CHEVROLET IN NHRA
LUCAS OIL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
POMONA, CALIFORNIA
TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT
APRIL 2, 2023
DALLAS GLENN EARNS CHEVROLET’S 250TH NHRA PRO STOCK WIN AND HIS FIFTH CAREER VICTORY AT POMONA
- Dallas Glenn earned Chevrolet’s 369th win Pro Stock since 1970, the 250th in the Chevrolet Camaro.
- Austin Prock raced to his eighth career final round, finishing runner-up in his fourth straight final round at Pomona.
POMONA, Calif. (April 2, 2023) – Under sunny Southern Californian skies at the In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals saw Chevrolet racing to victory in Pro Stock once again this season, with Dallas Glenn in the RAD Torque Chevrolet Camaro SS capturing his fifth career NHRA victory in his ninth final round, Chevrolet’s 250th victory in the Camaro, and the 369th Pro Stock win since 1970.
“I looked over and he was right there,” said Glenn on racing his KB Titan Racing teammate Matt Hartford in the final round. “I knew he’s been outrunning me down the back, so I knew it was tight. It got real loose from 1,000 ft. on. It feels really good. I’ve never won here at Pomona. I’ve been in the final round once in Stock. This feels awesome right here. This is great.”
For Brittany Force, in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, and John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock, in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, it came down to the semifinals facing each other to see who would move to the final round to face off for the win. With identical runs to the 60-foot mark, Prock got the win over B. Force after she smoked the tires mid-track, with Prock entering his fourth straight final round in Pomona versus Justin Ashley, finishing runner-up for the fourth time in his career on his run of 3.762 ET at 327.43 MPH.
Earning the second No. 1 qualifier of her young NHRA Pro Stock career, Camrie Caruso, in her Powerbuilt Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, looked to kick off her Sunday strong, and raced to the semifinals until KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, in his RAD Torque Chevrolet Camaro SS, knocked her out and raced to the finals to face teammate Matt Hartford. While Hartford beat Glenn off of the starting line in reaction time, Glenn powered to the finish line first to capture the Wally.
In Funny Car, both John Force Racing Chevrolet Funny Cars faced early ends to their race days, eliminated by their opponents in Round 1. John Force, who qualified No. 16 after an on-track incident in Q2 Saturday sent him to a backup BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car, looks to the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for redemption. Robert Hight, in the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car, started the weekend with a strong run in qualifying to put him on the ladder in the No. 3 position. He next heads to Las Vegas’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals to potentially compete in his 400th NHRA Funny Car event.
Up next for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Friday, April 14-Sunday, April 16, 2023, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Broadcast of Sunday’s eliminations will air live on April 16 at 9:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).
ROUND 1 RECAP
Top Fuel:
No. 2 Brittany Force defeated No. 13 Ron August, Jr. on a solo run after August, Jr. faces mechanical issues on the starting line, with B. Force setting top speed of the event with the strong pass.
No. 12 Austin Prock defeated No. 3 Leah Pruett after Prock made a solid run at 3.739 ET at 331.53 MPH while Pruett smoked the tires.
Funny Car:
No. 16 John Force falls to No. 1 Cruz Pedregon after Force smokes the tires early on his run.
No. 3 Robert Hight falls to No. 14 Terry Haddock after smoking the tires during the run and was unable to recover to catch Haddock.
Pro Stock:
No. 8 Troy Coughlin, Jr. defeated No. 9 Kyle Koretsky in a close race with his run of 6.550 ET at 210.74 MPH.
No. 10 Erica Enders defeated No. 7 Cristian Cuadra with her run of 6.547 ET at 210.01 MPH.
No. 6 Greg Anderson falls to No. 11 Fernando Cuadra, Jr. after red lighting on the starting line.
No. 5 Bo Butner, III defeated No. 12 Mason McGaha with his run of 6.553 ET at 209.95 MPH.
No. 4 Dallas Glenn defeated No. 13 Chris McGaha with his run of 6.535 ET at 210.41 MPH.
No. 2 Matt Hartford defeated No. 15 Deric Kramer with his run of 6.532 ET at 211.03 MPH.
No. 1 Camrie Caruso defeated No. 16 Steve Graham on her run of 6.546 ET at 209.98 MPH.
No. 3 Aaron Stanfield defeated No. 14 Jerry Tucker with his run of 6.562 ET at 209.92 MPH.
ROUND 2 RECAP
Top Fuel:
B. Force defeated Shawn Langdon with her run of 3.729 ET at 330.55 MPH.
Prock defeated Steve Torrence with his run of 3.822 ET at 318.32 MPH.
