FUNNY CAR

For the first time since debuting the Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster in 2013 JFR had two Funny Cars in the final round and Brittany Force in the Top Fuel final. Funny Car No. 2 qualifier Robert Hight outran a tire smoking No. 1 qualifier John Force in the Funny Car final, 4.166 seconds to 5.953 seconds.

Hight picked up his fifth win of the season, tying a career high, and his third win at the Mopar Mile High Nationals. He also evened his career record with Force, 16-16 and he now has a 3-2 lead in final round meetings. Force and Hight have lined up against each other four times at Denver before the final and Force was undefeated until Sunday.

Hoping to claim his third win of the season and career victory number 141, John was the odds-on favorite to hoist the Wally over his head in the winner’s circle but it was not to be. Force’s Funny Car got out of shape at the 300-foot mark as it began to lose traction.

The seasoned veteran tried to pedal it but he couldn't get the car to hook up and all John could do was watch Robert Hight cruise on down the track.

Going into race day, John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car had qualified in the No. 1 spot with a thundering 4.049-second run at 318.39 that set both ends of the record at Bandimere Speedway. Crew chief Jimmy Prock and the rest of the team had the 8000 horsepower BOSS 500 engine dialed-in to run in the thin air of the track’s 5800-foot elevation. The team also knew just how far they could push the racing surface and the heat without blowing away the Goodyear slicks on John’s Mustang.

In the opening round, John Force faced Jeff Diehl, who turned on the red bulb. Force then headed into the quarterfinals where he would have lane choice against former NHRA Funny Car World Champ and arch-rival Matt Hagan. With nearly identical reaction times, Force and Hagan were side-by-side until the 330-foot mark when Hagan’s car began to smoke the tires while Force’s Mustang went right down the groove.

In the semifinals, Force would go up against Ron Capps in what could’ve been a repeat of the finals two weeks ago in Norwalk. In Force fashion, he staged deep but this time went too far and knocked the top bulb out on the Christmas tree. Like Norwalk two weeks ago, his Mustang went right down the track to take the win, but no ET.