BAYTOWN, Texas – Driver quotes and reaction regarding the racing action this weekend at the NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

Top Fuel:

Antron Brown – “It’s always great to get back to Houston. That’s where I won my first Top Fuel race and a place where we’ve been pretty good. We’ve won there a couple of times and made the final a few other times, so hopefully this year we can get back there and win it again. We’ve had a pretty good start to the year and our goal is just to continue going rounds. The weather can always be an equalizer in Houston. You’ve got some lower elevation, so there is an opportunity to use more horsepower, but it just depends on how hot it gets. You can usually count on two qualifying sessions where you can – what I like to say, ‘Throw down.’ That means you can really get aggressive and go for it. We’re ready.”

Brittany Force – “I’m definitely excited to get to Houston.  For me, I like races that are back-to-back, right in a row. It’s less time out of the seat, and you’re right back in it a few days later. I’m more comfortable that way. I’m excited that Houston kicks that off, and then we go three in a row. We’ll go to Charlotte Four-Wide, where we won last year, and Atlanta after that. I’m anxious to get there and get on a roll, especially coming out of Vegas.  We made some adjustments in the seat and we can leave it where it’s at and I know it’s going to make things better,” Force said. “Now, it’s just getting comfortable with the new setup we have for me and moving forward with it so I can only get better from here.”

Leah Prittchett –”I filled the void with a lot of extremely spectacular activities, but having multiple weekends off in a row is not my favorite time.  The anticipation has been building to get back in our Papa John’s dragster more than it’s ever been in my career because I’m not just looking forward to getting back in a racecar but I’m looking forward to getting back in a car we know is always capable of winning and is in championship contention.”

Tony Schumacher –“Houston, it’s been good to me over the years. We’ve won some races there at important times. It’s now only a three-and-a-half-hour drive from home (in Austin), so that makes it a home track for me and all that goes with that. When I think of Houston, I think of winning with (then-new crew chief) Mike Green for the first time in 2009. We had a lot of pressure. So many people were out there saying we wouldn’t be able to win without Alan Johnson. It took us four races, and getting that first win was huge. Mike has proven over the years that he is absolutely one of the best at getting these cars right. He assembled an incredible crew with guys like (new assistant crew chief) Phil (Shuler), and things seem to be running on all cylinders. The U.S. Army team has always thrived when it’s pressure time and that all started with Mike back in 2009. That Houston win proved we could do it, and we’re still winning now. That was the last time we won there, so hopefully we can add another one there this weekend.”

Steve Torrence – “The DSR (Don Schumacher Racing) cars have been kicking our butts.  They’ve won the first four races but maybe we can start giving them some payback now that we’re back home in Texas.  We’re still a work in progress.  We made some changes and it just takes time to get everything right.”

Funny Car:

Jack Beckman – “I wouldn’t bet against our Infinite Hero Foundation team.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we were able to take our first trophy from Houston. But I’m looking at this a long process that’s going to combinate at the Finals in Pomona. We’re just going to keep picking away at this thing until we’re satisfied by the predictability of the car.  It’s going to take us 30 more runs to truly get a good understanding on the clutch package and the tune-up changes that our car needs relevant to what we ran last year.  Now keep in mind, last year we won two races and were in contention for the championship and we still weren’t as good as we were in 2015, when we won seven races.  Sometimes it’s just that little one-tenth of 1 percent that makes all the difference. I think that’s what keeps fuel racing interesting from the driver and crew standpoint; it’s that pursuit of perfect. You’re never going to be perfect in a fuel car but our goal is to be close to that.”

Ron Capps – “We had two great runs.  What makes our performance today even more special is what we have gone through the last couple days. Joe Chrisman, one of the crew guys who was at DSR before I came here, had surgery to remove his appendix after he got to Houston. We flew in another crewman (Jason Davis) to fill in for him. Another thing that makes DSR so special is being able to do something like that if one of our guys gets sick. We really want to take the Wally (trophy) over to Joe after we win on Sunday night.”

Courtney Force – “Houston was a good race for our team, for my crew chiefs Danny (Hood) and Ronnie (Thompson) last year.  It’s always a little bit more comforting going back to a track that we were able to win at in the previous season. I’m really excited to get back there.  Getting the tuneup right and figuring it out during your qualifying sessions – and then not changing your setup for race day,” Force said. “I think we tried to push our car a little too hard and expect more out of it. That has kind of messed us up a little bit. I think we just need to stick to what we know and stick to the setup we used throughout qualifying.”

John Force – “We just keep chasing it.  We’re trying to win races, trying to win championships. There’s a lot of work going down, a lot of work for our guys in Brownsburg who build the cars and the engines. We’re going to try to run for the NHRA Mello Yello championship. It’s tough. We haven’t won a championship in a few years, and we want to get back on track.” “We’re excited to bring the PEAK Chevrolet to Houston,” Force said. “Won a lot of races there, and I’m always excited to bring the PEAK Chevrolet there. To come back to Auto Club country in Texas is big for us, too.  We’re still watching the weather. It’s a great race track to make record runs when the conditions are right, and our race cars are moving in that direction. We know you can run big numbers on that race track in Houston.”

