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NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 25, 2016Courtney ForceGlendora, California THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with our call today. Thank you for joining us for the NHRA media teleconference to discuss the start of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, which has already been hotly contested in all four of our professional categories. We're going to use this call today to preview the start of four events that will begin with the June 2nd through the 5th event at NHRA New England Nationals in Epping. We are joined by Courtney Force. Thank you for joining us. COURTNEY FORCE: Thank you for having me. THE MODERATOR: Courtney is the driver of the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car. She is the current Funny Car points leader on the strength of one win and three semifinal appearances. She got her first win of the season in Houston in which she defeated Tim Wilkerson in the finals. How important was it for your team to get that win so early in the season? COURTNEY FORCE: It was huge for our team. I think everyone knows last year we struggled a little bit. We had an up-and-down season. We worked hard from the end of last season when we didn't make the Countdown to the Championship and worked through the off-season. Obviously through test days in Vegas, to come out, I feel we definitely have a really strong team. I have Dan Hood and Ronnie Thompson. These guys, a lot of them have been with me from my rookie season. I feel like we've definitely all gelled together really great this year. It's exciting for us. I think we definitely have this car under control. Feels like it's been running really consistently. I'm really excited, just thrilled to be driving it. Getting that win in Houston, it felt like it was a really hard fight to get that win. It definitely took a lot longer to get to that winner's circle than it did my first win in my rookie season. It definitely was a huge victory for our team. I think it was a lot more meaningful for us because we had to fight so much harder. I think we appreciated it a lot more. It definitely got us headed in the right direction. We definitely have a consistent car. I think that's exciting for us starting out this year. Going to multiple semifinal rounds, kind of keeping in the groove of things, trying to stay in that top spot right now. We're thrilled with where we're headed. I definitely feel like we're all going in the right direction, and I've got a great team behind me supporting me. THE MODERATOR: You talked a little bit about 2015. Not the results you and your team had been accustomed to. When you left Houston, was there a sense of relief or was it more, Okay, we got that out of the way, let's keep going to the next one? COURTNEY FORCE: It was definitely a weight lifted off all our shoulders. It felt like a long time coming. I mean, I felt like we fought so hard to get back in the winner's circle, it was a lot harder this time around. I think, like I said, we appreciated it a lot more, and it definitely helped us be stronger as a team coming off such a rough season. I think we kind of needed that. We had a great car the past few years as well. There's nothing I can say about that. We had a good car. We just struggled a little bit last year. I just feel like we made a pretty good comeback this season. We've done well in the past. I finished in the points standings, you know, fourth, fifth, seventh. We were getting increasingly better actually since my rookie year. Like I said, just stumbled a little bit last year. I kind of feel like this season we've gotten back on our feet and definitely appreciating these wins because they're a lot tougher to come by nowadays. If you're not running in the 3s, your car is not driving well, these guys are hard to beat because they're right there within inches at the finish line. It really is a team effort. I'm just very fortunate that I have great guys working for me. They all work hard and want to win as bad as I do. THE MODERATOR: Courtney, was there a big difference from last year to this year internally with the team, or has everything just come together a little bit better this year? COURTNEY FORCE: I mean, honestly, it's definitely just come together a little bit better. I can't really sit here and point to a certain thing that it was. It's been a lot of fun having Ronnie Thompson onboard. He's new to our team this year, coming over from Brittany Force's Top Fuel dragster, and Dan Hood tuning this car with him. Honestly, we've all really gelled together nicely. We're having a lot of fun. We're enjoying it over here. I mean, honestly, I think just learning and kind of taking it slowly. Really over the off-season we kind of got this car back to basics. I think we kind of got a little bit too far off track, so we got this car kind of back to square one and took it testing, had an easier time going about it that way. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just altogether been a better season for us. We've been trying a lot of different things. It seems to come along a lot easier this year so far. But like I said, there's a lot of competition right now. If you're not running in the 3s, now if you're not running over 330 miles an hour, it's insane, but it's so cool to be a part of. It's really amazing. It really shows how far our sport has come. Especially doing the consecutive wins, doing that with the women in our sport, that was also a huge thing. I felt the pressure of that. To be able to get the first win, I think it was in 31 races, we had a dry spell, it was definitely a memorable win, and I think a huge kind of sigh of relief for our Traxxas team. I feel good that we all have our heads kind of right and are headed in the right direction. We're all just really excited to be on this team, just trying to push this car to just go rounds and be consistent. That's the number one thing, just consistency out there against all these other competitors. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Courtney. Q. In listening to you, a thought came to my mind. What ignited you, was there a single moment in your life, into wanting to be where you are today, to be such a great driver, to be out there performing on a regular basis? COURTNEY FORCE: Watching my dad as a kid. A lot of people are like, It's cool being a female in the sport. But as a kid, when you have dreams, you don't see any barriers or walls or anything. I had a dream of being a racecar driver, not just a female driver out here. So it's really cool. Obviously Shirley breaking down those walls for all the girls in our sport, maybe it wouldn't have happened. But as a kid with a dream, I knew this is what I always wanted to do. Watching my sister Ashley compete in Funny Car, watching her successes, I was taking notes in my head. I'm looking at what all the other females are accomplishing, all the other just drivers in general are accomplishing. I think it's going to be a little difficult to do 16 championships, but I'd be happy if we could get one. It's definitely been my goal since I was a kid, just to be a little bit different. I shouldn't say different. Erica won it twice. There's a lot of goals I set for myself in driving the Funny Car. I love what I do. I push myself every weekend because I want to be the best out there, I don't want to just be the best female out there. I want to be better than everyone. Obviously we have a long way to go. But I'm really enjoying that. I'm having fun. I'm part of a great team. I have my dad as my teacher. It's very fun out there. I'm very fortunate that I get to race with my family and support my sister. I think I was bawling my eyes out when she won her first event. I was so proud of her. A lot of people want to compare my sister and my dad. We're all very supportive of each other and proud. I think we kind of push each other to be better. You want to just continue to succeed. Even Ashley called me when I passed her in wins in Funny Cars. She joked, Now I have to get back in the car after you got that win. It's always friendly competition. But I think we just kind of push each other to work harder and try and be better every time we get in a racecar. Like I've said, I've always had a dream in racing a Funny Car, pushing myself to be the best out there. Like I said, it's a long way to go, but I enjoy testing myself and kind of setting the bar high for myself and expecting a lot out of myself in drag racing. Q. You have four weeks in a row coming up. Of those four weeks, is there one that kind of really piques your eyes, or one that you could skip, it wouldn't be so bad? COURTNEY FORCE: No. Every race on the circuit is going to be huge. Obviously going to Epping and Englishtown. Epping I've won there before, the inaugural race. That's going to be huge. Bristol. There's nothing you can really sit there and say, We can throw that out. Norwalk is huge. Four in a row, it flies by so fast. You get to the end of the four weekends in a row, you kind of stand back and you're like, Man, we were in this position before, can you believe how much has changed. You really have to make every weekend count. You can't stumble. You kind of have to keep it consistent and you have to keep your head on straight for every race that you go out for. You only get a couple days to kind of regroup. I think it's even more important when you have four in a row to really have your game up and to be ready for them as a team. THE MODERATOR: Courtney, your dad has debuted a new Funny Car body this past week, unfortunately didn't have the results he would have liked for John Force Racing. Can you give us an update on your dad and what your plans are for your new car? COURTNEY FORCE: We're all kind of dying to get behind the wheel and try it out. Like you said, it was an unfortunate weekend for my dad. He was pretty bummed about it, pretty upset. But he's been in the shop working with the team to get that car back and ready. I don't know the status of it exactly. But we're all excited to get it back out to the track and start running on it. It's definitely something new and exciting. For all the hard work that the guys, the engineers, at Chevrolet, everyone at John Force Racing that have had their hands in on this project, it was a little bit of a disappointing weekend to have it kind of end so quickly. I think in the long run, this is going to be huge. I think everyone will kind of forget about that weekend and once this car is rolled back out, I think it will be a great thing for our team. We're all excited. I haven't been told when I get to run the new body yet. I think it's kind of one step at a time right now, getting dad's body back out there and ready for the next race. I don't know if it's going to be ready for this upcoming race, but I definitely know they're working hard to try and get that done. THE MODERATOR: This is obviously a busy race weekend with your husband running in the Indianapolis 500. What are your plans for this weekend? COURTNEY FORCE: Well, it's going to be fun. I mean, it's kind of weird being a spectator. I feel a little bit out of my element when I go to one of the IndyCar races. It's fun for me. It's cool. I'm glad I have the weekend out. We're usually running at SECA. We ran it last weekend. I saw in our schedule at the start of the year that we'd have this weekend off. I'm excited. I'm actually doing a couple of different appearances. I have one for Sunoco Saturday morning. Yeah, having fun, supporting him, cheering him on. I'm just excited to be there and be a part of it. He's dragging me into the parade festivities and all that. I don't know how everything works. I'm new to it. I'm excited. I tried to get out of the parade because I don't know how to sit there and do a princess wave, but I'll try. I'm just excited. I'm excited to be there this weekend. It's the hundredth running. It's definitely a big deal for him and his team, just excited to be there and to watch and to cheer him on. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much for your time. Enjoy your weekend. Good luck to Graham. We will see you at Epping when the series returns. COURTNEY FORCE: All right, awesome. Thank you so much, everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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