When NHRA Funny Car driver John Force walks out on the starting line at a dragstrip and looks down the track and sees the crowd in the grandstands, something magical seems to happen inside of the 67-year-old drag racing legend.

John Force recorded his 145th victory after winning the Sonoma NHRA Nationals on Sunday. (NHRA photo)

“It’s just the love of beating the competition, the cheer of the crowd and the sights and sounds of a dragstrip,” Force said.  “That is what keeps me going.  It may sound corny, but it is what it is.

“I’m used to winning 10 straight and they’ve whipped me bad the past couple of years.  I’m used to being in that hunt every year and now I not only have to fight my own cars, but I have to fight the others like Ron Capps Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson.  They’ve got big money over there.  Matt Hagan is like racing a fullback for Green Bay or something.

“You know that he (Hagan) is just going to have to run you down, so I just have to turn on that switch and just go after these kids.  There is so much work out there for me to do to stay in the game.  I can truly say that after Denver and now after Sonoma, it feels pretty good.”

While most drivers of his era have already retired from racing, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion keeps defying the odds and is still winning big on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit.

On Friday, Force enters the 29th annual ProtectTheHarvest.com NHRA Northwest Nationals riding a two-race win streak after scoring victories at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and at last Sunday’s Sonoma NHRA Nationals.  It will be his 700th career event since he made his racing debut at Pomona in 1977.

John Force is the oldest driver in the history of the NHRA to win a Funny Car event. The 67-year old driver has won at least one event per season during the past 29 years. (NHRA photo)

A victory this weekend would give him a clean sweep of the Western Swing.  Force remains the only Funny Car in NHRA history to sweep all three events in 1994.

Two weeks ago on the mountain at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Force scored a breakthrough victory by defeating Courtney Force on a holeshot in the final round to notch his 144th career victory.

“Call it luck, call it talent or call it what you want but we got the win and we needed that win in Denver badly,” Force said.  “We are not really where we want to be in the Funny Car ranks except for my daughter Courtney (Force), but I am starting to climb the charts.”

The victory was his first in 2016 and it marked the 29th season Force has won at least one Funny Car national event.  He is also the oldest driver in NHRA history to ever win a Funny Car race.

“I hated taking my daughter out but I didn’t have time to think about it,” said Force, who prior to this had not won in 29 races dating back to last season at the New England NHRA Nationals in Epping.  “We got the job done and she was right there with me.  She actually shredded a blower belt and was still running and slowing down and that was just the edge that I needed.  We will take it and the fans loved it.”

John Force is one of the most popular drivers on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car circuit. (Photo courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography)

In the final round Force turned on the win light after getting a slight starting line advantage in his Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Camaro.  He crossed the stripe in front of Courtney’s Traxxas Camaro with a winning elapsed time of 3.965 seconds at 319.45 mph.  It was also the first win by John Force Racing in the new 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.

“To see a father and daughter for the first time on live television, two gladiators fighting it out, that is incredible,” Force said.  “I am going after another championship.  I have 16 and she is going after her first.  She’ll get there but first I want another one.”

Last Sunday at the Sonoma NHRA Nationals, Force scored his 145th career victory and 1,251st round win by defeating Ron Capps.  Force drove his Realtree Peak Antifreeze Camaro to a winning pass of 3.948 seconds at 324.59 mph to Capps’ losing run of 3.960 at 320.13.  The victory gives him a shot at becoming the only driver to ever sweep the Western Swing twice.

“First of all, I needed to win,” Force said.  “Every year I have won at least one race in the last 30 years.  But I want more wins because I am going after that championship.  People say that I am getting old and it’s time to quit.  No, I’m not a quitter.  There’s still a lot of fight left in this old dog.”

John Force defeated his daughter Courtney Force to win the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver two weeks ago. (Photo courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography)

Force swept the Western Swing in 1994 and in 2003 he won the first two races contested then at Denver and Seattle before bowing out in the semi-finals of the Sonoma Nationals.  In the past two races, he has moved from 9th to 5th in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings and is only 23 points out of 4^th place with three regular season races remaining.

“Winning in Denver, that got me motivated,” Force said.  “My daughter (Courtney Force) and Robert (Hight) were outrunning me in Denver but we got the win. We knew it was going to be a different animal here. We got down here and I was amazed.

“I give credit to Mike Neff, who heads my program in Funny Car and Jon Schaffer that runs my Funny Car with a bunch of kids.   Have to thank Daniel Hood that runs Courtney’s car too.  I brought on Alan Johnson, Jason McCullough and Brian Husen and I turned it all over to them.   We got to get out of the dragster business, get back into the Funny Car business.  John Force Racing is back in business.”

Force said the past two seasons have been extremely tough and the competition in the NHRA Funny Car division has become even more competitive.

“The Schumacher teams have killed us in the last year and a half,” Force said.  “But it was different up on the mountain in Denver.  We hit the combination right out of the box.  I’ve got no complaints.  The good Lord treated me real good on the mountain in Denver.  I had some luck and got around some good competition.

“We’ve been getting beat up the past couple of years.  We unveiled that new Chevrolet Camaro that I have already crashed twice and when we went into testing I found out that my problem was a visual problem with it.  The car is unbelievable with the aero on it and everything.  It hasn’t been the fastest car on the hill though.”

Force said that sometimes when he doesn’t win it gives him more fuel to fight back and try harder to win at the next event.

“If they whip me, I’m not quitting,” Force said.  “I am coming back with my guns blazing. I’ve been through it all.  I just come back out here and do it because I love it.   It beats on us because it is hard on us.  When I look down that dragstrip I see what I need to do to keep fighting.  Fighting and winning, well that is just what I plan to keep on doing.”