G4's Alison Haislip Goes Drifting with Vaughn Gittin Jr. in his 2010 Ford Mustang

Video Game - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

FIESTA MOVEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA

Dearborn, Mich. — Although the Fiesta production vehicle isn’t slated to go on sale in the United States until 2010, 100 of the stylish European cars are already in North America in the hands of 100 chosen Fiesta Fiesta Movement agents that are a diverse group of individuals reflective of the Internet’s social media community.

The 100 young trendsetters are driving and living with their Fiestas for six months, traveling as agents on special missions, and are documenting their experiences through a variety of social media sites, including Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube.

For the complete article, visit http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36416

NEW FIESTA IN RALLYING

Dearborn, Mich. — The Ford Fiesta will be Ford Motor Company’s main competition vehicle for rallying in the coming years.

Ford has a long and distinguished history in the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile World Rally Championship, the toughest competition in motorsport for production-based cars. The series covers 12 three-day rallies across three continents, with competitors driving flat out on roads ranging from smooth asphalt to rutted, boulder-strewn tracks in conditions ranging from –25 degrees C to 40 degrees C.

Ford has competed in the WRC since 1999 with the Focus RS World Rally Car and won back-to-back manufacturers' world titles in 2006 and 2007. The Focus has claimed 37 rally victories in that period, the latest coming just last weekend when BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally team claimed a one-two finish in Rally d'Italia Sardegna in Italy.

The current generation of World Rally Cars will be replaced by a Super 2000 formula by the start of the 2011 season. In April, M-Sport, the team that oversees Ford’s efforts in the World Rally Championship, announced it was developing the Ford Fiesta Super 2000 rally car.

For the complete article, visit http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36417

FIESTA RALLYCROSS CARS U.S. DEBUT

Dearborn, Mich. — The new Ford Fiesta may not be hitting the streets of America officially until next year, but high-performance motorsport examples of the car will make their U.S. racing debut this summer when the Olsberg Motor Sport Evolution team from Sweden, managed by Andreas Eriksson, brings two new Fiesta Rallycross cars to compete in the annual Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on July 19.

“The new Fiesta is an engaging, fun to drive car that is off to a very successful start in Europe and Asia,” said Jim Farley, Group Vice President, Ford Global Marketing and Communications.

“Thanks to Andreas Eriksson, we’re able to introduce the Fiesta to racing fans in the U.S. ahead of its launch in 2010.”

The Pike's Peak International Hill Climb dates back to 1916, and is the second oldest motor sports event in America, taking its name from the famous mountain peak that towers above Colorado Springs in the Rocky Mountains and is often referred to as The Race to the Clouds.
Ford cars have been at Pike’s Peak since the very first race in 1916, when four Ford-powered cars competed. In 1922, Ford scored its first victory when Noel Bullock took his 179ci, OHV, 50 hp Ford Special, nicknamed Tin Lizzy by the other competitors, to a surprise victory in the time of 19:50.9.

For more, visit http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36418

This Week in Ford Racing: Greg Biffle

Dover, Del. — Greg Biffle found himself battling two of his Roush Fenway Racing teammates for the win in last fall’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway. As the circuit returns there for this weekend’s Autism Speaks 400, Biffle spoke about winning that event and where his team stands from a performance standpoint this year.

GREG BIFFLE – NO. 16 3M FORD FUSIONIS DOVER GOING TO BE A BENCHMARK SINCE YOU, CARL [EDWARDS] AND MATT [KENSETH] ALL BATTLED FOR THE WIN THERE LAST FALL?“It is, and that discussion came up last week about our short-track program not being as strong as it has been. We’re looking at each other concerned about Dover. Are we gonna run good at Dover? How competitive are our cars gonna be? Or is it going to show up there that we’ve slid just a little bit and we’re not as fast as we were a year ago because we haven’t been at Richmond and Phoenix and some other places? So is Dover gonna be a place that we’re not gonna be the top three dogs?”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT DOVER?“It’s just fun. It’s like a big Bristol—concrete, high-banked, and it’s rough. It’s a driver’s race track, sort of like Darlington or Bristol, and those tough race tracks are fun to drive on.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE BATTLING MATT AND CARL FOR THE WIN LAST FALL?“The battle with my teammates last year was pretty incredible. We’ve had some close calls and then we’ve had some close calls we didn’t make it out of as good, so that was really fun to battle Carl and Matt for the win and us touching together down the backstretch, and I was able to get up beside him. It was definitely intense and made it more intense that it was my teammates.”

To read the complete interview visit:http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36414

This Week in Ford Racing: Colin Braun

Dover, Del. — Colin Braun is in 19th place in the standings heading into this weekend’s race at Dover, the first of a five-races-in-five-weeks stretch for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Through the season’s first six races, Braun has five top-10 starts—including a pole at Daytona—and two top-10 finishes.

COLIN BRAUN – NO. 6 CON-WAY FORD F-150“I’m a big fan of Dover. Ever since I saw the place for the first time last year, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a pretty amazing race track,’ and it really is. It’s a place where if you make a mistake you pay a pretty big penalty. But, it’s a lot fun. It’s a real cool race track. It’s got a lot of character to it. I kind of think of it as a big Bristol. It’s such a high-banked, concrete race track, and it’s just so tight and small and you’re just going so fast, you’re carrying so much speed, that it makes it fun to drive on, and it makes for really good racing.”

MANY DRIVERS SAY THE SENSATION OF SPEED AT DOVER IS GREATER THAN ANY OTHER TRACK.“I think it really is. You’re going so fast, when you drive off into the corner, you look at the corner and say, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty darn tight corner,’ and then you get in the middle of the corner and there’s so much banking and so much grip from the concrete that you can just carry so much speed through the corner that you really feel like you’re carrying a lot more speed than you do at a place like Daytona or Talladega. Daytona or Talladega, for instance, obviously you’re going fast, but the place is so big and so wide and so open that you really don’t know exactly how fast you’re going, compared to Dover, where the walls are close and things are tight and small, you really get an idea how fast you’re going.”

