Austin Prock: 'I felt pretty confident going that we were going to have the car to beat'
Paul Lee: 'It’s going to be great just to see our friends and the fans'
Jack Beckman: 'I don’t know if anyone wants to get back more than me'
Tim Wilkerson: 'I don’t think they’re ready for my attitude. It’s gonna be fun'
Kenny Delco: 'We were fast, we qualified fourth at Pomona and Phoenix'
Steve Torrence: 'You’ve got to come out and swing for every one of ’em'
Cristian Cuadra: 'I think I’m doing well, but I have a lot of room to improve'
Tommy Johnson Jr.: 'I’ve not wanted to win a championship more than this year'
Brittany Force: 'We’re ready for all this to be over so we get back to what we love'
Robert Hight: 'I can’t wait to get back and try to defend our championship'
Alex Laughlin: 'All we have to do is shove the car back in the trailer, and we are ready to go racing'
Shawn Langdon: 'I’m trying to stay as fresh as I can so we can be ready to go'
Chris McGaha: 'We’ve come up with some new ideas and we’ve beaten on some things'
J.R. Todd: 'I have all the confidence that we will be in contention when it counts'
Clay Millican: 'I can’t wait to stomp on that loud pedal ... it’s been way too long'
Bob Tasca III: 'Trust me, this Motorcraft car is going to have its day in the sun'
Antron Brown: 'I’ve been doing everything I can; I’m gonna come back hungry and ready'
Jason Line: 'It doesn’t matter what track we start with, the cars will all be ready to go when we get the call'
Fernando Cuadra Jr: 'We’re applying many of the things we learned from the first two races'
John Force: 'I’ll be ready. I know the car. I could drive it with my eyes closed'
Rahn Tobler maps out plans and goals for the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car team
Leah Pruett: 'This is not the time to test or play; it’s time to run with what we know'
Ron Capps: 'It’s going to feel crazy the first time any of us steps on the gas for the first time'
Doug Kalitta: 'We’re all just really hungry and ready to make it happen'
Bo Butner: 'I feel like when we all come back racing we’ll be stronger than ever!'
Jeg Coughlin Jr: 'It’s time to go. Every round will be as important as the last'
Matt Hartford: 'We have a car that can run for the championship—bar none'
Alexis DeJoria: 'I just hope that everybody makes it back to the track safely'
Justin Ashley: 'Having a break like this really puts things in perspective'
Erica Enders: 'Our great start proves the organization’s hard work is paying off'
Doug Kalitta: 'We’re all just really hungry and ready to make it happen'
DOUG KALITTA | Mac Tools dragster
Current points position: 1st | Best season e.t. to date: 3.672
Early-season report card: After just missing out on the championship (again) last season, Kalitta and crew chiefs Troy Fasching and Rob Flynn came firing out of the box in Pomona. After qualifying fifth, Kalitta sat down Brandon Welch, Justin Ashley, Brittany Force, and, in the final, Austin Prock for his 48th career win, capping it with a pair of 3.6-second passes in the final two rounds. After qualifying eighth in Phoenix, he beat Shawn Reed, Force again, and Antron Brown (with a season-best 3.672) before hazing the tires against Steve Torrence in a losing final-round effort.
Looking back: “We hit the ground running for sure. We tested at Vegas with half a dozen different things because we’re always trying to squeeze a little more out of these cars. We’ve been trying to run consistently in the .60s without blowing it up; obviously, it was a learning curve to get to this point and we still have a ways to go, but it was very refreshing to see that we can run in the .60s and that it can repeat and live. We ran really good in Phoenix, too, but just pushed it too much in the final.”
Looking ahead: “We were able to start strong and everybody is champing at the bit to get going again. Troy and Rob are figuring it out and we just need to keep at it. I’ve been doing some iRacing, so I’m getting all kinds of seat time. I’m doing mostly the dirt stuff for an hour a day; I’m just not going straight, but seat time is seat time. I’ve also been on the practice Tree staying sharp so we’re where we need to be. We’re all just really hungry and ready to make it happen. Obviously, Steve [Torrence] ran really good in Phoenix so we’re going to have to keep our heads down and run hard.”
Shop talk: “There’s not a lot going on with the car, so we’re trying to get organized to be able to run a bunch of consecutive races. I think our inventory is pretty good. We’ve done some landscaping and some painting inside the shop and Chad [Head, team manager] is finding different projects for the guys. A lot of the team guys are working for us on the airplane side, building parts, fixing vehicles, working on engine stuff; we have all kinds of work around here so it’s really nice having the extra help because we usually run pretty lean. To have 20 guys to help has been great.”
The final word: “We’re all looking forward to going racing again. Since I fly my own planes, it’s easy to get to and from the races but we need to get these passenger companies running again so we can get all our crew guys and everyone else that normally flies commercial in and out. The whole system needs to get turned back for everyone who helps make these races run.”