This weekend’s 35th Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce has an interesting lineup of storylines.
Brittany Force’s Top Fuel dragster will be adorned with a new sponsor logo. Tony Schumacher is breaking out a new dragster in hopes of ending his career-long Atlanta losing streak. Funny Car driver Ron Capps leads the points standings as he comes to race at the home track of his sponsor NAPA and Erica Enders-Stevens leads the way in Pro Stock.
Force’s announcement this week that Monster Energy will back her dragster is significant in that it’s another sign that the team founded by her father, 16-time champion John Force, has weathered the storm brought about by a loss of key backers after last season.
In recent months, Force signed with Chevrolet, putting a new manufacturer relationship in place after Ford exited the sport, and he’s brought on other sponsors as well, most notably Peak Anti-Freeze and Coolant and Lucas Oil.
Getting a multi-year sponsorship deal for his daughter’s Top Fuel dragster seemed extra special for Force, who discussed the deal on a media teleconference this week.
“That means there’s a future in John Force Racing,” John Force said. “It’s not just about winning championships, we know how to do that, but you got to have funding.
“I’m no spring chicken. My girls now, along with Robert Hight, they can lead this charge.
“I have enough money now to run my Fuel teams, be competitive, run for the championship, and I’ve got the money to build safety. Those two things are why I came to racing. It wasn’t about trying to make a profit. It was about getting to drive these race cars.”
Brittany Force is still seeking her first Top Fuel event win, while her 65-year-old father has 142 career Funny Car victories, the most recent coming at Las Vegas last month.
Schumacher, who has a record 78 career Top Fuel event wins and holds the points lead entering the Southern Nationals, hopes a new car will help him earn his first Atlanta Dragway victory.
He pointed out that his new ride has several things going for it, including the fact that it has never lost a race at Atlanta Dragway, something he said the media focuses on more than he does.
“I don’t go up there and say, ‘Why don’t we win here? Like I don’t go to Indy and say: “How come we always win here?’” he said in a team release. “I’m not surprised, but I continue to be blown away by the fact that we’ve won 78 races.”
Capps, who got his 44th career Funny Car Wally trophy last month in the SpringNationals in Houston and now holds the division points lead, said a win at Atlanta Dragway would be meaningful.
“The only thing better than winning at Atlanta would be to win one of our last two races of the year at Las Vegas or Pomona (Calif.) to clinch a world championship,” Capps said in a team release.
In Pro Stock, Enders-Stevens enters riding a two-race win streak and having earned more points so far this season than any other driver in the series.
“We’re definitely on a roll, and we want to keep it up,” said Enders-Stevens, who is married to her fellow Pro Stock driver Richie Stevens.
In winning the Pro Stock championship last year, Enders-Stevens became the first woman to win a title in that division and the third to win a major NHRA title. She joins former Top Fuel champion Shirley Muldowney and Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Angelle Sampey.
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