To read the complete interview visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36413

John Force drives the new Ford Fiesta

Fiesat R2 action video

New Ford Fiesta Group R rally car launched at Rally d'Italia Sardegna

An all-new Ford Fiesta R2 rally car, based on the top-selling Ford Fiesta road car launched last year, was unveiled at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna this evening. Designed to replace the hugely successful Fiesta ST rally car, the new vehicle is targeted at competitors in the Fiesta SportTrophy series around the globe, as well as in regional rally championships.

The Fiesta R2 will conform to the latest FIA regulations and satisfy strong customer demand for an exciting yet affordable point of entry into rallying. While the car will not compete in Sardinia, it will be driven as a course safety car ahead of the main entry by FST International Shootout winner Matthias Boon (BEL) and co-driver Massimiliano Bosi (ITA).

The development bodyshell for the R2 project was revealed by M-Sport at the Autosport International Show in the UK in January 2009. As one of Europe’s biggest motorsport shows, the project generated great interest and excitement from potential competitors and the public alike. Work on the base design of the car, the result of successful engineering co-operation between M-Sport and Ford, is now almost complete and engineers are undertaking a comprehensive test programme in readiness for a proposed homologation date of 1 July 2009.

The five-speed Fiesta R2 rally car is based on the Ford Fiesta Sport (Zetec S in the UK and Ireland) using the 1.6L Ti-Vct 120PS (1598cc) base engine as in regular production. It is built from a standard conversion kit developed by M-Sport.

The kit to convert the car to rally specification includes engine parts to increase the engine performance including pistons, conrods, camshafts, valve springs, injectors, airbox, air filter, spark plugs and a sump baffle kit. The gearbox has been replaced for a sequential shift unit with a limited slip differential, along with upgraded brakes and Reiger suspension. Beyond these specific items, the intention is for the car to use many standard components from the Ford Fiesta and other Ford road vehicles to reduce costs for the competitor. Standard conversion kits will be available from M-Sport or an appointed national sales outlet.

The knowledge gained from the world-title winning Ford Focus RS WRC has been transferred to the creation of the Fiesta R2 under the leadership of M-Sport’s Principal Engineer Chris Williams, who was also responsible for the success of the Fiesta ST, which sold in 27 different countries.

Last month M-Sport announced the development of a Super 2000 Fiesta for competition at the sport's highest level. These two vehicles, the Super 2000 and the R2, will create a complete ladder of opportunity for rally competitors to graduate from grass roots level to WRC using Ford vehicles.

M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson said:
“The development of this car has created a lot of excitement over the past few months and I’m delighted that we have now been able to unveil the Fiesta here in Sardinia. There’s no doubting that the R2 has large boots to fill: the GpN Fiesta ST is still achieving frequent class wins around the world and has finished as high as 25th overall in the WRC, an amazing feat for a small car. The experience and knowledge that our engineers have gained with the ST has been key in developing the R2 into a more ‘sophisticated’ car, whilst it has inherited the basic strength and reliability that made the ST so popular – and all at a lower cost than other competing manufacturers.”

Ford of Europe Motorsport Director Mark Deans said:
"The continued commitment of M-Sport to its Fiesta SportTrophy series is great news and we are eager to see the new Fiesta in rallying. The road car has deservedly received huge acclaim since its launch last autumn and will provide the perfect base vehicle. I'm confident the R2 will play a key role as the ideal entry-level car. The development of this car is a product of enthusiastic collaboration between Ford and M-Sport and, allied with the recently-announced Super 2000 Fiesta, offers a complete ladder of opportunity to guide ambitious and talented drivers from the sport's base level through to the very top in Ford vehicles. While Ford of Europe's principle motorsport activity remains the FIA World Rally Championship, we will do everything we can at a local level to support the Fiesta SportTrophy in individual markets and we wish M-Sport every success with their new Fiesta projects."

Testing incident brings early end to Hajek Motorsports E-85 record attempt

TALLADEGA, Ala., May 13, 2009 – Brent Hajek brought his E-85 Mustang FR500C to Talladega Superspeedway for Bill Elliott to establish a closed course speed mark for an E-85 powered car. Elliott, the NASCAR and Ford Racing legend, was able to establish a USAC-certified E-85 mark of 174.206 mph in just two timed laps.

Unfortunately, while still doing preliminary shake down runs, a cut right front tire on Elliott’s third lap spun the Mustang FR500C into the Turn 2 wall and the Hajek Motorsport car sustained significant suspension and right-side damage. The damage was significant enough that the rest of the E-85 speed test was cancelled.

“We were able to set the E-85 record in just a couple of laps and Bill was on a real flyer when he cut a tire,” said Hajek whose E-85 Mustang FR500C went over 252 mph at Bonneville last summer. “There simply isn’t enough time to fix the car in the limited time frame that everyone has to complete this test. The rain we had most of today and now the contact cut our attempt short, but we will be back. We learned a lot during this process and we can make some real advances before we come back and try again.”

“I wish I could tell you what happened,” said Elliott who ran a NASCR qualifying record with a lap of 212.809 mph at Talladega in 1987. “It was one of those things where you get that shake and you know what is coming, but there is nothing you can do about it. I really didn’t know what to expect from this opportunity. Even in just the short time I spent in the car, I already see some things that we can do better if we only have a little bit more time to think things through. Ford has done a good job supporting this program and Brent Hajek and all the guys at their shop have done a really good job. They will get this thing back to Oklahoma and get it beat back out and we’ll work on this thing again.”

Tasca Ready to Bring Thunder to Valley

Bristol, Tenn. — Bob Tasca III talks about racing in Thunder Valley in Bristol, Tenn. Tasca sits seventh in NHRA Drag Racing Full Throttle Series points standings with 10 races remaining before the Countdown.

BOB TASCA III – MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE SHELBY MUSTANG FUNNY CARAFTER ONE WEEK OFF, HOW EAGER ARE YOU TO GET BACK IN YOUR CAR?“When you have a Shelby Mustang that’s running as good as our car right now, as a driver you just want to get in it and you just want to make as many runs as you can. Certainly, for me, it’s been a learning process. There’s no easy way to learn how to drive a fuel car, there’s a lot that goes into it. Obviously, St. Louis was a learning experience for me. It’s certainly not something that you ever want to do again and that’s go before the tree goes on, but like anything else, you have to learn.”

