CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS
BRISTOL DRAGWAY IN BRISTOL, TENNESSEE
JUNE 19, 2022
Chevrolet drivers celebrate Father’s Day with wins at Bristol
• Aaron Stanfield collects second Pro Stock Wally of the season
• David Barton wins Factory Stock Showdown in all-COPO Camaro final
• Robert Hight earns 73rd Funny Car No. 1 qualifier; John Force reaches semifinals
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 19, 2022) — Aaron Stanfield collected his fifth career Pro Stock victory a few days after his daughter, Oakleigh, was born February 21. On his first Father’s Day, he dedicated his sixth Wally to his father – 2021 Super Stock champion Greg – earned at Bristol Dragway.
No. 1 qualifier Stanfield, making his fourth final-round appearance of the season in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro SS, defeated class points leader Erica Enders in the third meeting of the Elite Motorsports teammates in the final in seven National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series events.
“As a team, we did a really good job today,” said Stanfield, who also won at Phoenix. “It was not a good show in the final round; we had some tire shake. I tried to shift through it, I saw some smoke (pouring from Ender’s Melling Performance Camaro SS) and I just stuck it back in gear and tried to get there. I want to say Happy Father’s Day to my dad. It’s the best gift I could give him. I’m glad we could get it done.”
David Barton of Reading, Pennsylvania, defeated Stephen Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, in an all-Chevrolet COPO Camaro final among former Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown champions. Daniel Condon was the No. 1 qualifier in his COPO Camaro.
“It worked out well for us today,” said Barton, who moved to the top of the standings through four of eight rounds in his 2022 COPO Camaro. “This category is insanely hard. You’re either smoking the tires or pulling a 200-foot wheelie. It’s hard to find a balance, so this is gratifying.”
Robert Hight earned the 73rd No. 1 Funny Car qualifier honor of his distinguished career, which is sixth on the NHRA all-time list. Hight, driving the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, lost in the quarterfinals. He remains second in the Funny Car standings.
John Force, driving the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS, advanced to the Funny Car semifinals from the No. 3 qualifying spot and reached 1,399 career elimination round victories. He is fourth in the standings.
Top Fuel No. 5 qualifier Brittany Force lost traction early in her quarterfinal round run in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster and fell to Antron Brown. She retains the points lead built on three victories in the nine races. Austin Prock, driving the Montana Brand/ Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, lost in the first round.
Darren Poole-Adams of Shelby, North Carolina, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to victory in Stock Eliminator, defeating Todd Ewing’s ’67 Camaro in the final.
“I’ve been blessed this weekend. If you look at my stats, they’re probably the worst in drag racing. It just falls into my lap some days,” said Poole-Adams, who picked up his second national event Wally of the season.
L. Scott Libersher of Wilmington, Illinois, was runner-up in Super Stock in his COPO Camaro.
Chevrolet teams are back on track June 24-26 for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. FOX will telecast eliminations at 3 p.m. ET June 26. Erica Enders drove the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS to victory in Pro Stock in the 2021 event at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. Brittany Force was runner-up in Top Fuel in her Chevrolet dragster.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 5 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “It was a tough weekend here at Thunder Valley for this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team. We got eliminated in round two but, luckily we kept the points lead. We have a quick turnaround and get to head to Norwalk next weekend. We’ll look to make up some points and pick things back up, get our momentum back.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRANDS/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 7 qualifier; fell in first round): “Not the performance we needed today, but it was another good weekend of logging data. This Montana Brand team made gains in the heat all weekend. On a positive note of exiting round one, I was happy with the recovery of the car to get it down the track. I have been working on getting better in that area as a driver and I think it showed today. One of these days that could win us a round. Glad we only have a few days to stew on the loss before getting to Norwalk.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Not a bad weekend, keeping ourselves in the hunt. This PEAK Chevy went a couple rounds, the guys worked hard, we improved through qualifying, that’s all you can ask for. We’ll take a couple days and then turn right around and head to Norwalk and look to get the job done.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “Obviously not the way we wanted today to go. There was more out there for this Auto Club Chevy, but we’ll be OK. We figured things out from qualifying, the track was tricky, conditions were tough. I’m just glad we don’t get a break; we get to head right to Norwalk, Ohio, where conditions will be similar and we’ll be able to get back to where we need to be.”
About Chevrolet
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