John Force Racing’s Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Robert Hight (Funny Car) raced to the top spots in their respective classes at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 17, setting up the brackets for Sunday’s final eliminations. DENSO-backed Greg Anderson and Matt Smith claimed Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle poles.
Brittany Force powered her top fueler to the No. 1 spot with a 3.732-second pass in the third round of qualifying Saturday afternoon knocking off birthday boy Steve Torrence’s Friday run of 3.741. The No. 1 spot is the 21st of Force’s career.
“It just shows this team has picked up right where we left off,” said Force, who won the fall race at Vegas in 2019. “We had a long time being away from the races, and coming back to Gainesville, we found our routine pretty quickly. Coming here and taking this No. 1 qualifier (spot), we’re excited and pumped. We want to go out and win this thing. That’s our focus tomorrow, winning this thing and bringing home our first win of the season.”
Hight made it a John Force Racing sweep of the nitro poles when he powered his Auto Club Camaro to a 3.882 second run to regain the No. 1 spot he had lost to Alexis DeJoria one pair earlier. Hight had led Friday qualifying with a 3.922 and improved to a 3.918 in Q2. This marks Hight’s 69th career No. 1 spot.
“(Crew chief) Jimmy Prock has called every single run we’ve made this weekend,” said Hight, a five-time Vegas winner. “They have this Auto Club Chevrolet working great. We’ve got to go three rounds tomorrow and I think we’re in a good position to do that.”
Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson took over the top spot on Saturday with a run of 6.638 seconds at 205.85 mph. Anderson’s pole position marks the 107th time he has led a field into eliminations.
“We’re on a roll and the car is making beautiful runs,” said Anderson, who has eight career wins in Las Vegas. “We had a great weekend in Gainesville and so far this weekend, the car has made three flawless runs. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow. So far, so good and this Denso Chevy has been on point, so let’s see if we can close the deal.”
Four-time and reigning Pro Stock world champ Erica Enders entered the final qualifying session not qualified but powered the red Elite Camaro to a 6.693 on her last pass to qualify No. 13.
Reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Smith made the two best runs of all three sessions, following his Friday-leading 6.891 with a final-session 6.890. Smith’s wife, Angie, is second.
“All in all, we just wanted to show how good we are, this DENSO motorcycle at this DENSO race. That’s what it’s all about,” Smith said. “Everybody who helps us, we really appreciate it.”
Nitro Eliminations begin at noon PT on Sunday with Round 2 set for 2 p.m. and Final Eliminations at 3:30 p.m. This marks the second event of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule. Funny Car’s J.R. Todd as well as Anderson and M. Smith are coming off wins at the season opener at Gainesville.
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has sold all grandstand tickets for the April 18 DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. For race weekend information, visit www.LVMS.com, call 800-644-4444 or follow on social media @LVMotorSpeedway.
Fans not able to attend the race in person can tune in to FS1 on Sunday beginning at 7 a.m. PT for qualifying coverage and final elimination coverage at 5 p.m. Fans can see every second of the racing action on NHRA.tv, featuring live coverage all three days.
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LAS VEGAS -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 21st annual DENSO Spark Plug NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel -- 1. Brittany Force, 3.732 seconds, 325.53 mph vs. Bye vs. vs. 8. Antron Brown, 3.808, 314.83 vs. 9. Justin Ashley, 3.821, 301.20; 2. Steve Torrence, 3.741, 328.94 vs. 15. Cameron Ferre, 6.305, 107.62 vs. 7. Leah Pruett, 3.800, 312.13 vs. 10. Greg Carrillo, 3.827, 321.04; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.743, 314.83 vs. 14. Rob Passey, 5.968, 117.96 vs. 6. Shawn Langdon, 3.785, 310.05 vs. 11. Troy Buff, 3.849, 299.66; 4. Clay Millican, 3.759, 323.12 vs. 13. Todd Paton, 5.272, 134.90 vs. 5. Billy Torrence, 3.769, 326.56 vs. 12. Jim Maroney, 4.014, 305.98.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.882, 331.85 vs. 16. Jonnie Lindberg, Ford Mustang, 4.384, 288.58 vs. 8. Cruz Pedregon, Dodge Charger, 3.960, 323.50 vs. 9. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.980, 325.14; 2. John Force, Camaro, 3.898, 330.72 vs. 15. Chris Morel, Charger, 4.183, 270.21 vs. 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.946, 325.22 vs. 10. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.996, 317.94; 3. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.912, 321.04 vs. 14. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.159, 299.06 vs. 6. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.929, 324.05 vs. 11. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.998, 314.24; 4. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.919, 323.89 vs. 13. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 4.097, 269.94 vs. 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.923, 329.10 vs. 12. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.090, 308.71. Did Not Qualify: 17. Jeff Diehl, 4.525, 202.58; 18. Alex Miladinovich, 4.821, 189.60; 19. Steven Densham, 14.954, 889.91.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.638, 205.85 vs. 16. Fernando Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.725, 203.95 vs. 8. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.667, 205.94 vs. 9. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.671, 205.66; 2. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.650, 205.01 vs. 15. Cristian Cuadra, Mustang, 6.715, 204.51 vs. 7. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.662, 205.26 vs. 10. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.676, 205.41; 3. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.651, 205.38 vs. 14. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.697, 204.76 vs. 6. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.659, 206.29 vs. 11. Aaron Strong, Camaro, 6.679, 204.91; 4. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.655, 205.63 vs. 13. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.693, 205.07 vs. 5. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.656, 204.91 vs. 12. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.680, 206.26. Did Not Qualify: 17. Fernando Cuadra Jr., 6.735, 203.86; 18. Alan Prusiensky, 6.780, 205.38.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.890, 196.59 vs. Bye vs. vs. 8. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.980, 192.74 vs. 9. Cory Reed, Suzuki, 7.034, 191.81; 2. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.909, 195.51 vs. Bye vs. vs. 7. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.953, 193.68 vs. 10. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.074, 190.03; 3. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.935, 192.77 vs. Bye vs. vs. 6. Chip Ellis, Harley-Davidson, 6.949, 193.54 vs. 11. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 7.134, 189.68; 4. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.939, 195.17 vs. 13. David Barron, EBR, broke vs. 5. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 6.946, 193.65 vs. 12. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 7.399, 179.18.