BRISTOL IS THE EIGHTH RACE THIS SEASON AND THERE ARE 10 RACES BEFORE THE COUNTDOWN. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THIS PORTION OF THE SEASON?“I’m actually looking forward to some back-to-back races and some three-in-a-rows because I think the team jells that way. As a driver, particularly as a new driver, the more back-to-back runs in the car the better. So I’m looking forward to getting to Bristol, getting behind the wheel of our Motorcraft/Quick Lane machine and laying down some big numbers. When you have that kind of confidence going you just want to keep stepping up to the plate. It’s only a matter of time before we’re going to hit a home run again and I hope that it will be in Bristol, and I have a good feeling about the race.”

WHY DO YOU LIKE TO RACING IN BRISTOL?“It’s set in the valley, they call it Thunder Valley and it’s just really awesome. The pits are laid out where one row of the pits is right against the race track. I remember last year we were right near the finish line and literally I would walk to the back of our pit and that was the wall where the race cars came by. So it was really a pretty cool perspective of watching the cars come by and then the echoing coming off the mountain. It’s literally cut into the side of the mountain. The echo of the fuel cars is pretty awesome. It’s just a real cool place to race.”

To view the rest of this interview please visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36357

This Week in Ford Racing: Bill Elliott

Talladega, Ala. — Bill Elliott recorded the fastest lap ever in a stock car when he drove a Ford Thunderbird 212.089 miles per hour in a qualifying effort at Talladega Superspeedway in 1987. On Wednesday, driving a Hajek Motorsports E-85 powered Ford Mustang FR500C, Elliott will try to surpass that mark and establish a new closed course speed record for an E-85-powered car. Both Elliott and Brent Hajek discussed this week’s attempt.

BILL ELLIOTT – NO. 21 MOTORCRAFT FORD FUSIONWHEN DID YOU FIRST GET CALLED ABOUT DRIVING THE E-85 POWERED FORD MUSTANG?“It’s probably been about six months—actually, Bud Moore contacted me, because Bud was working with Brent, trying to put this deal together, so that’s kind of how things progressed from there.”

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD ABOUT IT?“I didn’t know what it was all about. I just kind of listened to what he had to say and then assess it from there. Kind of anything is a record, I mean you want to run as fast as you can, but for what they want to do, it’s a pretty neat concept. It ought to be fun to do, and we’ll see how it goes. I kind of had mixed emotions about it. First, I didn’t really know those guys; now that they’ve been to the shop this past week and they’ve had the car on the chassis dyno and it had run at Bonneville with Danny Thompson and all of the stuff that they’ve done. So I’m getting more comfortable with what they’re trying to do, and understand it more as we continue to have more dialogue.”

YOUR LAP OF 212.089 MPH AT TALLADEGA HAS STOOD AS A RECORD FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO HAVE YOUR NAME ATTACHED TO THAT MARK?“At the point in time, for us, it’s been a pretty nice thing. I think it just shows how far we were along at the point in time we did that. For us to run that fast in that era when nobody else had was pretty amazing. Of all the accomplishments we’ve done, that’s one of the ones that really stands out and continues to hold up through the test of time. I know that with NASCAR changing—now they run restrictor plates on the car to limit the horsepower, but still, at the point in time that we ran, that was a pretty amazing feat.”

HOW ARE PREPARATIONS GOING FOR THIS ATTEMPT WITH THE E-85 POWERED MUSTANG? THE E-85 POWERED MUSTANG HAS BEEN AT YOUR SHOP IN DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA, SINCE LAST WEEK.“Everything’s going well. I think today they’re in the wind tunnel. They ended up leaving last night. Like I said, they had it on the chassis dyno for quite a while. They had a few little glitches they worked out, and then we put one of my seats in the car, then they went back through their wiring issues and re-did some stuff and, I think, re-did the computer stuff, and they had it back on the chassis dyno yesterday, and I guess it was in the wind tunnel this morning, and we’ll kind of go from there.”

To read the rest of the interview please visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36353

This Week in Ford Racing: All-Star Preview

Charlotte, N.C. — Matt Kenseth knows what it’s like to win the Sprint All-Star Race while Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle is still trying after finishing second last season. Both drivers spoke about the event and what it means to them and their respective teams.

MATT KENSETH – NO. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSIONHOW SPECIAL IS IT TO WIN THE ALL-STAR RACE?“It’s pretty cool to be able to win that race. There are no points involved and it’s a cool race because you really get the team involved. They’re involved in all the races, but they get a lot more recognition during the all-star week with the pit stop contest and having to pit for qualifying and all the stuff they put in the format. It’s an exciting night. It’s really all about the fans and trying to put on a good race, so it’s always a pretty intense, exciting race.”

WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY AND THE BRAGGING RIGHTS?“Nobody is ever gonna turn the money down. It’s cool to get the money when you can get it for the team, but it’s really more about trying to win and getting the recognition for the team and getting the trophy and doing all of that is the cool part.”

THIS YEAR THEY HAVE ONE MANDATORY STOP IN THE FIRST SEGMENT AND THEN OPTIONAL AFTER THAT. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?“I like the optional stuff. I kind of like a pit stop with an option of what to do for the last 10 laps. During that break everybody is gonna put four tires on and all that, but I think it mixes up the pack a little more when some people have two and some have none and some have four. That kind of gives you a better chance to pass, but it’ll always be exciting.”

WILL NO TESTING THERE THIS YEAR BE AN ISSUE?“Not anymore with this car. This car has so many rules and templates that they’re all about the same. There’s really not much you can do compared to what you used to be able to do a few years back, so that’s not really a big deal. I think we tested there four times in the last year-and-a-half with the tire test and all the rest of the stuff we did, so I don’t see that being a big deal.”

WILL THERE BE MORE PRESSURE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT?“It’s the same as any other race, I think. You want to win every race.”

WHAT ABOUT THE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS ON ALL THE SEGMENTS AND HAVING ONLY GREEN-FLAG LAPS COUNT IN THE FINAL SEGMENT? DO YOU THINK THAT WILL BE MORE EXCITING FROM YOUR SEAT?“It can be. There are times where it can work both ways. You could have a pretty fast car and be in a row right behind a slow car and might get stuck, and it could be the other way around, so it mixes things up a little bit. I think it’s fun and the fans like it.”

