NHRA pros at Seattle

Privateer Densham goes to final against ex-boss Force

Results compiled by Kay Burk
Photos by Ron Lewis

Part time Fuel Funny Car racer Gary Densham was the story in professional eliminations at the third and final stop of the NHRA’s Western Swing enduro schedule. The usual suspects with names such as Force, Kalitta and Johnson once again dominated the three-race marathon. The only glitch to the status was the near win by privateer Gary Densham who went to the Funny Car finale against former boss John Force before adhering to the script and losing to the ultra-successful truck driver turned Nitro Funny Car racer.

Force, a 16-time NHRA Mello Yello champion claimed his 141st career win, eighth at Pacific Raceway at Seattle and third of 2014 for the 65-year old NHRA super star. Force’s win gave the JFR group a sweep of the Western Swing with wins at all three stops with JFR prez Robert Hight’s win at Denver and Courtney Force’s victory in Sonoma. But the real excitement at the Seattle race was part-timer non-sponsored Gary Densham’s near win.

Densham a former driver for JFR racing came from the 15th qualifying slot to drop Number 2 qualifier Courtney Force in the first round when Courtney slowed to a 6.56 and Densham got a first-round gift from the JFR driver. Densham then went on the whip defending former event champion Tim Wilkerson and last year’s Seattle winner Matt Hagan by way of quicker ET’s in both cases.

The fairy tale came to an end in the finals though when Densham squared off against his former boss for the title. The 65 year-old Force put a massive holeshot on his former driver using a .090 RT to Densham’s much slower .167 RT to get the early lead and never looked back as he went on to win.