Courtesy of John Force Racing

LAS VEGAS (March 6, 2011) — This weekend NHRA Full Throttle funny car champions John Force and Robert Hight introduced up and coming funny car driver Courtney Force to a whole new world of horsepower. The youngest Force enjoyed her first experience of NASCAR taking in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It was a lot of fun to see and meet so many NASCAR drivers,” said Courtney Force, driver of the BrandSource Ford Mustang. “They all knew my dad and Robert and they were super nice to me. We toured the Nationwide and Sprint Cup garages and watched a little from the top of the Wood Brothers’ trailer.”

Force along with her father and brother-in-law signed autographs in the Neon Garage fan zone at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The trio was joined by NASCAR legend Harry Gant as they signed for over an hour for enthusiastic fans. John Force’s Castrol GTX Ford Mustang was also on display in the fan area and hundreds of fans stopped to take their photo beside the 8,000 horsepower hot rod. In addition to the autograph event the JFR drivers participated in a number of interviews for radio and TV including an in-race interview during the Nationwide race during the ABC broadcast.

“You really could get overwhelmed by all that is going on here,” said the 22 year-old recent Cal State Fullerton graduate. “It is a lot like one of our Full Throttle national events but different too. Everyone from the fans to the other drivers was great.  I was able to talk with a number of Ford NASCAR drivers including Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Trevor Bayne.”

On Sunday the group signed at the John Force Racing sponsor trailer which was positioned by the main entrance to the multi-million dollar facility. The sponsor trailer which is usually at NHRA national events was a place holder for the upcoming John Force Racing Road Show. Las Vegas Motor Speedway General Manager Chris Blair wanted to generate additional interest in the upcoming Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals by having team Force talk up the event and showcase the NHRA.

All three drivers participated in the pre-race ceremonies, spent time with NASCAR legend Richard Petty and walked pit road before the start of Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. Courtney also spent time in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway media center talking about her recent testing experiences as well as her future behind the wheel of the BrandSource Ford Mustang funny car.

“I think the biggest thing I saw this weekend was how important it is to spend time with the fans and promote our sponsors and sport,” said Force. “Getting to see and talk with the NASCAR fans about what we are doing on the NHRA side was great. There were a lot of people here who follow us and I met a lot of people that hopefully will come out to the Las Vegas NHRA race in a couple of weeks to see our Ford Mustangs on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 1-3.”

attached photos
RH CF JF Biffle and JF CF Gordon courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography. Track side interview and Saturday auto line courtesy JFR.