CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
LUCAS OIL NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS
ATLANTA DRAGWAY, COMMERCE, GEORGIA
POST-RACE RECAP
MAY 2, 2021
Chevrolet closes out Atlanta Dragway with Pro Stock victory
• No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson picks up second win of season
• John Force is Funny Car runner-up for 106th time in career
• No. 5 qualifier Brittany Force advances to Top Fuel semifinals
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 2, 2021) – Greg Anderson, John Force and Brittany Force gave spectators a race day to remember at the final National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series event at Atlanta Dragway.
The 40th event at the dragstrip – in the 70th year of NHRA competition – was memorable for the Chevrolet drivers, too.
Anderson, driving the Denso Spark Plugs Chevrolet Camaro SS, tied his mentor, Warren Johnson, for most Pro Stock victories at Atlanta Dragway with five and moved closer to matching Johnson on the all-time class victory list. Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier for the third time in as many races this season, won for the second time.
John Force came within .003 of a second of securing his eighth Funny Car victory at the track and 152nd of his hall of fame career. The driver of the PEAK/BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro SS settled for his 106th career runner-up finish.
No. 5 Top Fuel qualifier Brittany Force advanced to the semifinals, where reaction time cost her a shot at the victory. Her Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster made a quicker pass down the track (3.785 seconds), but Force came up short on the Tree (.073 of a second to event winner Antron Brown’s .043) and she fell on a holeshot.
Anderson moved to one win of Johnson on the Pro Stock list with his 96th victory in 160 final rounds. He defeated No. 11 qualifier Vincent Nobile, driving an Elite Motorsports Camaro SS, in the final. Nobile won the last Pro Stock race at the track in 2018.
“My Denso Chevy was absolutely flawless all weekend long. I’ve never made four smoother, nicer runs than this on race day,” said Anderson, who slipped past reigning champion Erica Enders in the semifinals. “It’s been an awesome day. A lot of history here, I love racing here. To tie Warren (Johnson) to go out here with five wins each is special.”
John Force, the No. 11 qualifier who was making his 38th appearance at Atlanta Dragway, fell to Bob Tasca III, who won for the second consecutive race.
“Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer have had that car running on a string since Vegas and they got the win, but my guys, this PEAK / BlueDEF team, they performed good,” Force said. “There’s a lot of work for me to get back in the game, keep improving on that Christmas Tree. But I was really proud of my guys here and we moved up in the points.”
Robert Hight, the No. 12 qualifier in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell in the first round of Funny Car competition.
The second four-wide event of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season is the next scheduled event. Chevrolet teams and drivers will convene May 14-16 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, for the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The four-wide events at zMAX Dragway and The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway were canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 5 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Good weekend for this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team. Final race in Atlanta. We wanted to get the job done but we went some rounds with a semifinal round finish. I know we moved up in points, so we’re making progress. We’re getting there. I’ve been out of the seat for a year, so we’re already off to a good start.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVORLET CAMARO SS (No. 12 qualifier; fell in first round): “It just wasn’t our weekend. There were a lot of variables out there, weather, track condition, but we had the same chances as everyone else. This Auto Club team, we’ll be ready for the next one. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they know what they’re doing, and we’ll get after it in Charlotte.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in final): “(Co-crew chiefs) Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer have had that (Bob Tasca III) car running on a string since Vegas and they got the win, but my guys, this PEAK / BlueDEF team, they performed good. There’s a lot of work for me to get back in the game, keep improving on that Christmas Tree. But I was really proud of my guys here and we moved up to the points. So, we’ll see how it goes at the next one in Charlotte.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, DENSO SPARK PLUGS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; event winner): “Dream weekend. My Denso Chevy was absolutely flawless all weekend long. I’ve never made four smoother, nicer runs than this on race day. It’s been an awesome day. A lot of history here, I love racing here. To tie Warren (Johnson) to go out here with five wins each is special. I just need to talk to someone to open these gates back up and let me have one more crack at it. It’s been wonderful. Thanks to all my helpers, all our sponsors – Denso, Summit, Chevrolet – thank you so much.”
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; fell in second round on red light): “We qualified good. In the second round I shallow staged, a little shallower than I wanted. It blew right through the clutch. They are super touchy; I should have collected my thoughts a little faster, but it’s easy to say now. It was another learning opportunity. KB got the win, Greg (Anderson) won, so keep it in the team. Still a good weekend.”
VINCENT NOBILE, ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 11 qualifier; fell in final): “I’ve missed this, for sure. It’s good to be back in the seat. Now I’m going to be addicted again; I don’t even know what to do. Thanks to Richard Freeman for letting me drive the car this weekend. What a weekend.”
