Funny Car legend strikes again

National Hot Rod Association icon John Force has plenty of records under his belt and is now only four round wins away from another. With 996 round wins currently, the driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang needs to win this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

Atlanta might also be the site of the legendary funny car driver’s 500th race, which makes for a very exciting weekend for NHRA fans.

“We all knew he would do it, it was just a matter of time,” said Jeff Benson La Verne resident and dedicated NHRA fan and follower. “There is nothing that guy can’t do.”

Force began his drag racing career in 1978 and made his first career final-round appearance in 1979 where he lost to Kenny Bernstein. Force realized that if he was going to be taken seriously as a Funny Car driver he would have to be surrounded by a good team. In 1985, Force borrowed enough money to hire former Chi-Town Hustler co-owner Austin Coil as his crew chief and filled the remaining positions on his team with the best talent he could find.

A year later Force earned his first career victory in Montreal beating Ed McCulloch in the final round. A few years later in 1959 Force won his first race in the United States when he prevailed at Columbus. During that year he also earned his first home track win at Pomona 2 where he beat Kenny Bernstein.

In 1990 he began his trend of NHRA world championships when he won his first by 43 points. He secured his second consecutive world championship the next year. Force lost the championship to Cruz Pedregon in 1992 but regained it the following year.

Force became the winningest driver in Funny Car history in 1994 when his 10 season victories boosted his career total to 42, seven more than the legendary Don “the Snake” Prudhomme.

“John is so dedicated to the sport…I think he eats, sleeps and breathes drag racing,” Benson said.

Over the next ten years Force made NHRA history by winning ten consecutive POWERade championships. In 2002 he earned his 100th career victory and was only second to Richard Petty for wins in all major motorsports.

In 2004 he won a 13th championship and joined his daughter Ashley with her Top Alcohol dragster in the winner’s circle. Force won his NHRA POWERade series-record 14th world championship in 2006.

In 2007 things took a turn for the worse when Eric Medlen, member of the John Force Racing team blew out a tire on his Castrol Syntec Funny Car and crashed into the outside concrete barrier during testing at Gainesville Raceway.

Medlen remained in critical condition throughout the week but the time came for his family to take him off life support. Force thought of Medlen as the son that he never had and was greatly affected by the loss of his friend and teammate.

“That wreck really seemed to shake up the whole team,” Jane Hill a La Verne resident said. “It was a horrible loss for the team and the sport.”

Unfortunately the 2007 season did not seem to get much better as Force was involved in a nasty top-end collision at the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, Texas with fellow NHRA legend Kenny Bernstein. Force suffered a left broken ankle and severe abrasions on his right knee. He dislocated his left wrist and sustained some severe abrasions and slight fractures on several fingers.

“It was bad…really bad,” Benson said. “I knew that John would be back behind the wheel in no time though. He has to race. It’s who he is.”

The 2008 CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals marked the return of competitive drag racing after the collision. Hopefully Force will soon get back into the swing of things and continue his collection of NHRA POWERade Funny Car world championships.

Force also holds the record NHRA POWERade Series record for wins with 125 and his daughter, Ashley Force who currently drives the Gastrol GTX Ford Mustang is following in his footsteps.

“Ashley is just like her daddy,” Hill said. “She has his blood. She was born to do this.”

At the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals held on April 10-13, Ashley became the first woman in NHRA history to lead the POWERade points in the Funny Car class. His two other daughters Brittany and Courtney compete in the Super Comp class.