PEAK Motorsports Update- April 8th, 2024

NHRA: LUCAS OIL NHRA WINTERNATIONALS- DELAYED FINALS

Monday, April 8, 2024: The last time John Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history, won a race was three days before his 73rd birthday: May 1, 2022, in the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina. Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at Firebird Motorsports Park, Force gave himself an early 75th birthday present, capturing the rain-postponed final round of the NHRA Winternationals, originally contested in Pomona, California.

The 156th win of Force’s legendary career came against one of his chief rivals, four-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan.  The 16-time Funny Car champion has come into the 2024 season with a renewed level of inspiration and motivation, still hungry for his 17th NHRA Funny Car championship (his last was in 2013). 

Force may turn 75 on May 4th, but he’s driving – and winning – as if he was back in his 30’s. Force remains the most popular driver in the sport, a lofty position he has held for nearly 30 years.

NHRA: ARIZONA NATIONALS

In just his third career NHRA start in a Funny Car, Austin Prock recorded his first win in the class at the 39th annual Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix. With the win, Prock becomes the 19th driver in NHRA history to win a national event in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.

After earning the number one qualifier in Funny Car, Prock defeated Buddy Hull in the opening round, then defeated Dan Wilkerson in the quarterfinals, setting up a rematch of the Gainesville final against JR Todd. This time, Prock took the win to advance to his second final in three races.

In the Funny Car Final, Prock defeated Alexis DeJoria to take the win in front of the sellout crowd, joining team owner John Force in leaving Phoenix with an event Wally winner’s trophy. 

As for team owner John Force, he came into Sunday’s Arizona Nationals eliminations hoping to make it two wins in a row.

Starting strong with an opening round win over Jim Campbell, Force then faced J.R. Todd in the quarterfinals. Todd had a starting line advantage and continued to outpace the 16-time Funny Car champion, ending Force’s hope of winning two races on the same weekend.

With his win from Saturday, Force leaves Phoenix third in the NHRA Funny Car points standings.

Despite coming into Sunday’s action having qualified number two in Top Fuel, Brittany Force made an early exit from eliminations in the opening first round.

Force lost traction and smoked the tires on her Monster Energy dragster, losing to NASCAR Hall of Famer – and Top Fuel rookie this year – Tony Stewart. Force leaves Phoenix eighth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings.

The next event on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series will be the 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas next weekend, April 12-14th.

ARGENTINA - TURISMO CARRETERA: GP GRAN PREMIO PROVINCIA DE NEQUEN MERCEDES BENZ CAMIONES Y BUSES 

A strong crash foiled the chances yesterday for our #68 BlueDEF's Turismo Carretera driver, Julián Santero, and his team. After winning the previous TC event in Viedma, Santero appeared as a repeat candidate, but Sunday's results were not the desired ones. 

Starting from the middle of the pack, Santero faced issue in the opening stretch, entering a cloud of dust. The cloud caused Santero to collide with the car of Facundo Chapur, who was already crossed up on the racetrack, hitting him with the front left side of the #68 Ford. This collision forced our BlueDEF driver to abandon the race due to the damage inflicted to the vehicle. Luckily, Santero walks away from this instance unscathed, with his sights set on the next race.

With 3 of the 15 races completed, Julián Santero continues his fight for the TC 2024 Championship in 4th place with 85.5 points.

At the conclusion of this 25-lap race, First place was earned by Josè Manuel Urcera, with second and third places going to Elio Craparo and Jonatan Castellano.

The next race will take place on April 28th at the Toay Racetrack in La Pampa.