it was exciting for me to get out there and race against some of the best while putting on another great show for the fans!  Bill Bader puts on a great show every year so it was really cool to be apart of it for the first time in a Fuel Funny Car,” said Force.

HIGHT WANTS REDEMPTION IN BRAINERD

There are some tracks where drivers love to pull their race cars to the starting line because they have seen more win lights than anything else. Brainerd International Raceway is not one of those tracks for Full Throttle points leader Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team. This will be Hight’s eighth trip to the Brainerd, Minnesota track and his best finish has been a semi-final loss to John Force. He has four first round losses and a DNQ to go along with two second round losses.

“For whatever reason Brainerd has not been that good to me. Bristol used to be another track where we just didn’t go rounds. Last year we finally conquered Bristol and this year I want to get a win in Brainerd and hold onto the No. 1 spot in the points heading into Indy,” said Hight, a four-time winner in 2012.

Hight’s championship season of 2009 actually started turning around at Brainerd International Raceway in the most unlikeliest of ways. Hight, in dire need of round wins to get into the Countdown, shockingly did not qualify for the event and team owner John Force shook up the team moving himself to the Auto Club team for a race and Hight over to the Castrol GTX team. The move worked as Hight clinched the final spot in the Countdown that year and went on to win his first championship.

“That DNQ in 2009 hurt but even then we never got our heads down. John always has a plan and a back-up plan. We got fixed by Indy and then had a good race there losing to Ashley (Force Hood) in the final. Once we got into the Countdown (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) had a great tune-up and the rest is history,” said Hight.

“Even though I haven’t raced well in Brainerd I love coming up here. The fans are always great. They love their drag racing and it is a unique event because you see everything from my 8000 horsepower Auto Club Ford Mustang going down the track to snowmobiles,” added Hight.

Hight has won four races this season and he has held the points lead most of the season but a late season charge by veteran Ron Capps has Hight sitting on a 31 point lead with two races to go before the Countdown begins. Hight, Capps and Jack Beckman have all clinched their Countdown berths. This weekend the trio of drivers should be joined by Hight’s teammate Mike Neff and veteran Johnny Gray. Rookie of the Year front-runner Courtney Force could clinch her first Countdown with some success on Sunday.

“The Countdown is where you win championships but it is the races leading up to the Countdown where you can get some momentum. We were really hot in the early part of the season,” said Hight. “We were going for five race wins in a row and Capps beat us in Houston. His car has come around but I know Jimmy Prock has a great tune-up for my Auto Club Mustang. I want to dominate and lead the points the whole season. I am sure Capps will be charging but so will a lot of other guys and women. Courtney has had a really good race car these past couple of races so there are no easy round wins.”

Beckman stays busy prior to NHRA drag racing event at Brainerd, cautiously optimistic with revamped Valvoline NextGen Funny Car

It's that time of the season when even if Beckman's Goodyear tires aren't revolving, Beckman never stops moving.

Following NHRA's three-race "Western Swing," Beckman has been a busy man, juggling his time between family and sponsor responsibilities.

"It's been non-stop since the Swing," Beckman said. "After Seattle, I went to the world's largest, by sales volume, Harley-Davidson dealership to do an appearance for Valvoline signing autographs. 

"We were probably about 25 miles from Sturgis (S.D.) so after the signing I hopped on a Harley and went to Sturgis and did a lap there just to say that I've been there and crossed it off my bucket list now. I didn't want to be that close and not do it, so it was cool," he said of annual motorcycle rally.

Beckman is not the only one that hasn't stopped working since the last NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event two weeks ago in Seattle. His Valvoline NextGen team has been hard at work at the Don Schumacher Racing headquarters outside of Indianapolis.

"We've been running well on a consistent basis and we made a decision to front half our chassis," he said. "Typically we would like to take it out and test it one time and right after the Brainerd race we are going to have a two-day test session in Indianapolis. We just don't have the time with all the other teams in the shop to get the front half put on our car after Brainerd."

Beckman is looking forward to seeing how his Valvoline NextGen Funny Car performs at the upcoming event 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis. 

"I'm cautiously optimistic going into Brainerd," he said. "It basically just kind of sets everything back to zero runs on the car. There shouldn't be any sort of surprises on it though. 

"Our goal is to win a championship so we feel like doing it now and running this chassis throughout the rest of the year gives us the best chance to do that."

 

Beckman is also looking forward to the cooler weather that is forecasted for Brainerd.

"We're going to actually have a race where it's less than 100 degrees for all three days," he said. "It looks like it's going to be cool weather. It should be enjoyable for the fans and a reprieve for the crews and the drivers to not have it that hot."

BONUS AUDIO: Talking with Courtney Force

On Sunday August 5th 2012, 24-year-old Courtney Force, daughter of 15-time NHRA Funny Car world champion John Force, continued the tradition. She beat defending world champ Matt Hagan in the final round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at scenic Pacific Raceways to earn her first career victory and Hot Rod Magazine Live gets to spend some time with Courtney and recap that special day and where she goes from here. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

It's YOUR chance to ask Courtney Force anything you want

As most NHRA fans already know Courtney Force won her third final round appearance in her rookie year last Sunday at the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest NHRA Nationals. The rookie driver defeated three Funny Car world champions - Cruz Pedregon, John Force and Matt Hagan - as well as veteran driver Bob Tasca III en route to her first win.

But now it's YOUR chance to ask Courtney Force anything you want - as long as you can get it to me last minute. I got the conformation only an hour ago that I will get to spend a few minutes with what might be considered by some, the future of JFR Racing and certainly a proud example of the future of the NHRA. 

So send your question to dennis@hotrodmagazinelive.com and in less than 24-hours you will be able to tune in and listen.