To read the rest of the interview please visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36352

This Week in Ford Racing: Krohn Racing

Dearborn, Mich. — Sunday, Krohn Racing won their first Grand-Am Rolex Series race of the 2009 season at a rain soaked New Jersey Motorsports Park. Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta, drivers of the winning No. 76 Proto-Auto Ford Lola along with team owner Tracy Krohn talked with This Week in Ford Racing about what the win means for the team and their hopes for the rest of the season.

NIC JONSSON – NO. 76 PROTO-AUTO LOLA FORD-- CONGRATULATIONS ON WHAT WAS A VERY WILD AND WET WIN SUNDAY IN NEW JERSEY.“Thank you very much. It was a wild and wet Sunday in Jersey as you said. It’s been a victory we’ve been looking for, for a long time ever since we’ve started running the Proto-Auto Lola in Homestead last year. We’ve been very close a few times last year, but the luck really hasn’t been there with us. This weekend everything seemed to fall right in place and we were able to climb to that top step on the podium.”

HOW TOUGH WAS IT? THERE WAS A DOWNPOUR FOR A WHILE AND LOT OF TEAMS WERE HOPING THEY WOULD RED FLAG IT BUT THEY DIDN’T. FINALLY THE RAIN SLOWED DOWN AND YOU GUYS WERE ABLE TO MOTOR ON AND HAD A COMMANDING VICTORY.“Yeah, you’re right. In the middle of the race there, it actually started pouring down quite heavily. They actually put the pace car out at one point and we ran behind the pace car under yellow for about 20-25 minutes just because they wanted to do a track inspection. I think that was a very good move on Grand-Am’s part because it got very treacherous out there about an hour into the race with that whole track basically floating underneath the water. Even with the treacherous conditions, the Proto-Auto Lola Ford ran really well for us the whole day.”

IT’S THE SECOND YEAR FOR KROHN RACING WITH THE LOLA CHASSIS AND NOW YOU’VE BROUGHT THE FORD ENGINES ON BOARD SO IT’S REALLY STILL AN ADJUSTMENT YEAR FOR THE TEAM.“Yeah it is, last year was a real development year for us because we ran a different power plant. This year we felt we got the car a little bit more competitive and it was time to make a move on the engine side and we decided to go with the Ford power plant this year. We have had great support from the Roush-Yates power plant team and it’s been a great step forward. I feel like we have a very competitive package and we should be able to contend for more wins this year hopefully.”

I THINK AT THE END OF LAST YEAR THAT IT WAS VERY NOTICEABLE THAT THE MACHINES POWERED BY THAT ROUSH-YATES FORD ENGINE WERE REALLY UP AT THE FRONT OF THE PACK. THEY WERE COMPETING EVERY WEEKEND FOR A VICTORY, IF NOT BEING VICTORIOUS.“Absolutely. John Maddox, who was in charge of that whole Roush-Yates Ford engine program for the Grand-Am Series has done a fantastic job. We actually ran the Ford power plant back in ’06, so we’re not completely new to the engine but I think that’s one reason we went back to that because we had a working relationship with Roush-Yates and John in the past, and had a very good experience. So far everything seems to have worked very well.”

WE’RE VERY EARLY IN THE SEASON FOR THE GRAND-AM ROLEX SERIES BUT DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU’RE COMPETITIVE ENOUGH AND ALL THE PIECES ARE FALLING INTO PLACE THAT YOU AND RICARDO ZONTA CAN COMPETE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND HAVE A VERY GOOD SHOT AT WINNING THE TITLE?“I have no doubts that we have the package, the strength and the speed in our team to compete for the championship. Unfortunately we started out with a DNF in Daytona and VIR the first two events. At VIR it was because of contact and in Daytona because of a mechanical failure, so we fell pretty far behind in points in the first two events. Now with a win this past weekend at New Jersey, hopefully we’re back in the hunt. If one of the teams who did really well in the first two events will have bad luck we’ll be right back in it. I definitely think we have the package, we have the team and the line up to definitely be up there running for the victory every week and hopefully that will be enough for the championship as well.”

To read the rest of this interview please visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36336

ELLIOTT AIMS TO BREAK NASCAR SPEED RECORD

HAJECK MOTORSPORTS PROVIDES E-85 POWERED MUSTANG FR500C

Ames, Okla. — Brent Hajek already has a passion for living, but that passion burns brightest when he’s talking about racing, racing history and his love of all things Ford.

Fortunately for fans of Ford, Hajek’s passion has prompted the Ames, Okla. native and owner of Hajek Motorsports to pursue his own place in racing history.

Hajek Motorsports has been around since the 1970s, and through the years Hajek has amassed an impressive collection of historical race cars, predominantly Ford, that once carried some of the biggest names in racing.

Those vehicles include a NHRA Gas Ronda 1966 Ford Mustang, Bob Glidden’s '88 Ford Thunderbird, Parnelli Jones’ '63 NASCAR Mercury Marauder, David Pearson’s '69 Ford Torino Talladega, and Bill Elliott’s ’87 Ford Thunderbird, which is the all-time NASCAR speed record holder.

For Hajek, a successful oilman and a farmer, owning motorsports history wasn’t enough. He wants to make auto racing history.

To read the rest of this article please visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36330

This Week in Ford Racing: Ashley Force Hood Edition

Dearborn, Mich. — Now in her third year in the NHRA Funny Car series, Ashley Force Hood and her team have become a force with which to reckon with. Force Hood, who won earlier this year at the O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Baytown, Texas, and her crew chief, Dean Guido Antonelli, talk about what makes their team so strong and how she has grown as a driver in her two-plus seasons on in the series.

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD – CASTROL GTX FORD MUSTANGHOW HAS THE TEAM CHANGED FROM THE FIRST YEAR?“The first year was all about learning all of our jobs. Each guy had to learn what they do on the car, get it fine-tuned and learn how to do it quickly between rounds. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you know mistakes are made, and you learn from those mistakes, but that’s all part of it. I think that was our first year.

