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Force Notches 140th Funny Car Victory
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In a thrilling side-by-side final round duel with longtime rival Ron Capps, NHRA Funny Car icon John Force picked up his 140th career win on Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
In the championship round, Force powered his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a performance of 4.113 seconds at 317.27 mph while Capps, who was making his third runner-up finish at Norwalk, had a run of 4.135 at 305.56 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger.
Force, the reigning Funny Car world champion, earned his first ever win at Norwalk and second of the 2014 season. Force outran Cruz Pedregon, Ohio native Chad Head and Tim Wilkerson to reach the final round against Capps.
“It was special to me,” said Force. “I’ve come to this track for decades. I’ve won here at the Night of Fire races. Robert [Hight] and my daughter Ashley [Force Hood] have won here. I keep coming back here. The Bader family is P.T. Barnum doing this year-round, 90-some race a year. They light the fire under those fans. Look at the crowd on Friday night and that whole fireworks show. I’ve been real lucky in my career and you want to win them all, but I really wanted this win.”
His fellow John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight maintained the points lead in the super-tight Funny Car class, while Force, the No. 2 event qualifier, jumped to second in the Mello Yello points standing.
“It’s a really great show, and I’m just excited to be a part of it,” said Force. “We raced some great kids: Capps, Cruz, Wilkerson, Chad Head. We gave them some good racing. Hey, we got the win. I’m just glad to get that one out of the way. Now I’ll try to get my second win here.”
In the championship round, Force powered his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a performance of 4.113 seconds at 317.27 mph while Capps, who was making his third runner-up finish at Norwalk, had a run of 4.135 at 305.56 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger.
Force, the reigning Funny Car world champion, earned his first ever win at Norwalk and second of the 2014 season. Force outran Cruz Pedregon, Ohio native Chad Head and Tim Wilkerson to reach the final round against Capps.
“It was special to me,” said Force. “I’ve come to this track for decades. I’ve won here at the Night of Fire races. Robert [Hight] and my daughter Ashley [Force Hood] have won here. I keep coming back here. The Bader family is P.T. Barnum doing this year-round, 90-some race a year. They light the fire under those fans. Look at the crowd on Friday night and that whole fireworks show. I’ve been real lucky in my career and you want to win them all, but I really wanted this win.”
His fellow John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight maintained the points lead in the super-tight Funny Car class, while Force, the No. 2 event qualifier, jumped to second in the Mello Yello points standing.
“It’s a really great show, and I’m just excited to be a part of it,” said Force. “We raced some great kids: Capps, Cruz, Wilkerson, Chad Head. We gave them some good racing. Hey, we got the win. I’m just glad to get that one out of the way. Now I’ll try to get my second win here.”
