CHARLOTTE, NC (April 12, 2012) --- The drivers of John Force Racing spent Thursday putting the pedal to the metal all over Cabarrus County and points beyond promoting the 3rd annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals. From radio call-ins to sponsor appearances to in-studio TV interviews John Force, Robert Hight, Mike Neff, Courtney Force, Brittany Force and Ashley Force Hood signed, posed and gabbed for nearly fourteen hours today.
“This was a great way to get the Four-Wide Nationals started. We got to spend the day with Freightliner, Ford, Lionel NASCAR and most of all hundreds of our fans,” said John Force, the winner of the inaugural Four-Wide event in 2010. “I am telling my kids Ashley, Brittany and Courtney that you have to live this business. I love spending time with our fans and sponsors and they love doing the same thing. Robert and Mike were all over the factory today at Freightliner and for an old truck driver like me getting a chance to get a new Cascadia big rig was awesome.”
Courtney Force, driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car, started the day for the JFR driver contingent making radio calls with WSOC and WKKT Kat Kountry promoting her inaugural appearance at the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals. Force made the calls from the seat of a Town & Country provided Ford Explorer on the way to the Freightliner plant in Cleveland, North Carolina. From 9 a.m. until after 2 p.m. the youngest Force along with her two sisters, father, brother-in-law and teammate Mike Neff toured the Freightliner factory, signed autographs, accepted the keys to a brand new Cascadia truck and got behind the wheel of a big rig for the first time. As the tour wrapped up Courtney took a few minutes to call in to WFNZ radio station and John Force took a few minutes as the event wrapped up to call into the Jack “The Ripper” Show out of St. Louis to give fans of the Midwest radio show a preview of the Charlotte race.
“It was a long but fun day. When you get to see so many fans and spend time with sponsors you can’t help but get excited to race. I have to admit I am nervous about the Four-Wide Nationals but I spent some time on the track this morning studying the Christmas Tree format and I’ll be ready to go on Friday,” said Rookie of the Year candidate Courtney Force.
“Getting a chance to talk with three different radio stations and then FOX TV at the end of the day was a great chance to promote one of our biggest races at a Bruton Smith track. The PR staff at zMax Dragway did a great job of lining up so many media opportunities for me as well as so many other drivers.”
On the heels of the Freightliner event four of the drivers including the eldest and youngest Force, Hight and Neff signed nearly 1,500 die-cast Funny Cars at Lionel NASCAR’s headquarters. The quartet of drivers were able to casually stroll through a well-orchestrated layout of a wide variety of John Force Racing die-casts.
“When I walked into the Lionel NASCAR headquarters and saw all those die-casts I couldn’t believe it. It was cool to see so many different styles of my Castrol GTX Funny Car. I have to be honest I didn’t know there were so many,” said Mike Neff.
The day wrapped up for a trio of drivers at Town & Country Ford where John Force, Courtney Force, Robert Hight and Mike Neff met with fans and signed autographs from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. As the day concluded Courtney Force closed the book on a productive day by appearing on the Charlotte FOX TV newscast FOX News EDGE with hosts Ramona Holloway and Matt Harris. Force talked up the Four-Wide race and unveiled her Traxxas RC Funny Car.
“This was a busy day for all the drivers of JFR. I think getting to see so many different people from fans to sponsors was a great way to get the race started. You want to know who you are racing for and we got so many words of encouragement we are all ready to win this Four-Wide Nationals,” said Robert Hight, JFR president and current Full Throttle Funny Car points leader.
Qualifying for the 3rd annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals will begin for John Force Racing at 2 p.m. at zMax Dragway.