“Our second year was kind of fine tuning that. Fortunately, we had the same group of guys; only one or two guys were different, so that really makes a big difference in the fact that that you know it’s the same basic group, they’ve built on what they’ve learned the first year. The second year we were still working on those same things, and this year I think Ron [Douglas] and Guido have really pushed the guys to remember that it’s all in the details. It’s not just doing the job but how perfect you can do it, and double-checking everything. That makes a big difference. A lot of rounds are lost just because of something so simple and easy, that it was a mistake that someone didn’t double-check something. Our team, we rarely have those issues. If we lose a round it’s because the temperature has changed or maybe I’ve got it out of the groove. It’s never something with the crew guys, or a technicality that the crew guys made a mistake on, and that just gives us so much more of a chance, I think, at doing well when you don’t have to think about those little minor details. They’ve really worked hard to do that and they actually double-check each other. I actually see it when we go to warm up, one guy checks something, the other guy checks the same thing and that makes a big difference I believe. It all adds up.”

ONLY HAVING ONE OR TWO CHANGES TO THE CREW AND KNOWING THEIR ATTENTION TO DETAIL MUST BE A MAJOR COMFORT.“It is. It makes a big difference when you get someone new. Even if they’ve come from a different team they’re going to learn things differently or have a different way of doing things. You have to re-teach them. You have to get them use to our routine and working with this group of people, and that takes some time to get those kinks worked out. Fortunately, our one new guy, Matt, came from Dad’s team, so we learn from that team, too, and his routine probably didn’t change very much; he knows how it goes.

“Our other new guy came from Del Worsham’s team, so they both had a lot of experience, so we weren’t trying to teach a brand-new person, we were just fine-tuning them to how our team runs.

“I really think you see how good my guys get along and I think it makes a difference when something does go wrong, or if there’s a mistake, even if they’re not quite sure. I don’t know that much about working on cars, but I know it can be nerve-wracking if you think that you’ve made a mistake. Do you say something or do you not? These guys are so comfortable with Guido and Ron they’ll go and they’ll tell them. It totally makes me more comfortable because I know they’re willing to take getting into trouble to make sure the car’s right. I never think they would let anything pass on accident with this car, and I hope that all teams run like that, but you never know how teams run. You’re in a rush and suddenly you realize something, same thing with me and my car. I’m always worried and I double-check a hundred times, because I’m like, ‘What if I go up to start my car and one of my arm restraints isn’t hooked in? What do I do?’ You know you can’t make that pass when you know there’s something that is really wrong, or my helmet is not strapped on right or whatever it is, so to keep that from happening I check everything about 10 times. That’s the same with the guys, it’s not about getting me in trouble, it’s about giving me a safe car and its really about making Ron and Guido proud of them. They’re very close with them, and they really want them to be happy with them and I think it makes our guys double-check more than maybe people on other teams who don’t care so much what their crew chiefs think or are scared of their crew chief. That’s not the way we are in our camp."

"We’re all very close. If there is a mistake, whether it’s me on my part, or the crew, we’re willing for the good of the team to go up announce the mistake and make the right change. Luckily it doesn’t happen very often and I think it’s because we all double-check everything so much. At least we know we’re all on the same page. We know what we need to do and if something’s not right, we know we need to fix it.”

To read the rest of the interview visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36335

This Week in Ford Racing: Darlington Raceway

Darlington, S.C. — Darlington Raceway will host its lone NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this weekend and Ford teams will be looking to turn things around after a rough night at Richmond International Raceway. Drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle look ahead to Saturday’s Southern 500.

GREG BIFFLE – NO. 16 3M FORD FUSION
YOU’VE HAD A MIXED BAG OF SUCCESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT AT DARLINGTON THROUGH THE YEARS HAVEN’T YOU?
“Oh, yeah I have. Darlington is just a special place. It’s like no other. It’s the toughest place we go. I don’t care who you talk to. It is absolutely mentally and physically one of the toughest race tracks and it’s unforgiving as well, and I guess that’s what makes it part of being tough. There’s no margin for error at Darlington and I love it. It’s really a challenging place. It’s fun to go to and we’ve had really good success there.”

HOW MUCH HAS THE RE-PAVING OF THE TRACK A YEAR AGO CHANGED THE RACING THERE?
“Well, I’ll have to admit I said they would ruin the track if they ever paved it and, believe it or not, it’s as tough as ever because it’s so much faster. It’s just so much faster. Who would have thought we’d go 200 miles an hour at that place? Years ago, I’m sure they never imagined we’d be going that fast there. It’s still just as tough and still just as hard, but it’s a lot smoother. I’ll always be fond of the old way it was, but, at the same time, I like the new way. I think we had the race probably won last year if we didn’t have engine trouble, so I’m looking forward to going back.”

IS LAST YEAR’S RACE THE KIND OF THING YOU’LL LOOK BACK ON 20 OR 30 YEARS FROM NOW AS ONE THAT GOT AWAY?
“Yeah, it’s gonna be one of them. There are a number of them, but it’s heartbreaking. These races are harder and harder to win each year and you wonder, ‘When am I gonna win my next race?’ And when you have it right there in your hands and it slips away, plus a place that’s so hard like that place is, it’s tough because you get a lot of recognition for winning there.”

To read the rest of this interview visit: http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36328

Krohn Racing wins Round 3 of the Rolex Series at NJMP

Krohn Racing posted their first victory in the Proto-Auto Lola Ford today at the Verizon Wireless 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Millville, New Jersey. Round 3 on the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule was a race filled with rain from start to finish. The treacherous conditions could not stop the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola of Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta.

The No. 76 entry was clearly the dominant car on the wet 2.25 mile, 14-turn road course. Jönsson, originally from Sweden and now living in Buford, Georgia, took the lead on lap 14 until lap 35 when he turned the car over to Zonta. Coming out of the pit stop in sixth position, Zonta of Curicuba, Brazil, took his time to climb to the top of the leaderboard, capturing the top spot on lap 58. He masterfully pulled away from the struggling field to win with a 44.752 margin of victory in the 87 lap race.

QUOTES:
TRACY W. KROHN, Team Owner/Driver Krohn Racing:
“This is a real boost for Krohn Racing. The car’s been good. It is certainly a team effort but it takes two really professional caliber drivers to win under these kinds of conditions. Nic and Ricardo did a fantastic job with the car today. The team has done a great job all year, especially today.

