CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
DODGE//SRT NHRA NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
OCT. 31, 2021
Chevrolet drivers take title fights to NHRA Finals
• Rookie of the year contender Dallas Glenn earns third Pro Stock victory
• Chevrolet COPO Camaro drivers sweep Super Stock, Stock Eliminator
• Factory Stock Showdown champion Aaron Stanfield wins in COPO Camaro
LAS VEGAS (Oct. 31, 2021) – Chevrolet drivers will be pointing to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) season finale with Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock championship aspirations intact.
The Nov. 12-14 Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, featuring a points-and-a-half structure, will be awash with drama as Brittany Force will seek her second Top Fuel crown, John Force will aim for a 17th career trophy and three Team Chevy drivers will attempt to wring every point out of the Pro Stock pool.
NHRA rookie of the year contender Dallas Glenn blunted the advancement of reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders by cutting a .001-of-a-second light and going on to win the Pro Stock final with a 6.660-second pass at 204.60 mph in the RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro SS.
“I got my first national event win here 10 years ago and to get another here in front of everybody – for RAD, Chevy, Summit, KB Racing and Ken Black, his hometown – my parents live here now. This is the best,” said Glenn, who won for the third time in 16 races.
The penultimate race of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship marked the NHRA’s 1,000th national event, which includes 931 Top Fuel, 913 Funny Car and 899 Pro Stock races. Chevrolet earned its 345th Pro Stock win, including 227 with the Camaro nameplate, since 1970.
Brittany Force claimed her 12th No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier honor – one off the single-season record — in the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster with an impressive run of 3.668 seconds at 331.94 mph. She advanced to the semifinals for the second event in a row and remains second in the standings.
“We are going to fight this thing out, battle it out and it’s not over yet,” said Force, who clinched her first world championship at Pomona in 2017.
Robert Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS, advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive race out of the No. 5 qualifier spot. John Force, the No. 2 qualifier in the PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Camaro SS, lost in the first round but remains in contention for his 17th Funny Car championship after points leader Matt Hagan also lost in the first round.
Enders, who entered race day at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 92 points behind front-runner Greg Anderson, still took a big step toward her fifth world title with three round wins in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro SS to slice the lead to 32 points. Glenn, earning his third career victory, is third in the standings.
Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier for the 11th time in 17 races in the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, opened the door with a first-round loss by one-thousandth of a second to Troy Coughlin Jr. despite making the quickest pass (6.648 seconds) of the round. It was Anderson’s first loss in the opening round this season.
Constant Aviation NHRA Factory Stock Showdown champion Aaron Stanfield drove the Janac Brothers Racing COPO Camaro to victory in the season finale. Chevrolet COPO Camaro drivers won seven of the eight races, including four by Stanfield.
“We locked up the championship and this is icing on top,” said Stanfield, who registered his second series title in a row earlier in October at St. Louis. “It’s cool to do it here at the 1,000th event. We’re pretty pumped up.”
Chevrolet COPO Camaro drivers swept the Stock Eliminator and Super Stock finals. Justin Lamb scored his 28th national event victory and eighth at his home track by driving his COPO Camaro to victory in Stock Eliminator.
“This weekend was probably more great equipment than great driving. I had a couple of good rounds. It worked out,” said Lamb, a five-time Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series champion.
Chris Hall earned his second national event win by driving his COPO Camaro to the finish line first in Super Stock.
FS1 will telecast NHRA Auto Club Finals eliminations live at 4 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 14.
An interview with Pro Stock winner DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS:
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY.
“I knew the first round would be a memorable moment because of the way the ladder was stacked. Aaron (Stanfield) has gotten me twice this year, including a final. When I got past him, I started clicking them off. I think my reputation with the clutch pedal helped me out today. In the final, I tried to do all I could; I have all the faith in (crew chiefs) Rob Downing, Dave Connolly and Jason Line. I knew we’d be good as long as I could do my job and hit my shifts. When I left, I knew I hit the Tree, but I didn’t know how good Erica was until I saw the time slip.”
TELL US ABOUT STAGING FOR THE FINAL WHEN THE CAR WOULDN’T START.
“I go to hit the starter button and it wouldn’t work; it actually broke here. The crew ran up and got it started. Thanks for Erica for waiting. She shut her car off. It was respectful.”
IT WAS A FINAL THAT HELPED KB TEAMMATE GREG ANDERSON AND YOU.
“I know that every point counts and I know that it’s a three-way points battle going into Pomona and I know it can go any way right now, so look out for Pomona it’s going to be fun. My goal (for Pomona) is to do the exact same job. If I can do that, don’t care about the Rookie of the Year. I just want to get as many race wins and road wins as I can. I’ll let everything else take care of itself.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN THE 1,000TH RACE IN NHRA HISTORY?
“Nobody else in history is going to get one of these and I got one. That’s pretty special. I got my first national event win here 10 years ago in Stock Eliminator and to get another here in front of everybody – for RAD, Chevy, Summit, KB Racing and Ken Black, his hometown – my parents live here now. This is the best.”
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “This is frustrating and so difficult. This was our shot really to move on and get around (Steve Torrence). Finally, I had a great light. I’ve been struggling and I’ve been working, and I finally stepped it up but we can’t catch a break. But this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team of Mac Savage, David Grubnic, they are the guys I’m going to go down with. We are going to fight this thing out, battle it out and it’s not over yet. We’ll go to Pomona.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE & COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier, fell in first round): “I remember where I came from and it’s good to see a kid like this (Chris Morel) take his shot. My engine just shut off; I don’t know why.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA TEXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier, fell in semifinals): “Just had to go back to doing what we know how to do.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier, points leader, fell in first round): “That was very disappointing. I obviously didn’t get the job done. The car was great driver wasn’t good enough. Now, we need to find a way to fight back. We’re not giving up. I don’t hear anyone singing just yet. It doesn’t matter who is in the other lane; anybody can beat anybody out here in this class right now. You have to treat it like it’s the toughest dude in the other lane and go out and give it the best you’ve got or you’re going home. I go to every race to win.”
ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 5 qualifier, second in points, fell in final): “I’m looking forward to it. I know all my guys are all up for the battle. We called it at the beginning of the year. Me and Greg (Anderson) said we were going to do our best to kick these kids’ butts and here we are battling it out for each of our attempt at a fifth world championship.”
TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 16 qualifier; fell in semifinals): ”We did what we came here to do. That was a huge round (defeating points leader Greg Anderson in the first round), no doubt, and racing a world champion like Greg Anderson with so much on the line definitely got the adrenaline going. We had a quick start and held on to win by a very close margin. It worked out perfectly. This team is a family and we all know how it works at this point in the season. It happened the other way around in the past with the same teams involved so now we’ll take these results and head to Pomona to see how it ends.”
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