{"id":4985,"date":"2016-08-04T22:20:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T03:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2016-08-04T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T03:20:10","slug":"father-time-not-stopping-drag-racing-legend-john-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/04\/father-time-not-stopping-drag-racing-legend-john-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Father time not stopping drag racing legend John Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

When NHRA<\/a> Funny Car driver John Force<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

\"John

John Force recorded his 145th victory after winning the Sonoma NHRA Nationals on Sunday. (NHRA photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the love of beating the competition, the cheer of the crowd and the sights and sounds of a dragstrip,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cThat is what keeps me going.\u00a0 It may sound corny, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m used to winning 10 straight and they\u2019ve whipped me bad the past couple of years.\u00a0 I\u2019m 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.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got big money over there.\u00a0 Matt Hagan is like racing a fullback for Green Bay or something.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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.\u00a0 There is so much work out there for me to do to stay in the game.\u00a0 I can truly say that after Denver and now after Sonoma, it feels pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Sonoma NHRA Nationals.\u00a0 It will be his 700th career event since he made his racing debut at Pomona in 1977.<\/p>\n

\"John

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)<\/p><\/div>\n

A victory this weekend would give him a clean sweep of the Western Swing.\u00a0 Force remains the only Funny Car in NHRA history to sweep all three events in 1994.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall it luck, call it talent or call it what you want but we got the win and we needed that win in Denver badly,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory was his first in 2016 and it marked the 29th season Force has won at least one Funny Car national event.\u00a0 He is also the oldest driver in NHRA history to ever win a Funny Car race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hated taking my daughter out but I didn\u2019t have time to think about it,\u201d 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.\u00a0 \u201cWe got the job done and she was right there with me.\u00a0 She actually shredded a blower belt and was still running and slowing down and that was just the edge that I needed.\u00a0 We will take it and the fans loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John

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)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the final round Force turned on the win light after getting a slight starting line advantage in his Realtree PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Camaro.\u00a0 He crossed the stripe in front of Courtney\u2019s Traxxas Camaro with a winning elapsed time of 3.965 seconds at 319.45 mph.\u00a0 It was also the first win by John Force Racing in the new 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see a father and daughter for the first time on live television, two gladiators fighting it out, that is incredible,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cI am going after another championship.\u00a0 I have 16 and she is going after her first.\u00a0 She\u2019ll get there but first I want another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last Sunday at the Sonoma NHRA Nationals, Force scored his 145th career victory and 1,251st round win by defeating Ron Capps.\u00a0 Force drove his Realtree Peak Antifreeze Camaro to a winning pass of 3.948 seconds at 324.59 mph to Capps\u2019 losing run of 3.960 at 320.13.\u00a0 The victory gives him a shot at becoming the only driver to ever sweep the Western Swing twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I needed to win,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cEvery year I have won at least one race in the last 30 years.\u00a0 But I want more wins because I am going after that championship.\u00a0 People say that I am getting old and it\u2019s time to quit.\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not a quitter.\u00a0 There\u2019s still a lot of fight left in this old dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John

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)<\/p><\/div>\n

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.\u00a0 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 4th<\/sup>\u00a0place with three regular season races remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning in Denver, that got me motivated,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cMy 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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. \u00a0\u00a0Have to thank Daniel Hood that runs Courtney\u2019s car too.\u00a0 I brought on Alan Johnson, Jason McCullough and Brian Husen and I turned it all over to them. \u00a0\u00a0We got to get out of the dragster business, get back into the Funny Car business.\u00a0 John Force Racing is back in business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Force said the past two seasons have been extremely tough and the competition in the NHRA Funny Car division has become even more competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Schumacher teams have killed us in the last year and a half,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cBut it was different up on the mountain in Denver.\u00a0 We hit the combination right out of the box.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got no complaints.\u00a0 The good Lord treated me real good on the mountain in Denver.\u00a0 I had some luck and got around some good competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting beat up the past couple of years.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The car is unbelievable with the aero on it and everything.\u00a0 It hasn\u2019t been the fastest car on the hill though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Force said that sometimes when he doesn\u2019t win it gives him more fuel to fight back and try harder to win at the next event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they whip me, I\u2019m not quitting,\u201d Force said.\u00a0 \u201cI am coming back with my guns blazing. I\u2019ve been through it all.\u00a0 I just come back out here and do it because I love it.\u00a0\u00a0 It beats on us because it is hard on us.\u00a0 When I look down that dragstrip I see what I need to do to keep fighting.\u00a0 Fighting and winning, well that is just what I plan to keep on doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u201cIt\u2019s just the love of beating the competition, the cheer of the crowd and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[44,116,6],"class_list":["post-4985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-john-force","tag-john-force-racing","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/251-JohnForce-Sunday-Sonoma-celebration.jpg?fit=2250%2C2031&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-1ip","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4985"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4989,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions\/4989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}