I don’t know what the time was we had for driver change and fuel but I know it was really quick. I could tell from the television coverage. They got in and out really quick on the pit stop. Ricardo just ate it up. He was very patient with his moves. I don’t think the car has a scratch on it. That’s a testimony to real professionalism on a day like today. Normally in the rain you’re going to get some kind of collateral damage at least. The car looks good. The team looks good. I appreciate everybody’s effort. This is a really professional effort from everybody involved. My only regret is that I’m not there. Wish I could have been there racing today because I know the car is going to be good in the rain.

We dropped one car and I stepped out to focus on what I think is the best business opportunities I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. We needed a little bit of time to take advantage of that.”

NIC JONSSON, Driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola:
“We qualified fourth and the guys got the car put together well. We had rain all day but we had a good car in the rain. I got a good start and got up to P3 in Turn 1. A yellow came out right away for a few laps. I took the lead about 15 minutes in to the race (on Lap 14) and stayed out front. There were some cautions periods and it got pretty treacherous out there. When the rain started coming down harder, it started developing puddles on the track. It was a good move on Grand-Am’s part for safety to throw the caution when it got so bad out there.

I was in the lead for 22 laps and able to open up a good gap when we went green again. We pitted about an hour and half into the race. Ricardo got in and he knew what he had to do to make up the laps we lost pitting. He got in there and started charging towards the front. He took the lead from (Max) Angelelli about 45 minutes from the end and never looked back from there. He finished with nearly a 45-second lead.

All victories are special. This is particularly special though because I know how much time and effort the team has spent. Ricardo and I have the easy job of driving the car. The guys back at the shop have had a lot of long days. The engineers have done a tremendous job to develop this car to get it to where it is today. Also thanks to Tracy for allowing us to do this. Obviously without his support we wouldn’t have been able to do this. It feels very good to win this first one in the Proto-Auto Lola. I’m very emotional. I’ve been with Tracy for six years and we won the first one for team together in 2005. Now being able to take the first win in the Proto-Auto Lola and I’m still with the team is very emotional for me. I can’t express how lucky I feel to be part of the Krohn Racing team. It’s been a long time coming so it’s very sweet to be on podium!”

RICARDO ZONTA, Driver No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola:
“It was very heavy rain today. Sometimes, especially when following somebody, you couldn’t see anything. The team did a perfect job. The only problem we had was that we lost radio communications completely. I could not communicate with the team about race strategy, so I just kept driving.

I am very happy to have my first victory with the Krohn team and first Grand-Am victory. Now we have to keep it like this. It was perfect for the team, perfect for everybody!”

DAVID BROWN, Krohn Racing Team Manager and Engineer:
“It was very exciting race. Conditions were particularly arduous and treacherous today. We are obviously very happy to record our first victory with the Lola. It was also the team’s first victory since July 2006, although we’ve had several podiums since.

I think it’s a great tribute to the hard work of the team to field such a dominant car. It feels very good to have this result for all our efforts. I’d like to congratulate everyone on the team for their efforts, including the drivers who did a great job in treacherous conditions. We also had great support from the Roush engine shop.

We had green flag racing for the last 42 laps. That was about an hour of green flag racing, perfect for getting a fast car to the front. The Krohn car was obviously very fast and able to pull from sixth to the lead. It feels a lot better having ‘broken that duck’ (cricket term referring to a score of zero). We are going out to repeat that success at all the following races this year. It’s a shame Tracy wasn’t here to be able to witness our first victory after so long.”

Krohn Racing’s last victory was in July 2006 at Barber Motorsports Park with Colin Braun and Jörg Bergmeister, their third that season. The Krohn Racing team went on to capture the Grand-Am Rolex Daytona Prototype Driver’s Championship that year. Nic Jönsson’s last Grand-Am DP victory was in 2005, with team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn, at the Six Hours of the Glen in Watkins Glen, NY, also under rainy conditions.

The next Grand-Am race, Round 4, will be the Verizon Festival of Speed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA on May 15-17, 2009. That race will be televised live on May 17 at 4:00 p.m. ET. For more information, please see www.grand-am.com and www.krohnracing.net.

Report courtesy of Krohn Racing

Rough day for Ford NHRA contigent at St. Louis

MADISON, Ill. – The “strength in numbers” theory took a major hit Sunday at Gateway International Raceway where none of the six Ford Funny Car qualifiers managed to survive beyond the second round of the 13^th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Midwest Nationals.

In fact, except for the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang of 14-time series champion John Force, no Ford driver managed to beat anyone other than another

Ford driver. Force, who dispatched Jack Beckman and the MTS Dodge in round one, was the last to fall, unable, despite a slight advantage at the start, to hold off points leader Ron Capps in the second round.

Capps, who extended his Funny Car division lead to 119 points by going to the finals for the fourth time in seven races this season, actually provided an inadvertent assist to Team Ford Racing by beating reigning series champion Cruz Pedregon in the semifinals, thereby retaining Top 10 status for Robert Hight and Mike Neff.

“This was just one of those weekends,” said Ashley Force Hood, a first round victim of two-time former series champ Tony Pedregon. “I’m just going to chalk this weekend up to (the fact that) I didn’t get a handle on this track and I am not going to take whatever problems I had here with me to the next track (Bristol, Tenn., Dragway).

“We’ve done fine the last couple of races. For whatever reason, there was something about this weekend that every run I felt like I was making mistakes (even though) my Castrol GTX Mustang went down the track every time.

“Whatever happened this weekend, we just forget about it and go on to the next race and keep doing what we have been doing. I think we can get right back where we need to be. I didn’t (feel comfortable here), but I’m just going to head to Bristol and do better (in the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals),” Ashley said. “I really like Bristol and hopefully we’ll have some success there. You’re going to have rough weekends and hopefully we got ours out of the way this week.”

It was an especially disappointing result for Ashley’s dad who, on Monday, celebrates his 60^th birthday.

“I’ve decided I’m just gonna bypass 60 and go to 100,” Force said. “(This is) not the way to celebrate a birthday or anything else. We didn’t get it done against Capps. Nobody did. We’ve got to get better – and we will. It’s still early (in the season) but we have to start winning some rounds. The good news is we’re all still in the Top 10, but we’ve got guys right behind us.”

