CHEVROLET AT NEW HAMPSHIRE
What: NHRA New England Nationals
When: Friday, June 3-Sunday, June 5
Where: New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire
TV: FS1 will telecast eliminations at 7 p.m. ET June 5
Chevrolet teams seek to continue successful first half of season
Pro Stock rejoins the schedule; John Force Racing building momentum
DETROIT (June 1, 2022) – Following her “Wow!” weekend in Houston, Camrie Caruso immediately wanted to get behind the wheel of the Sand Haulers of America Chevrolet Camaro SS.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock schedule curbed those plans – but not her desire to succeed – for six long weeks.
Caruso’s coming out party April 24, highlighted by her inaugural No. 1 qualifier honor and fender-close runner-up finish to four-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders in a similar Camaro SS, garnered nationwide attention and further fueled the 24-year-old, third-generation driver’s aspirations in the technically challenging and ultra-competitive class.
“I want to be racing every weekend possible. But we have a simulator at the shop that I’ve been in and we have been out testing, so we try to stay on top of things and stay on top of the progress that we have made to make sure that we are going into Epping with our full potential and we leave nothing on the table,” she said. “We are pleased with testing and excited to see what Epping brings.
“Houston was an amazing race, but we want more success.”
Though the NHRA New England Nationals this weekend in Epping, New Hampshire, will be Caruso’s sixth Pro Stock event, her talent and fierce persona behind the wheel are partly drawn from years of competition experience in junior dragster, Super Comp, Top Dragster, Top Alcohol Dragster and even Pro Outlaw 632.
Augmenting the pursuit of her dream has been Caruso’s family, which has expanded this year with Jim Yates coming on board as her crew chief.
“The family support is awesome; I wouldn’t be able to do it without it and I wouldn’t really want to either to be honest. It’s always been a family thing, and Tony (Wilson) and Jim have made themselves part of the family as well. We’re lucky to have them and have the team that we do all around.”
Entering the NHRA New England Nationals seventh in the Pro Stock standings, Caruso has short- and long-term goals.
“I’m excited to go back; we’ve always had good luck at Epping so we’ll see how it goes,” Caruso said. “We have to make sure we’re on our A game every single run, make sure you’re not making any mistakes.”
As for the remainder of the season: “We are going after the championship. That is our main goal. We want to get wins and have more No. 1 qualifiers – we want all of that, but a championship is what we want to accomplish, and I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to.”
The John Force Racing contingent, which has recorded seven victories across Top Fuel (Brittany Force with three) and Funny Car (Robert Hight with three and John Force with one), is looking to continue its consistency of solid runs. Brittany Force, driver of the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster, and Hight, who drives the Automobile Club of Southern California Camaro SS, both visited the winner’s stage at the last stop on tour.
Force paces the Top Fuel standings, while Hight is second in Funny Car points. John Force, who turned the top qualifier honor in the four-wide event at Charlotte into victory in the PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS, is fourth in the standings. He won at Epping in 2021. Austin Prock, a semifinalist at Virginia two weeks ago in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, is fifth in the Top Fuel standings.
Hight’s win May 15 at Virginia was the 150th for Chevrolet in Funny Car competition.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (three-time winner this season; first in points; won the 2017 New England Nationals): “Our Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team heads to Epping coming off a win in Virginia. We’re ahead of ourselves this season with three wins under our belt already. We’re hoping for another New England win,” Force said. “We’re all on the same page and really pulling together as a team and it’s showing on the race track. Our momentum is good, our energy is in the right place, and we’re pumped to get to the track this weekend.”
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (runner-up at Pomona opener): “I’m excited to get this weekend kicked off. The two-week break has seemed like an eternity. New England Dragway has a lot of history so I’m amped up to be back in the seat of my Montana Brand / RMT dragster and working with my guys. We’re really starting to hit our strides. I think our package will have a good shot at winning the New England Nationals. Last year I went to the final as a crew guy, so maybe we can better that by one as a driver.”
FUNNY CAR
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier and Charlotte four-wide winner; 2021 winner at Epping): “Love being in New Hampshire. It’s a great place to race. Epping has been good to me in the past. Winning there last year in front of those great fans, they really do come from all over to see us, it was a great feeling. I’m excited to be going back to New England Dragway, to be back in the seat of my PEAK Chevy. Two weeks off has been painful, time to go to work and get this BlueDEF Camaro in another winner’s circle.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (three-time winner this season; second in points; holds both ends of the track Funny Car records, set in 2017): “It’s been a long two weeks since winning in Virginia. I’m glad we got to spend the time celebrating but I’m ready to get back into my AAA Chevy. When you’re on a roll, you want to carry that momentum over and just keep going. I’m hoping we can do that heading to Epping. I’ve never won there so I’d like to check that off my list. With two weeks away from a race track, I know this AAA team is ready to get back to it.”
PRO STOCK
DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner at Gainesville): “To say I’m ready to get back on track would be the understatement of the year so far for our Rad Torque Systems / KB Racing Chevrolet Camaro team. That five-week hiatus from the NHRA schedule allowed me to bracket race, which keeps me sharp, but I miss being behind the wheel of my Pro Stocker. After two races with weird bad luck things happening with our car, I’m ready for a big rebound in Epping this weekend.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning Pro Stock champion; seeking to become second pro driver with 100 wins): “It’s been a long break; it almost feels like a second offseason, but I think that was good for us. We needed time to work on our stuff, and we feel we’ve used our time wisely. We’ll be a better race team when we show up at Epping.”
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier at Phoenix; runner-up at Gainesville): “I am super excited to get back in the Pro Stocker. It’s been the longest five weeks of my life. We’re ready. The team did a bunch of improvements engine-wise. I’m ready to go race.”
TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up at Phoenix): “It was a long break but we put it to good use. We switched to this new RJ Race Cars Chevrolet earlier in the season and it just takes time to get all the parts and pieces to work together. These cars are all handmade one at a time and they each have their own personalities. Obviously, the more runs you can make, the more data you gain. We mostly focused on the clutch system and matching it to the power the guys in the engine shop have been building for us. Pro Stock is so competitive so every thousandth of a second you find is huge.”
CAMRIE CARUSO, CARUSO FAMILY RACING, SAND HAULERS OF AMERICA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (first season in Pro Stock; No. 1 qualifier and runner-up at Houston): “Houston was a great weekend for the Sand Haulers of America team and I was really going for that win light in the final. Our whole team has a lot of confidence and our Titan Racing Engines have shown we can race with anyone. My crew chief Jim Yates has been very helpful and the support I get from my family is a big help too.”
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