CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
DODGE/SRT NHRA U.S. NATIONALS
LUCAS OIL RACEWAY AT INDIANAPOLIS, BROWNSBURG, INDIANA
TEAM CHEVY RECAP
SEPT. 5, 2021
Chevrolet rolls to impressive weekend at U.S. Nationals
- Erica Enders repeats victory, delivers Chevrolet’s 340th Pro Stock win
- No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier Brittany Force is runner-up, No. 2 playoff seed
- No. 1 qualifier John Force claims No. 2 seed in Funny Car playoffs
- Jesse Alexandra wins Factory Stock Showdown in all-COPO Camaro final
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 5, 2021) – Four-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock champion Erica Enders recalled the first time she raced at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis and certainly didn’t want a repeat performance in the Pro Stock final of the U.S. Nationals.
“I raced here in 1994 as a 9-year-old at the inaugural Junior Drag Racing League nationals. We went red in the final,” she said.
Fortunately for the driver of the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, that didn’t occur and the No. 3 qualifier defeated second-year Pro Stock driver Kyle Koretsky on a holeshot to record her third victory of the season and third in the U.S. Nationals.
“This is a dream come true. This track means so much to everybody. This is Indy. It’s so hard to explain to people what it means to us,” said Enders, who delivered Chevrolet’s 340th Pro Stock win since 1970. “My Elite Motorsports/Melling team is bad to the bone and I could not be more proud of them.”
Brittany Force drove the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster to her sixth successive Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier – and eighth in 13 races – on the way to her third runner-up finish of the season. Tony Schumacher in 2005 was the last Top Fuel racer to earn six top qualifiers in a row and owns the record for most No. 1s in a season with 13.
“Wrapped Indy, leaving here No. 2 in points which is a great position to be in and we went to a final round. That’s outstanding for this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team. We feel confident going into the Countdown to the Championship,” Force said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day. We didn’t get down there, but our focus now is going into this Countdown and the next seven races.”
John Force, the No. 1 qualifier in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, and No. 3 qualifier Robert Hight in the Automotive Club of Southern California Camaro SS, fell in the second round of Funny Car competition.
Force, the top qualifier for the second time in the 13-race regular season, enters the Countdown as the No. 2 seed as he seeks a 17th world championship. He’ll also be the first NHRA driver to reach 2,000 elimination rounds; he has a 1,377-622 record.
“My PEAK Chevy, we couldn’t get it done today but it was fast in qualifying. That right lane was tricky and it got me in trouble,” said Force, who won the U.S. Nationals for the fifth time in 2019.
Enders’ Camaro ran 6.626 seconds to Koretsky’s 6.613 in the Lucas Oil/Nitro Fish Camaro SS, but her .024 of a second reaction time was the difference by about 13 inches. Enders defeated Greg Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, in one semifinal, while Koretsky bested KB Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, who defeated Koretsky in the final at Topeka three weeks earlier.
Anderson, seeking to tie Warren Johnson’s class record of 97 wins, is the top seed heading into the Countdown. Five different drivers of the Camaro SS have won at least once in 11 regular-season races.
Jesse Alexandra defeated 2020 U.S. Nationals winner Aaron Stanfield in an all-Chevrolet COPO Camaro final to register his first Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown victory. Chevrolet has won five of the six races in the eight-event series.
The Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil on Sept. 10-12 kicks off the Countdown to the Championship. The event at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Brittany Force was the No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier and John Force was the Funny Car runner-up.
FS1 will telecast eliminations live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 12.
An interview with Pro Stock winner ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
WALK US THROUGH YOUR RACE DAY.
“Well, I had a really great car all day. We had an outstanding run first round but second round we were a little behind at 60 feet but won. From that point, we steadily worked on the race car to get it to perform. We lost lane choice going into the finals, which we thought was pretty crucial today. I didn’t drive spectacular today; I’d probably give a C minus. My lights were not stellar, but being able to turn on the win light is all that matters. Just being there and taking advantage of the situations, keeping lane choice when it was crucial, especially against Greg Anderson in the semifinals. That was a big round win of the day.”
HAVE YOU EVER REALIZED HOW MUCH YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED?
“I step back and look at it but the hunger in me wants more. What’s next? What’s next? My dad reminds me a lot – these are the good old days. Don’t forget what you’re accomplishing by looking too far into the future. Just enjoy the moments. I didn’t have a lot of success until I came to Elite – this is my eighth season with them. We won our first U.S. Nationals together in 2015 and the last three years we’ve been in the finals. We had that heart-breaking loss to our ex-teammate and were able to win back to back. I think this is a great way to kick off the Countdown. We have four in a row and we have to keep it rolling. It’s really humbling to take a step back and realize what we’ve accomplished in such a short time. I’ve been driving Pro Stock for 17 years, but I’ve only had a great car and a great team for eight.”