Hight, who has shown only brief flashes of the form that made him a title contender in each of his first four pro seasons, lost to fellow Ford driver Bob Tasca III in a first round race that was never close.

“Like I said yesterday, this AAA Mustang has just not been cooperating,” Hight said of the car that owns the quickest times at both the standard quarter mile (4.636 seconds) and the 1,000 foot course at which races have been run for almost a year (4.005 seconds). “(Crew chief) Jimmy Prock and my guys will figure it out. I’m not going to get frustrated, because that won’t help.

“We need to keep working together. I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job for AAA and Ford (this weekend). Those guys are great sponsors and I’ll get them more wins. I’m looking forward to getting to Bristol and I just wish it was next week instead of two weeks away. We’ll be ready.”

Four pairs of cars later, Neff exited in a little more spectacular fashion against Tasca’s teammate, Tim Wilkerson, in what, in essence, was a rerun of last year’s final round.

Neff did all he could, forging a .075 of a second advantage at the starting line. Unfortunately, it all evaporated in a half track explosion that left the Ford Drive One Mustang mortally wounded, the supercharger sitting awkwardly atop the engine block, the windshield cracked, the body split down the middle.

“It was trucking along,” Neff said. “Then the next thing I knew, ‘boom.’ It happened super fast. It didn’t give me any warning at all.”

According to Neff’s crew chief, John Medlen, the explosion resulted from nitromethane fuel that accumulated in the No. 2 cylinder. The damage was extensive, rendering the body un-repairable and both Neff and Medlen wondering exactly what happened.

Wilkerson ready to defend his '08 win at Gateway

MADISON, Ill. – The missions are entirely different, however for NHRA Funny Car star Tim Wilkerson, the potential payoff is just as important.

One year ago Wilkerson came to his home track – Gateway International Raceway – looking for a win and hunting down the No. 1 points position in the Full Throttle Series Funny Car standings. This year, the Springfield, Ill. racer is still hunting for a win, however, this time around he’s trying to navigate his way into the top 10 in the ultra-competitive Funny Car class in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Last year he was successful with both goals at GIR. He won the race and he moved into the points lead for the first time in his career. He used that race win as momentum to go on a summer winning spree that flipped the category upside down. He narrowly missed winning his first world championship title in the season-ending playoffs.

Riding the wave from his second place points finish from 2008, Wilkerson’s once independent race operation took on a makeover during the offseason. He decided to partner with Bob Tasca and switched from Chevy Impalas to Ford Shelby Mustangs.

His experiment is still in the initial phase, and while he’s not had the on-track results that he would like in the first six races of the season, he is at the point now in the transition where he’s starting to see the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

And that light couldn’t come at a better time.

Wilkerson would like nothing more than to successfully defend his victory from a year ago at the 13th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals, May 1-3 at the state-of-the-art motorsports facility located on the bank of the Mississippi River just east of downtown St. Louis.

Rod Fuller (Top Fuel), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) join Wilkerson as defending winners in their respective categories at the seventh of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The race will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

At Atlanta, Wilkerson outran teammate Tasca and points leader Ron Capps before losing a close semifinal match to eventual winner Jack Beckman. The veteran driver saw some things at that event that let him know that his team is about to dial in its Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang.

“We're definitely making progress and Atlanta showed that, I think,” Wilkerson said. “We basically made five great laps in a row, and our first-round race on Sunday was our best of the weekend. We also brought out a brand new chassis in Atlanta, as if we haven't been starting from scratch in just about every area all year, anyway. I think some people thought I'd lost my mind when we finished second last year, but came out for 2009 with all new stuff. They'd ask me 'Why don't you just keep running what you had?' but if you don't keep moving forward, you're going to get left behind. With the new chassis and the Shelby Mustang, we're definitely moving forward.”

Long considered a hot-weather tune-up master, Wilkerson enjoys racing in the heat of the summer and specializes in winning at tracks in the Midwest. Last year he won six races and was runner-up at Topeka and most of those wins came from May through August. He expects to have many family and friends cheering him on at GIR, including a massive amount of guests from sponsor Levi Ray & Shoup.

“I guess just about every driver has what they’d consider to be their home track, where all their family and friends come out to see them,” Wilkerson said. “But for us it’s twice as much, because Gateway International is Levi, Ray & Shoup’s home race too, so we’re not lacking for having people rooting for us. The last count I heard, LRS has purchased over 1,000 tickets for the race, so the track people ought to love me and Dick Levi! It’s always an exciting deal to race at Gateway, and winning there was just off the charts, so I don’t know how to top that. Hopefully, we’ll just keep running well and good things will happen to us. Mostly, I just want to make sure all of our guests have something good to cheer for.”

He says the key to running well there all comes down to track temperature.

“Talk about a track that’s totally dependent on the weather,” he explained. “It’s not nearly as tricky as it was all those years we were going there at the end of June and frying eggs on the asphalt. Heck, they actually hosed the whole track down to cool it off one year, and I’ve never seen that before. Now, it can be anywhere from 50 to 80 in St. Louis in early May, so you just have to be ready for anything. If it’s cool, everyone will fly and you have to get after it.”

And this year he’ll get after it with a little more support in his corner. No longer the privateer, he now shares tuning information and data from each run with Tasca’s Motorcraft Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang team.

“Just having the resources and the extra knowledge around is big,” Wilkerson said. “Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner are smart guys, and even though we came into this year tuning our cars from different angles, we’ve all been sharing our data to see where the common ground is, or to see where one team might have an answer to a problem area for the other. Bob Tasca is a really great asset to us, and to the whole sport, too. He’s high energy and he’s always thinking about how to make things better, for both of our teams. From a marketing standpoint, we couldn't be doing all the new things we’ve got going now without Bob because he’s allowed us to basically merge our pits together for our corporate guests. So far, the whole thing has been a big plus, but I think both teams will get even more out of it as the season progresses.”