Pro Stock:
Stanfield defeated Cuadra, Jr. with his run at 6.576 ET at 210.67 MPH.
Caruso defeated Coughlin, Jr. with her run of 6.576 ET at 210.24 MPH.
Glenn defeated Butner, III with his run of 6.547 ET at 210.80 MPH.
Hartford defeated Enders with his run of 6.545 ET at 210.70 MPH and getting lane choice in the semifinals.
SEMIFINALS
Top Fuel:
Prock defeated B. Force after his run of 3.734 ET at 331.36 MPH in identical timing at the 60-foot mark, with B. Force smoking the tires mid-track.
Pro Stock:
Glenn defeated Caruso with his run of 6.573 ET at 209.43 MPH after his .002 reaction time at the starting line.
Hartford defeated Stanfield with his run of 6.558 ET at 210.44 MPH after a lengthy staging battle on the starting line.
FINALS
Top Fuel:
Prock fell to Justin Ashley with his run of 3.762 ET at 327.43 MPH.
Pro Stock:
Glenn defeated KB Titan Racing teammate Hartford with his run of 6.546 ET at 209.92 MPH and a reaction time of .025.
DALLAS GLENN – NHRA PRO STOCK WINNER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
Dallas Glenn, driver of the RAD Torque Chevrolet Camaro SS for KB Titan Racing on his win at Pomona:
“I knew I hit the tree good, and then I instantly turned my stomach when I was looking at the Christmas tree. I think I put about a half of a turn in the wheel to the right, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to come back. I pulled third (gear) and it just kind of came back. I think I feel like I had to earn it on that one, but we came back. Dave Connolly and Rob Downing turned around and we made a really good run in the final.”
On getting the win at Pomona after finishing runner-up in 2010 in Stock:
“Oh, I really wanted it. I really wanted it when Jody (Lang) got me back then. Pomona has been up and down for me. Some years, I do really good and I come up just a little short in the semis, and some years, it’s just absolutely brutal to me. To finally get this win down feels really good. I’ve always wanted to win here.”
With Pro Stock being tough this year, everybody out there is brutal on race day…
“Absolutely. When you go in for the first run on Friday, you cannot leave anything on the table because if you slow down two-thousandths, you could lose six spots. It’s just so brutal. In between Phoenix and here, Doug at our shop made me a new clutch pedal and made tweaks to it, and I really like it.”
On the final round against KB Titan Racing teammate Matt Hartford…
“I don’t know if there’s too much of a difference here in lane choice right now. We’ve made good runs in both, and I think it was probably pretty even. I just made that one run in the semis in the right (lane), so I wasn’t scared of it. I knew they were going to make some changes and I knew the track was going to be good. Hartford had been getting me by a couple of thousandths all day, so I knew I needed to get him on the tree and I felt like I missed it but it felt really nice. I kind of crossed my fingers as I ran through the gears, and it definitely made a really good run.”
Dallas on recapping his Pomona 1 race day:
“It’s obviously a great long day, and any time I’m worn out at the end of the day, I’m pretty happy about it. It started off, I mean, I’ve got an absolutely great car right now, making small tweaks to it and just running really, really good. Really happy with it. It’s a different car from last year and I really like it. I’m really comfortable in it. I feel really good. Started off just making a nice clean run. Second round come up, and it was another nice clean run. I think Bo (Butner, III) shook, and I was just clicking them off making nice clean passes, hitting my shifts. Then I came up against Camrie (Caruso), and I know she really wants to beat me. She was double-0 on me last time, and I knew she would be good. I know she’s fast; she was the No. 1 qualifier. I just kind of did everything I could to absolutely murder the tree the best I could, and when it dropped green, it was really happy because it felt really good. Then it took a hard left on me and I didn’t know if I was going to get it back until about third gear and it kind of came back real nice. I ran through the gears, and then I took a glance over and I couldn’t see her, so I was pretty thankful about that. In the final, I feel I got real lucky that Rob Downing and Dave Connolly and Nate Van Wassenhove gave me a really good car for the final round. It went nice and straight; had a great 60-foot. Hit all of my shifts good. It was spinning a little bit through the lights, but we were good enough to hold on for the win. I don’t think Matt (Hartford) made the run that he wanted, and he was really good on the tree. I was a little nervous when I left on that one because I feel like I didn’t get it all.”
You are now the NHRA Pro Stock points leader for the first time in your career. How does that feel?
“That feels really good. Obviously, it’s early in the season, but you know points at the beginning of the season mean just as much as the points near the end of the season. It feels really good. I’m probably going to take a screenshot of that when the points come out so I can see it and save it. Hopefully, that ends the same at the end of the year.”
