CHEVROLET IN NHRA
2024 GERBER COLLISION AND GLASS ROUTE 66 NHRA NATIONALS
ROUTE 66 DRAGWAY
JOLIET, ILLINOIS
TEAM CHEVY RACE ADVANCE | NOTES & QUOTES
MAY17-19, 2024
CHEVROLET TAKES ON THE 2024 GERBER COLLISION AND GLASS ROUTE 66 NHRA NATIONALS AT ROUTE 66 RACEWAY WITH JOHN FORCE RACING
Notes:
- Team Chevy heads to the 2024 Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway May 17-19, 2024, the sixth round of the season.
- Entering the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Austin Prock, driver of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car remains the Funny Car points leader ahead of J.R. Todd by 17 points.
- In 2023, Prock’s teammate Robert Hight captured the No. 1 qualifier at Route 66 Raceway in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.
- Both John Force (Funny Car) and Brittany Force (Top Fuel) look to potentially capture a double-up in Joliet, with Brittany also representing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant along with Team Chevy.
- Brittany Force, driver of the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, looks to Joliet to break her slump and add to her 16 event wins, 35 final round appearances, and 47 No. 1 qualifiers in Top Fuel.
- Still seeking her first win at Route 66 Raceway, B. Force has one final round appearance in 2014, as well as a two-time No. 1 qualifier in 2016 and 2017. Additionally, she raced to the track speed record in 2023 with her pass of 334.82 mph.
- John Force, also in PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant colors on his Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, enters Route 66 Raceway aiming to add to his three previous wins at the track in addition to his 156 career wins.
- J. Force, after finishing runner-up in Charlotte, will also participate in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at Joliet in Funny Car this weekend.
- Pro Stock saw Dallas Glenn racing to victory for the Bowtie brand in 2023’s Joliet event after also going No. 1. Glenn looks to Route 66 Raceway to go back-to-back in a drive to the Winner’s Circle amongst an ever-tight Pro Stock field.
What They’re Saying (Quotes):
BRITTANY FORCE, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE & COOLANT CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER:
“Our team struggled last year, and we need to get our car back on track. We were lost all last season. I already feel the improvement that’s come into this season, looking at what we did last year and all the testing we’ve done this year. We’re kind of combining the last few years and trying to create our tune-up that way, combining all the good from those last few years. But it’s something you can’t do overnight, it’s always a work in progress. But this extra testing is definitely getting us closer to the ultimate goal, to turning on the win lights and getting us back into the winner’s circle.”
“Our team is very structured with how we move through the season. So we had a goal coming into the first quarter, the first five races. That we should have so many round wins. Well, the problem is we’re already behind, which is why we’ve been doing (so much) extra testing to get us moving forward quicker than what we’ve been doing this year. We need to get ahead of ourselves if we want to be competitive at that point when that Countdown (to the Championship six-race playoff) kicks off, and that is what we’re aiming to do.”
“I look forward to coming to Chicago because it’s a unique setting. This year, with my dad running PEAK and me running PEAK, it gives us the opportunity for a double-up in all-PEAK colors and gives us the opportunity to do something we’ve never been able to do.”
AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR:
On racing at Joliet this weekend…
“They’re all big races throughout the season, but this is always a good one for us. Growing up in Lansing (Mich.), (Route 66 is) kind of like a home race in a sense to have some family members and friends out there, it’s always a good time and it’s a huge race for PEAK and quite a few of our partners.”
On being the current points leader and the thought of a target on his back heading into the next part of the season…
“There’s some very challenging tracks coming up. New Hampshire is always a challenging track, you’ve got Bristol, of course, and Chicago as well. How do we keep our momentum going? I’m just excited to get back to the racetrack, sitting out of the seat for three weeks.
“I’m just excited to get back in the seat. Yeah, there are some tough tracks ahead, but we’ve also done well at some other hard tracks in the first part of the season already. This team and this car has been really successful at all those racetracks. So I’m looking forward to getting back doing what I love, driving this race car. It’s like riding a bike. it’ll all come back real quick, but we just got to keep our heads down and keep being really focused. So I’m looking forward to what should be a good weekend.”
Do you still pinch yourself at the success you’ve instantly had in Funny Car this year?
“This year has just been a blur. It’s crazy that we’re already a quarter of the way through the season. It just seems like it’s flown by, and it’s been a lot mentally to process and it just doesn’t seem like it’s really happened. So I’ve just got to keep doing the same job I’ve been doing.”
“It’s been working so far, but we’ve got a long ways to go. I’m just head down, got to stay focused, can’t get too caught up in everything surrounding you and just go up there and do everything one moment at a time and try to be perfect every moment you do something.”
JOHN FORCE, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE & COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR:
“This is a very important race for us. It’s our home office (PEAK is headquartered in north suburban Northbrook, IL.), but Route 66, where NHRA puts on that national event, is unbelievable. It’s fun to race there, the access to it is great, the stands wrap around so that the fans can see everything. It’s just a great place to be.”
“I’m also excited to be representing PEAK and Blue Def. And with myself, a Funny Car world champion and Brittany (Force), a Top Fuel world champion, if we were to double up wearing PEAK colors and at a PEAK race, that’ll be huge. We’d love to double up, so we’re going to be trying. And this is also a home race for my son-in-law (and crew chief), Danny Hood, who is from Chicago.”
“I’ve always said Indy (U.S. Nationals) was our granddaddy of races and, of course, the world finals at Pomona. And this is major, just as big to me because of all the things that we’re doing.”
“We’ve got a big event at PEAK’s headquarters on Wednesday, we’re going to have media all over town, TV and radio appearances and then we’re going out to the racetrack for photo shoots. So, all this is exciting. I love this race, the track and we’ve run good at it. We’re going in there with guns blazing.”
On returning to Chicago in 2023…
“I love the concept of Route 66, from the old days of the highway (Route 66 Raceway) that went from Chicago and across the country, all the way to California,” Force said. “You never want to lose a race. But you especially don’t want to lose one that’s in a market that’s as huge as Chicago. We’re excited that we’re back in Chicago because that’s where my major sponsor is. That’s where we need to be.”
How to Watch:
The 2024 Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK kick off Friday, May 17 at Route 66 Raceway with qualifying, airing at 7:30 p.m. ET that evening. Saturday’s qualifying airs Sunday before eliminations, at 1 p.m. ET. Round 1 of Finals air also Sunday at 4 p.m. ET, with the remaining rounds airing at 10 p.m. ET from near Chicago. All sessions from Route 66 Raceway air with NHRA on FOX on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Coverage streams live throughout the weekend on NHRA.tv, and is available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.
TEAM CHEVY BY THE NUMBERS:
1,450: Round wins for John Force (1st all-time).
626: Round wins for Robert Hight; 13th all-time. Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), sits 12th, with 629.
167: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for John Force (1st all-time).
161: Number of Chevrolet Racing Funny Car wins since 1967.
84: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for Robert Hight (6th all-time). Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) is fifth with 88.
81: Number of Chevrolet Racing Funny Car wins with the Camaro SS body.
47: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for Brittany Force.
28: Number of NHRA championships Chevrolet holds as a manufacturer since entering the first in 1966. This is the seventh consecutive award and ninth in 11 seasons. No other manufacturer has won it more than Chevrolet.
25: Wins by John Force in a Chevrolet-bodied Funny Car.
20: Chevrolet career Top Fuel wins in NHRA.
16: Number of Chevrolet career wins by Brittany Force.
7: Number of Funny Car driver championships.
2: Number of Top Fuel driver championships.
About Chevrolet
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