While Wilkerson continues to work hard toward finding the race-winning mojo that he enjoyed last season, points leader Capps will be trying to keep it going in his NAPA Dodge Charger. The California driver has won three races this season and says he and crew chief Ed “The Ace” McCulloch and the rest of their NAPA crew are trying to “rip their hearts out” on every run. He’s had great success at Gateway over the years, winning here three times, his most recent in 2007. Beckman’s Atlanta victory propelled him five spots in the points order to second place. Ashley Force Hood, who won in Houston in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, was the No. 1 qualifier and runner-up in Atlanta and will be a contender at GIR. Others to watch include rookie Matt Hagan, who was runner-up in Las Vegas, Gatornationals winner Tasca, and two-time GIR winner John Force.


Report courtesy of Tim Wilkerson Racing

Neff and Ashley among the Funny Car favorites at Midwest Nationals

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – As a previous winner of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Midwest Nationals as well as last year’s runner-up, Mike Neff must be considered one of the Funny Car favorites this week when the NHRA Full Throttle tour makes its annual stop on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River at Gateway International Raceway.

Gateway was the first track on which the 42-year-old Neff reached the final round as a driver and it also is the track on which, as crew chief, he won the Funny Car title in 2005 – although not with the driver one might expect.

Even though Neff and Gary Scelzi won the 2005 NHRA championship together, denying John Force Racing, Inc., its 13^th straight title, it was Ron Capps with whom Neff shared the winners’ circle the same season at Gateway International.

“I was helping Capps because ‘Ace’ (crew chief Ed ‘the Ace’ McCulloch) was gone (on temporary medical leave),” Neff said. “We qualified No. 1 with Scelzi and No. 2 with Capps but we had a mechanical problem on Scelzi’s car (in the first round). Capps went on to win the race. It was a good day.”

While nowhere is Neff credited for the Capps’ win, he and Scelzi are in the Gateway record books for the 4.724 second quarter mile they rang up in 2004, a mark that will stand at least another year as the track’s official quarter mile record.

As a driver, Neff has excelled even though he still is seeking his first win in the Ford Drive One Mustang. Last year, he drove his way into the Midwest Nationals finale before losing to Tim Wilkerson by a scant .017 of a second. That performance propelled him to a 10^th place finish in Funny Car points and to NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Despite all of his success, Neff will have to share top billing among the Ford drivers with Ashley Force Hood.

Force Hood, daughter of 14-time series champion John Force, is coming off a runner-up finish with her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang two weeks ago at Atlanta, Ga. On the way to her seventh career final round, the 26-year-old posted the three fastest speeds achieved in the slightly less than one year races in Top Fuel and Funny Car have been contested only to 1,000 feet.

She also had the four quickest times of the event, losing in the final to Jack Beckman only after becoming disoriented and stepping off the gas as she was trained to do. As a result, her Mustang fell off its torrid 4.0 second, 310 mile per hour pace and Beckman snuck by for the win.

Nevertheless, Ashley moved to within 70 points of Capps, the Funny Car leader, and could start Sunday’s eliminations in second place depending upon what occurs during the qualifying phase that begins on Friday.

The graduate of Cal State-Fullerton presently trails Beckman by a single point in the race for the No. 2 spot. She could move past her former driving instructor simply by qualifying in the top half of the field and at least two positions ahead of him.

“I think I just got lost and couldn’t figure out where I was on the track,” Ashley said of the Atlanta final. “I was just really upset that I gave up such a great car. A combination of different things made me feel like I was lost. It was frustrating. I just feel like I need to make more runs at night.

“Our team has always believed that consistency is the key,” Ashley said, “and the consistent car we had at Atlanta is the same one we’re bringing to St. Louis. Maybe we haven’t (always) had the fastest car, but recently we have really been able to keep the consistency but kind of take it up a notch.

“Now we’re running consistently and running at the top of the pack – and that is the best of both worlds. We’re really excited about this weekend even though we still have a few kinks to work out.”

The first woman to race in a Funny Car final, the first to win a race, the first to lead the points and the first to finish in the Top 10, Ashley historically has qualified well for the Midwest Nationals but has yet to race for the money. She qualified No. 3 as a rookie and No. 4 last season. Her best finish was a semifinal loss to Capps in 2007.

Even if Ashley and Neff should stumble, JFR should have be able to interject two other drivers into the fray including drag racing’s biggest winner.

John Force, who on Monday will celebrate his 60^th birthday, is a two-time winner of the Midwest Nationals (1999, 2002) whose Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang recently has begun to show flashes of the form that made it almost unbeatable in the late 1990s.

According to Force, who hasn’t won a race – or even reached the final round – in almost a full year, it’s about time.

“We’ve got a good hot rod, but we don’t have the consistency we used to have,” said the 126-time tour winner. “I keep thinking every week that ‘this is our race’ and I’m thinking it again. Ashley’s got the best car (among the four JFR Mustangs), but we’re getting better.

“Coil and Bernie (co-crew chiefs Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly) are the smartest guys I know. They’ll figure this all out. We’re not done yet. They may think we’re done, but I think we still can win out here.”

Force, who needs to win to extend to 23 the number of consecutive years in which he has claimed at least one NHRA tour event, hasn’t been in a final round since he won last year’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka, Kan.

To put Force’s frustration in perspective, that’s the longest he has EVER gone without reaching the finals. The previous longest final round drought endured by the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection was 22 races from July 15, 1979, when he was runner-up to Raymond Beadle at Englishtown, N.J., to July 18, 1983, when he was runner-up to Mark Oswald at the same race.

That said, Force insists he and his team are miles ahead of last season when they finished seventh in the NHRA point standings despite a career high four DNQs.

And then there’s Robert “Top Gun” Hight who, over the last four years, day-in and day-out, was the team’s top performer at the wheel of the Auto Club Ford Mustang.

Although he never has failed to log a Top 5 finish, the 39-year-old Hight finds himself presently tied for ninth place.

That is particularly disconcerting for the 2005 Rookie-of-the-Year insomuch as he began the season by qualifying No. 1 (for the 29^th time in his brief career) and reaching the semifinals at the O’Reilly Kragen Winternationals.

“We are still battling some issues,” said the 11-time tour winner. “We didn’t get a lot out of testing in Las Vegas (following the April 5 SummitRacing.com Nationals), so we are a little behind. I know (crew chief) Jimmy Prock and my guys can figure it out, but that can’t happen soon enough for me.”