You’re still young in your career but you’ve had a lot of big wins. What do these continue to mean to you when you’re able to win at some of the legendary tracks?
“I’ve always wanted it here. I’ve done pretty good in Sportsman here and I’ve done pretty good in Sportsman but I’ve never been able to seal the deal so to do it in Pomona, we come here twice a year, so it’s been slightly frustrating to me. I’ll have a great car then all of a sudden, it shakes in the semifinals one year, or it just goes and shakes first round. There’s always little things going on. I knew I’ve had a really good race car. I feel like it’s been one tiny little thing that’s holding me up all season so far, and it all kind of came together today. We stayed and tested Monday in Phoenix and I think we figured out a lot of stuff. So it’s going to be a really good car for the rest of the season.”
You mentioned a different clutch pedal. Could you elaborate on what you did?
“I started off with kind of a shorter one, and then I kind of went a longer for Phoenix. I feel like I went a little over-center, so I met somewhere in the middle. The shape of it is slightly different, and it feels really, really comfortable on my foot. As far as stiff or soft, this is actually one of the first races I haven’t touched it the entire race. I kind of just kept everything the same. I knew from the first run when I went perfect on the tree I could hit it good when I needed to. Other than that, I’ve just been clicking them off making sure I do a good job staging, and just kind of clicking them off.”
That’s two wins in a row for KB Titan Racing. What’s different since the merger from your perspective?
“The Whitleys have been doing a phenomenal job. Not saying that Ken and Judy Black haven’t, they’re great, the absolutely greatest owners. They’re the nicest people I’ve ever met. We’ve been doing a lot more testing than we have in previous years. They’ve been working really, really hard. I know that last year kind of stung really bad, especially for Greg (Anderson). We’ve been working really hard back at the shop. A lot of new things coming. I think we’re going to be really good for the rest of the season. I feel like some of our performance that appears to be, I think, maybe the Elite (Motorsports) team might’ve fallen off just a little bit kind of like we did the previous year. So, I’m sure they’re going to get it back and the racing is going to get even tougher from here.”
Looking ahead to the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas:
“I absolutely love Vegas. Me and that track usually get along. I’m really looking forward to the Four-Wide. I feel like last year, I kind of almost got robbed a little bit. I felt really good on the tree and I had the fastest car going into the final quad and a wire broke, then everything shut off in my car. I feel like I got robbed of a win on that one so I’m really looking for redemption on that.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (TEAM CHEVY QUOTES):
Austin Prock, driver of the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing:
“Really excellent points day for our Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team. Really proud of these guys. It’s race three and they worked like champions today. We knocked out hitters in the first three rounds of eliminations and then we went head-to-head with one of the hottest cars in the class right now. We’re starting to hit our strides and I’m really excited about it.”
Brittany Force, driver of the Flav-R-Pack/Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing:
“Overall a good weekend for this Flav-R-Pac team qualifying second and making a semifinal appearance. We’re qualified now in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge which is excellent for u because it means bonus points at the end of the regular season. We had this car running, made an awesome lap first round, made it to semis and it was our teammate Austin Prock that got around us. A good weekend and we’re looking forward to going to Vegas.”
Robert Hight, driver of the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car for John Force Racing:
“Not the day this Auto Club team was looking for. Really wanted to be in that winner’s circle for Auto Club. It’s how it goes sometimes. Bit of an unexpected day in Funny Car, but that’s drag racing, any day could be your day. We’ll bounce back, I’m not worried. We’ve already proven we know what we need to do and how to do it. I have all the confidence in my guys. Jimmy Prock with Thomas Prock and Nick Hildahl, they’ll be anxious to get back out again in Vegas. I know I am.”
John Force, driver of the BlueDEF Chevrolet Funny Car for John Force Racing:
“Tough weekend for this BlueDEF Chevy team. Tougher than we’ve had in a while. It will be okay though, it’s early, we’ll get it figured out, we’ll be okay. Robert with Auto Club, Flav-R-Pac, and Cornwell Tools already has a win, Brittany and that Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is getting things figured out and Prock going to the finals with Montana Brand. It’s coming together.”
Greg Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS for KB Titan Racing:
“I rolled right through the lights. I put it on the wood, and she just kept on rolling. We’ve got a problem there we’ve got to figure out. It did it last night to a minor degree and I gave it extra line lock pressure this morning. It laughed at it; it just rolled right through the beams. One of those things. We’ve got to figure it out before the next race. I had a great car but another gremlin got us.”
About Chevrolet
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