Matt Hagan – “We’re four races in and we won two of them,” the two-time Funny Car champion said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our start and we just have to keep our heads down and stay focused and keep this momentum rolling.  You want to win them all but this sport is so humbling. You can’t win every round. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to. This team is hungry for success. Hopefully we can pull down a win this weekend for all the folks at Mopar, Pennzoil and Sandvik Coromant.”

Robert Hight – “I’ll never forget Houston. Once you’ve got your first win, then you know you can do it. There’s always an element of doubt until you actually get the first one. But once you’ve got that, I know I can.” “You don’t forget that place and that day,” Hight said. “It was the greatest day ever for me, getting to be successful at what you’ve dreamed of doing. It’s one thing to get to do it, but to be successful at something you love, that’s pretty awesome.  I look forward to Houston every year.”

Tim Wilkerson – “Last year we were five- or six-hundredths faster than everybody in Q4 [the final qualifying session], and we were the only car in the 3-second range,” said Wilkerson, whose current career best is a 3.844 set earlier this season in Phoenix. “We need to get that mojo back, and hopefully we can get that done. I’m optimistic, that’s for sure. We usually run well in Houston, and it’s been a good place for us. The track can be a little dicey, but that’s kind of worked in our favor a few times.  Winning in 2004, that was another situation where nobody was able to get down the track but us. We looked like the smartest guys in the world and had low e.t. almost every round. It was crazy, and there were a lot of good cars out there.  Last year, we had everyone’s number. It was a lot of fun, and like I said, we’re just hoping to get some of that mojo back.”

Del Worsham – “I love racing in Houston. I’ve had lots of success here, I have lots of friends here, I’ve won this race multiple times, and so it’s one of the races I really enjoy coming to. I’ve got lots of solid reoccurring fans that I’ve known for years here. So I’m definitely looking forward to coming here.”

Pro Stock:

Greg Anderson – “I enjoy racing there – it’s always what we call ‘good Pro Stock conditions.’ The cars run fast, and the engines make a lot of power, so Houston is a racetrack we feel good going to,” said Anderson, who was also the No. 1 qualifier there last season. “We love to go race at places like that, and regardless of what the scoresheet looks like, we think those Houston conditions play into our hands better than the rest of them.”

Jeg Coughlin Jr. – “It’s a testament to the attitude and efforts of this Elite Motorsports race team.   It felt great from behind the wheel. Both runs today were pretty clean but that second one, I let the clutch out and the car just kind of rocked back and lifted the front end right away. It was crisp and clean through the gears; just a perfect run.  I definitely think we got the most out of that pass. To ultimately be rewarded with the No. 1 qualifier position, even for a day, feels great.”

Erica Enders – “We’re looking for nothing less than another win.  I love this race above all the others. It’s home, not only for me but for my guys as well because we’re close enough to the shop (in Wynnewood, Okla.) that all of our family members and friends are able to come to the race.  We are all thinking about eating at Lupe Tortilla every day. Stan and Sheila Holt (Lupe Tortilla owners) have been my best friends forever. I love them so much and to have their support again for this race is extra special. We’ve won with Lupe Tortilla on the doors before so we know they are good luck!  We’re definitely getting better.  I know none of us have been home very much because we’ve been constantly testing since even before the season started. We’re used to winning races and winning championships so anything less than that is not up to the standards we set for ourselves.  We keep working at matching that power to the car. All this time we’re investing will pay off very soon. I can feel it. We’re ready to light up the scoreboard in Houston.”

Alex Laughlin – “I had the chance to run both cars last fall in Dallas and Las Vegas and it’s a bunch of work but also a lot of fun.  I mean, you don’t even wear the same kind of firesuit so it seems like half the time I’m finding a place to get changed, but the days fly by so fast.  I definitely think the extra seat time and all the additional hits you get at the (Christmas) tree in real race conditions helps. The cars are very different but getting a good reaction time is the same no matter what you’re driving.  I’m excited to be teammates with Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Vincent Nobile. Those are three drivers I really admire. Elite doesn’t play favorites. They give all of us the best engines they can make and turn us loose to drag race. That’s how it should be. We already tested with them and the car was a beast.”

Jason Line – “Every place you go, it’s like a chess match with the racetrack.  The air and engine tune-up may be somewhat more straightforward than it was at our last race in Las Vegas, but the racetrack is certainly tricky. Rob [Downing, crew chief] has a tough job, and it’s hard to be perfect all the time, but he does a great job. Houston will bring a new set of challenges, but we’ve been there before and this isn’t new to us.”