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2013 NHRA: Courtney Force Off To Fast Start With Hope Of Gators Win
This time last year, Courtney Force was preparing for her third professional start in the Funny Car category. Today, Force is sitting No. 2 in the point standings, having qualified No. 1 and collected a win at the season-opening Winternationals at her home track, and is ready to take on Gainesville Raceway for the 44th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
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At the last NHRA event in Phoenix at Firebird Raceway, Force qualified in the No. 2 spot, picking up bonus points along the way. Now, Force sits just 45 points behind Ron Capps in the NHRA point standings.
“I'm excited going into the Gainesville race, especially coming off of a win in the opening race in Pomona. I've got a great team behind me and look forward to coming to this track, and taking what I learned from here last year and improving on it,” said Force
Last year at this same event, Force qualified in the No. 11 spot and lost to Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations.
“I feel that our Traxxas Ford Mustang team has come a long way from when we were racing in Gainesville just a year ago. When I was competing at the race track last year, it had only been my third race as a rookie driver. This track was new and unfamiliar to me, and I struggled. I hope that I can take everything I learned from throughout last season and really improve with my performance going into Gainesville. I've got a great crew chief, Ron Douglas and Dan Hood, tuning my race car and a strong, motivated, group of guys on my team which gives me that extra push of confidence,” said Force.
During the first qualifying pass on Saturday, Force drifted right and smacked the wall hard enough to cause severe body damage, bend the right side header to the ground and leave it scraping the track surface. She quickly exited the car and made a point to let everyone know she was unharmed and ready for the last qualifying pass of the weekend.
“After brushing up against the wall last year, it definitely showed me that things happen in these cars when you least expect it. As a driver, I think I've learned a lot from having an entire season under my belt and I really want to take everything I have learned and use it to my advantage in Gainesville. Although I struggled here last year, and I'm still a new driver and have a lot to learn, I can't wait to get back on this race track because I am very eager, and I’m confident in myself that I can perform better. It was a tricky track for me last year, and I really hope that I can learn from it and overcome it to do better my second time around,” said Force.
The NHRA drivers and teams have had a few weekends off since last competing in Phoenix for the second event of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series season. Force took advantage of the downtime and accepted an invitation to fly with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, an honor teammate and brother-in-law Robert Hight had the pleasure of doing in 2007.
“I had an incredible time. We hit 7.3 Gs and went over 700 mph and when we hit Mach 1 and broke the sound barrier I was amazed at the feeling. This day wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Auto Club of Southern California and I know I will never forget this experience,” said Force.
The recently-named 2012 Rookie of the Year by RACER Magazine will have an even busier week before Gainesville. Force is set to participate in an NHRA media tour in the Orlando area before competing at Auto-Plus Raceway for the 2013 fan-favorite Gatornationals.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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