Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster team will maintain their fourth-place points position after a quarterfinal exit at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals Sunday at Pacific Raceways. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS also had a quarterfinal exit while Robert Hight with the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevy Camaro SS and Ausitn Prock with the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevy dragster exited in the first round.
Entering the day as the No. 10 qualifiers, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team had an unfortunate first-round match-up with teammate Austin Prock. Force and Prock would put on quite the show with their side-by-side quickest pair of the weekend. The Flav-R-Pac team would take the win with a 3.707-second run at a track record 334.73 mph while Prock would handle the Montana Brand dragster to a stout 3.738 at 325.92.
Force’s impressive showing in the first round landed her in a quarterfinal race against four-time champion Steve Torrence. The Flav-R-Pac machine would run into tire smoke around 60 feet, coasting to the finish line at 8.811 seconds and 70.93 mph. Torrence wouldn’t miss a beat with a 3.752 pass at 319.52.
“That first-round win was an outstanding run for this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team. We set the track speed record and ran low ET of the weekend. Our team worked really hard to turn things around after an uneventful two days of qualifying. Unfortunately, we went out the second round, but we know our error and we’ll improve it before we go to the next race,” Force said. “Overall, we were really excited to be out here representing Flav-R-Pac at their title race. It was awesome to see Flav-R-Pac splashed all over everywhere. I wish we could have done better but we’ll attempt to get the job done again next weekend in Sonoma.”
Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team, who entered the day as the No. 5 qualifiers, held onto their No. 5 points position after taking the first-round loss to Force. Their 3.738-second pass at 325.92 was the third-best ET of the round and coupled with Prock’s .067 reaction time would have beat anyone else in the round.
“This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team had a strong run today; we were just lined up against the wrong car. Drag racing is tough and humbling sometimes,” Prock said. “We have a good hot rod right now, we just need some things to fall our way. On to Sonoma to give it another go.”
John Force and the PEAK Chevy started race day as the No. 1 qualifiers after they had a blistering Saturday evening pass. The efforts earned the 16-time champion a first-round bye. Force would handle the PEAK Camaro to a 3.952-second run at 323.89 mph to earn lane choice over his second-round opponent, Chad Green. Force would run into trouble in the quarterfinal matchup, crossing the finish line at only 4.229 seconds.
“Not the day we wanted. Couldn’t get the job done for Frank Tiegs at his Flav-R-Pac race. Really thought, after going No. 1 and after that first round in Top Fuel, we might have had it. Just not our day,” Force said. “This PEAK team, we’re doing good. We can hang with the rest of these teams, just need to find our consistency. We’ll pack up and head to the next one, try to get some rounds in Sonoma.”
Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools Chevy had their defense of the NHRA Northwest Nationals cut short in the first round. Hight started race day from the No. 4 qualifying spot, squaring up with Cruz Pedregon. The Cornwell Tools Camaro would haze the tires to go only 4.445 seconds at 214.89 mph, falling short of Pedregon’s 3.956 at 323.50.
“Disappointing, but again, we get the opportunity to turn it around in just a couple days. I know this Cornwell Tools team was really hoping to get another Northwest Nationals Wally. Would have been nice to get it done for Frank Tiegs again at his title race after everything he’s done for John Force Racing,” Hight said. “Hopefully we can turn it around and get into a groove starting in Sonoma next weekend.”
The final leg of the famed NHRA Western Swing kicks off next weekend, July 28-30, with the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
This story was originally published on July 23, 2023. 
