All four John Force Racing teams took advantage of unseasonably cool temperatures to post solid qualifying runs Friday for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals after a strong chance of rain in the Norwalk area forced NHRA officials to move up the day’s qualifying sessions by six hours.
The two Friday sessions were originally scheduled for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET but were eventually run at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team made two solid runs, going 3.947 seconds at 331.53 mph in Q1 (second quickest of the round) and a quicker 3.918 seconds at 330.63 mph in Q2, which was good enough for third quickest of the day.
“The Friday sessions went really well for our Bandero Café team,” said DeJoria. “On the first run, we qualified second with a 3.94-second run and earned two bonus points. On the second run, they tuned it up a bit. We were the second-to-last pair so we got to see all the cars in front of us and they were running really good numbers. So, we went out and ran a 3.91 or 90. We dropped to third but still walked away with another bonus point for a total of three today. The rain stayed away and we feel really good going so far.”
Josh Hart and the Speedmaster team posted the fifth-quickest Top Fuel time with a Q2 run of 3.803 seconds at 332.34 mph after dropping a cylinder in Q1.
Jordan Vandergriff put the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car into the sixth spot with a Q2 run of 3.936 seconds at 329.18 mph after smoking the tires in Q1.
“I haven’t looked at the numbers too closely, but if you look at our 60-foot to 330 time, I think they’re gonna be almost identical,” Vandergriff said. “I think we pushed a little too hard in Q1 so we pulled it back a little…maybe too much. Most importantly, the 3.936 is very impressive for this team. We wanted to get down the racetrack in that right lane and we did.”
Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team smoked the tires in Q1 but came back in Q2 with a solid run of 3.945 seconds at 327.59 mph to grab the No. 8 spot.
Qualifying sessions for Saturday, June 27, are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.Television coverage includes qualifying action on Sunday, June 28, from 12-2 p.m. ET on FS1, leading into eliminations from 5:30-9 p.m. ET on FOX.
The post John Force Racing Posts Strong Day One Numbers at Norwalk first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
