CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
APRIL 3, 2022
Chevrolet drivers hold winning hand at Las Vegas
• Brittany Force scores 12th career Top Fuel victory
• Erica Enders repeats as Pro Stock four-wide winner
• Ryan McClanahan wins Stock Eliminator in COPO Camaro
LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) — Chevrolet drivers had the winning hand at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Brittany Force won the Top Fuel final quad race with a pass of 3.718 seconds at a blistering 338 mph in the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster for her initial win of the season and 12th of her career – all with Chevrolet.
Force, who earned her second NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series victory in the Charlotte four-wide event in 2016, topped the finalists who represent 15 NHRA Top Fuel season titles. She moved to second in the Top Fuel standings through four of the scheduled 22 events.
“This is huge for our team. We’ve had a little bit of a tough start to our season, but our guys got the job done,” said Force, the 2017 Top Fuel champion who holds both ends of the track record including the 338.17 mph run in November 2019 that stands as the class national speed record.
“To be able to look at that final quad and see the guys that we were good enough to pull up next to and then beat them all, it’s something that we’re very proud of. I’m proud just to share the lanes with those guys to be able to race against them. I watched Tony Schumacher when I was out here watching my dad as a kid, so to be able to line up next to him is just something very exciting, and then to turn the win light on is even better.
“We had an awesome race. We qualified pretty well, No. 2, and we got four qualifying sessions this weekend and three out of the four were pretty dang good, so going in today was just consistency.”
She was runner-up in the 2019 four-wide event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and came back to win the fall race.
Four-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders won her second consecutive four-wide event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for her second victory of the season and 35th of her career.
“Las Vegas has been good to me even when I wasn’t at my best,” said Enders, driver of the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS. “Thankfully, I have a crew that picks me up when I need it. That (holeshot loss) in Gainesville was a lot of crap to eat over the last two weeks while we had off. I took it hard. I also lost on a holeshot in Phoenix but my sister reminded me that we’ve had four races this year and I’ve won two of them so she doesn’t let me get too down on myself.
“Our Elite family lost one of the best guys on the planet this week (Pro Mod racer) Scotty Oksas. We wanted to win this one for him.”
She was also the runner-up in the 2021 fall race at the track, won the 2020 and ’19 fall race and was runner-up in the 2018 fall event. Enders closed the gap to No. 1 qualifier and points front-runner Aaron Stanfield, driver of the Janac Brothers Camaro SS, to three points.
Robert Hight, who set low elapsed time of the event (3.864 seconds) in the second Funny Car quad in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, wound up third in the final as he had a cylinder out early in the run.
John Force won his first-round Funny Car match in the PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS with a 3.978-second pass. Force, the No. 2 qualifier, finished third in the second round and did not advance.
Austin Prock, the No. 12 qualifier in the Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, advanced to the second round. His 3.783-second run, which was quicker than his first-round pass, was good for third but not good enough to advance to the final quad.
Ryan McClanahan of San Bernardino, California, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to victory in Stock Eliminator for his 11th national event win. Drivers of a COPO Camaro have won all four Stock Eliminator national events this season.
The NHRA SpringNationals on April 24-26 is next up for Chevrolet teams and drivers. Hight (Funny Car) and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) were winners for Team chevy. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 7:30 p.m. ET April 26 from Houston Raceway Park.
An interview with Top Fuel winner BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier):
YOU RACED AGAINST STEVE TORRENCE ALL THREE ROUNDS. TALK ABOUT THAT.
“I pointed out how tough our quads were every single time. It’s tough trying to keep up with him and make sure we get around him in that final, and we got it done. He had lane choice over us on one of the runs, we got it back on him and we figured it out in the final round.”
DOES IT MAKE THIS WIN SWEETER WHEN IT COMES AGAINST A GROUP LIKE THAT?
“Absolutely. To be able to look at that final quad and see the guys that we were good enough to pull up next to and then beat them all, it’s something that we’re very proud of. I’m proud just to share the lanes with those guys to be able to race against them. I watched Tony Schumacher when I was out here watching my dad as a kid, so to be able to line up next to him is just something very exciting, and then to turn the win light on is even better.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE REST OF THE SEASON?
“It just builds and builds. This just lights a fire under us and motivates us, puts that extra energy that maybe we lost over the last few races because we have struggled. Getting in the winner’s circle with your team, there’s no better feeling than that.”
WHAT WAS PREPARATION LIKE GOING INTO THE FINAL? ANY HEAD GAMES?
“There’s so much going on. There’s not just one car next to you, now there’s three other cars. There’s too much thinking going on. For me, when I pull up there and try to cut a good light and keep my focus, I can’t be thinking about all that. And now you’re adding more into the mix and that makes it far more complicated. I don’t need to go up there worrying about that. For me, I pull up there and I know who I’m going to run but I’m not even thinking about that. It doesn’t matter who we’re up against. It’s about me getting this car down there first and stepping up and getting a win light.”
An interview with Pro Stock winner ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier):
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL AND YOU’VE DONE SO WELL?
“I’m not really sure what it is about Las Vegas. I feel like my guys have a really great tuneup. Everything changes out here. It’s obviously dry, crazy air so you have to have your tuneup right. So I have to give my crew chiefs a lot of credit; they have a ton of data here and they do a great job. I’m not much of a gambler. I’d rather go shopping than gambling, but I love coming to Las Vegas. I’m thankful for the success we’ve had here.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WIN FOR YOU?
“I took Gainesville really hard. I also lost on a holeshot second round at Phoenix as well, so coming off that awesome 900th Pro Stock win in Pomona I kind of fell into a couple race slump. I’m my worst critic; I take a lot of pride in my driving. I’ve been racing Pro Stock for 18 years where we didn’t have any success the first nine, so it’s been quite the ride with Elite Motorsports and I’m really thankful for that. It definitely makes it easier going back to normal work easier when you get to take a Wally on the plane home.”
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR MIND RIGHT FOR THIS RACE?
“I don’t really think I showed up here with my mind right, to be honest with you. I did my very best. It’s just the six inches between my ears – getting in a positive mindset and believing in myself. My goal this year is to make every round count. I didn’t do that in Phoenix and I didn’t do that in Gainesville, but you can only do the best you can and I’m the biggest variable of our entire program being human. So it’s up to me to be positive, crack the Tree, hit my shifts and we’re going to give it our all this year.”
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