LAS VEGAS (Oct. 27, 2023) – Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevy Camaro SS team hold the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Austin Prock and the Montana Brand. Rocky Mountain Twist team are No. 2 while John Force in his 50th anniversary PEAK Chevy Camaro SS are in the No. 4 spot and Brittany Force in the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team are No. 10.
Robert Hight and the Cornwell Tools team wasted no time coming out of the trailer with a 3.881-second pass at 328.46 mph that would earn them three bonus qualifying points in the first session. After being bumped to the third position, Hight would improve to a 3.851 at 327.51 collecting another three bonus points and the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.
“After Dallas and the first-round loss, this Cornwell Tools team knew what we were up against. We dug ourselves a hole and the only way out is to race aggressively, try to get all of the points you can get, and get a win. This is definitely a must-win race for us,” Hight said. “The way those other cars are running that we are fighting against you’re going to half to be the winner or get to the semi-finals to even have a chance. We might have to win both here and Pomona and that still might not be enough. You see it out there, we just got Bob Tasca by two-thousandths of a second. There’s going to be a lot more of that all weekend. You have to make big moves here in Vegas, kind of like Denver. I predict that if we don’t step up here tomorrow, I won’t be in this No. 1 spot tomorrow night.”
After they hazed the tires and had to shut off early in the first qualifying session for only a 4.911-second pass at 143.75 mph, Austin Prock and the Montana Brand team came out swinging in the second session of the day. Blasting to a 3.701 pass at 329.99 to jump from No. 12 to No. 2.
John Force, in the black and gold PEAK Chevy celebrating the 50th anniversary of Old World Industries, started qualifying with a 3.916-second pass at 328.46 mph, the sixth quickest of the session. Force and the PEAK car, tuned by Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi, would improve Friday evening with a 3.887 pass at 322.34 to end the night in the No. 4 spot.
Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team let it rip in the first session of qualifying laying down an impressive 3.732-second pass at 335.48 mph for two bonus qualifying points. In the second session, Force would have a more modest 3.771 pass at 321.04 putting her in the No. 10 spot with two sessions left on Saturday.
Competition at the Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway continues with qualifying Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. Eliminations will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event will air on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with two qualifying shows on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and Sunday at 3 p.m. ET and an eliminations show on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
