(Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster)

Leading fan vote-getters Brandon Bernstein and Courtney Force were chosen this morning during a special lottery drawing held during as press conference in downtown Indianapolis for the No. 8 positions in the eight-car Traxxas Nitro Shootouts to be held this weekend during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus in Indianapolis.

Bernstein received 35% of the overall fan vote amongst the eligible Top Fuel drivers, and with his selection, will face No. 1 seed Antron Brown in the opening round of the Top Fuel Traxxas Shootout on Saturday, September 1.

“It’s very exciting that the fans voted as much as they did for us and that my name got called,” Bernstein said. “I was worried about Clay [Millican], so I knew it would be close, but it’s fun that we got it, and I can’t wait to race!”

Force, the daughter of 15-time Funny Car champion John Force, who recently won her first national event in Seattle, dominated the fan vote with 64% of the overall votes. Three other drivers tied for second in the polling, with a mere 8% apiece. As the No. 8 seed, Force will square off with Funny Car top seed Ron Capps in the first round of the Nitro Funny Car Traxxas Shootout on Sunday, September 2.

Said Force, “I’m so excited that my Traxxas Ford Mustang is in the Shootout! I’m so thankful to the fans for voting for me. I knew it was up to chance with the lottery, so I can’t believe we actually won. It’ll be so awesome to be in my first Traxxas Nitro Shootout, and I can’t wait to line up on Sunday.”

Traxxas Nitro Shootout First Round Pairings (Top Fuel)

Antron Brown vs. Brandon Bernstein
Spencer Massey vs. David Grubnic
Tony Schumacher vs. Morgan Lucas
Steve Torrence vs. Doug Kalitta

Traxxas Nitro Shootout First Round Pairings (Funny Car)

Ron Capps vs. Courtney Force
Robert Hight vs. Jeff Arend
Jack Beckman vs. John Force
Johnny Gray vs. Mike Neff

Both of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout will be televised on the Sunday ESPN2 and ESPN2HD race coverage.