In the eighth pair of Funny Cars, Force, 24, posted a 4.071 ET at 311.49 mph, taking her to the No. 2 spot in qualifying. Her speed was the fastest of the day in the Funny Car category.
“Going to the No. 2 spot with a run like that and getting top speed is a great way to start the weekend. We're looking forward to tomorrow and seeing if we can push it a little further,” said Force.
This is Force's sophomore year after a strong rookie season in 2012, winning Auto Club's Road to the Future Award for NHRA's top Rookie of the Year and achieving Full Throttle's Hardest Working Crew Award for the Funny Car category alongside her Traxxas Ford Mustang team.
“It was very nerve-racking going up there for the first race of my second season,” Force said. “I think I was more nervous this year starting out at Pomona than I was last year for my rookie season. I don't know how, but I was just so nervous getting up to the starting line. We've got a great team. I have great crew chiefs in Ron Douglas and Dan Hood. We showed in testing in West Palm that we have a good, fast race car.”
Force had the quickest, as well as the fastest, Funny Car pass at preseason testing in West Palm Beach, Fla., giving the team a feeling of confidence for 2013. Force's best pass of a 4.012 ET at 322 mph was also a personal career-best time and speed.
“I was eager. I felt like this offseason took way too long,” Force said. “I was just ready to get back in the seat of my funny car. Getting that first lap out of the way felt amazing. I mean, it's such a load off your chest and it's always a plus to go to the top half of the field, so I'm very excited. It started to pull me to the outside a little bit so I even turned it off just a click early; it was just a hair, but it ended up being a great run. That shows us that we really have a good car and a great starting point to work with for the rest of the weekend.”
Courtney Force's performance was the highlight of the day for John Force Racing. Prior to Force's run both John Force and Robert Hight smoked the tires in the left lane. John Force ended the day with the 14th quickest pass, 6.626 seconds, behind the wheel of his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, and Hight's Auto Club Ford Mustang posted the 16th quickest run at 8.083 seconds. Neither of these times carried over into the second day of qualifying on Feb 15.
NHRA at Pomona
Qualifying
Thursday's results after the first one of four rounds of qualifying for the 53rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, first of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Qualifying continues Friday and Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel
1. Brandon Bernstein, 3.761 seconds, 325.22 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.777, 326.08; 3. Clay Millican, 3.799, 325.77; 4. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.802, 325.37; 5. Morgan Lucas, 3.814, 325.06; 6. Antron Brown, 3.834, 322.19; 7. Sidnei Frigo, 3.890, 298.60; 8. T.J. Zizzo, 3.959, 270.48; 9. Terry McMillen, 3.962, 286.32; 10. Larry Dixon, 3.968, 244.74; 11. Leah Pruett, 4.018, 251.86; 12. Steve Torrence, 4.037, 229.12. Not Qualified: 13. David Grubnic, 4.045, 228.85; 14. Bob Vandergriff, 4.488, 173.90; 15. Doug Kalitta, 4.584, 164.11; 16. Steve Faria, 5.592, 120.23; 17. Shawn Langdon, 5.800, 115.01; 18. Spencer Massey, 6.160, 103.54; 19. Steven Chrisman, 10.403, 83.38; 20. Brittany Force, broke.
Funny Car
1. Gary Densham, Dodge Charger, 4.053, 307.09; 2. Courtney Force, Ford Mustang, 4.071, 311.49; 3. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.087, 308.78; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.093, 296.44; 5. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.097, 304.46; 6. Del Worsham, Camry, 4.104, 306.26; 7. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.148, 309.13; 8. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.190, 305.08; 9. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.221, 283.25; 10. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.232, 244.83; 11. Phil Burkart, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.280, 286.50; 12. Ron Capps, Charger, 5.115, 146.91. Not Qualified: 13. Tony Pedregon, 6.579, 101.92; 14. John Force, 6.626, 98.58; 15. Jeff Arend, 7.107, 95.17; 16. Robert Hight, 8.083, 86.25; 17. Todd Lesenko, 11.749, 63.41.
Pro Stock
1. V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, 6.538, 211.49; 2. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.541, 212.43; 3. Mike Edwards, Camaro, 6.545, 212.26; 4. Erica Enders-Stevens, Chevy Cobalt, 6.555, 211.66; 5. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.579, 210.57; 6. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.580, 210.64; 7. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.585, 209.30; 8. Steve Kent, Camaro, 6.611, 208.84; 9. Chris McGaha, Avenger, 6.612, 209.04; 10. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.614, 209.69; 11. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 6.617, 208.71; 12. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.619, 209.10. Not Qualified: 13. Warren Johnson, 6.619, 208.36; 14. Kurt Johnson, 6.621, 209.65; 15. Matt Hartford, 6.632, 209.79; 16. Deric Kramer, 6.635, 207.94; 17. Mark Wolfe, 11.378, 78.95; 18. Jeg Coughlin, 12.335, 95.75; 19. Allen Johnson, 13.855, 63.06.
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130215/nhra/130219868#ixzz2L43VR9kt
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