Courtney Force leads NHRA qualifying in Texas

Courtney Force earned her fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals following her track record setting performance on Friday. 

She raced to her seventh career No. 1 with a performance of 4.039 seconds at 314.90 mph in a Ford Mustang. Her most recent No. 1 qualifying position came in Sonoma, an event she went on to win after defeating her father John in the final. 

“It feels good to have the Traxxas Ford Mustang back in the No. 1 spot, especially back here in Texas,” said Force who has two No. 1 qualifying positions at the track. “I’m very proud of my team for giving me a very good racecar this weekend. Definitely hope we can continue it tomorrow throughout race day.” 

Force hopes a victory tomorrow will put her back in championship contention. 

“We didn’t have such good luck last weekend in Charlotte so we are definitely looking to turn things around,” said Force, who will race Tony Pedregon in the opening round. “We can definitely use the points to climb our way back up there to battle it out for this championship because I definitely think we still have a chance at it.”

Todd, Gray, Krawiec other three fast qualifiers 

J.R. Todd (Top Fuel), Shane Gray (Pro Stock), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations for the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals. It is the second playoff race in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship. 

Todd earned his second consecutive top qualifying position in the Countdown playoffs from his Friday night run of 3.761 at 317.87. He will face Morgan Lucas in the first round of eliminations. 

In Pro Stock, Gray claimed the No. 1 qualifying position with his run of 6.566 at 210.08 in a Chevy Camaro during the third qualifying session. This is his fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the year and his first since Sonoma. He will race John Gaydosh in the opener. 

Krawiec, who also won the delayed NHRA Carolina Nationals, powered to his seventh No. 1 qualifying position of the season and the 21st of his career with a run of 6.841 at 194.83 on his Harley-Davidson. He will face Freddie Camarena in the first round of eliminations. 

NHRA