DOES THIS PUT THE 2019 FINAL IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR?
“I drove better in ’19. Being .00 on the Tree and then having a transmission failure and getting beat was probably the most gut-wrenching, made me physically ill, hardest loss of my career. The only justification at the time was he was my teammate, so at least Elite was in the winner’s circle. That was a tough pill to swallow and one that stuck with me until we got to the next race. Those are the moments that make you better, righty? Coming back in 2020 and getting the win and being able to stick it in the winner’s circle today, I had a good feeling this morning and some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. Today was one of those races when we had our lucky rounds and we were there when it mattered. I’ve been on the wrong side of the win light a lot, so days like this make up for it.”
DOES WINNING INDY MAKE IT EASIER TO WIN INDY?
“Before I got my first, someone said as soon as you get your first win the others will follow. It’s something that you have to learn. You have to learn how to be a winner. You have to learn how to perform when the pressure is on. You have to acquire that trait. That’s why driving all those cars that when we showed up I knew we wouldn’t qualify, just battling it out through the sponsorship woes, you do everything you can to get where you’re at. I guess once you win Indy … it’s crazy; it’s our third one and two other finals. It just means a lot. Once you win, you just want more.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/ FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier, runner-up): “Wrapped Indy, leaving here No. 2 in points which is a great position to be in and we went to a final round. That’s outstanding for this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team. We feel confident going into the Countdown to the Championship. Now that Indy is behind this, all the hard work, everything we’ve learned this year, everything we’ve done, now it’s time to put it to good use and go for this championship. The final round was definitely disappointing. Again, proud to be in that final round and have that No. 1 qualifier coming out of Indy so we can’t hang our heads too low, but it was frustrating. We were right there; we could almost taste it. We had been running in the left lane all weekend long and that right lane was tricky. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day. We didn’t get down there, but our focus now is going into this Countdown and the next seven races.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier, fell in quarterfinals): “Definitely not what we wanted. That was disappointing, for sure. Not how this Auto Club team wanted to perform at the U.S. Nationals, but we get to move on, reset points and really begin the battle for another championship next weekend. We’re confident. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they’re looking for some consistency and we felt really good after testing in Brainerd. Luckily, we get four back-to-back races, build some momentum early in the Countdown. We love coming to Indy; it’s kind of a home track for us with our race shop right down the street.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, fell in quarterfinals): “My PEAK Chevy, we couldn’t get it done today but it was fast in qualifying. That right lane was tricky and it got me in trouble. To see the fans come here and pack it, it looked great. Thank you for making the Camping World Drag Racing Series what it is and to make us drivers who we are. We’re excited to make the Countdown, but winning Indy is like winning a championship.”
PRO STOCK:
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL/NITRO FISH CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, runner-up): “The crew gave me a great car as usual and driver didn’t do his job. We got some momentum with two runner-up finishes in a row and got some points toward the Countdown. My team did a great job. Erica is a tough competitor and I knew I had to be good on the Tree. I drove good, just not on the Tree. It’s good old Pro Stock racing. This Lucas Oil Chevy Camaro has been on fire all weekend.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier, fell in semifinal): “I just didn’t have a great weekend. We only got that one qualifier and I had a problem with my engine so we had to change engines for today. It was definitely off starting today and we were gaining on it each run, but we missed on the starting line set-up and spun the tires. I actually drove good but we didn’t make the right calls with the car. You have to have it all together.”
DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier; fell in semifinal): “I think this weekend went really good; we had a good car. I never really made a bad run. I feel like I have a great car going into the Countdown. I feel like we have a lot of momentum. The last two races I have a win and a semifinal.”
MATT HARTFORD, HARTFORD RACING, TOTAL SEAL/CIP1 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 6 qualifier, fell in quarterfinals): “We were happy to get through first round and now we’re not happy unless we’re qualified deep in the top half and going to the final round. We went to a lot of final rounds in the last couple years. The Total Seal/CIP1 Camaro has been performing and if we can keep the driver on point we have as good a chance as anyone (to win).”
DERIC KRAMER, KRAMER RACING, GET BIOFUELS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier, fell in first round): “It wasn’t the weekend and hasn’t been the season we’ve been looking for, but we did enough to get into the Countdown and that’s what we’re out here for. Hopefully we can turn it around through the Countdown and make up some points on the rest of the field.”
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