FUNNY CAR

Going into race day, John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Funny Car had qualified in the No. 1 spot in 4.057 seconds at 307.86 mph. It was John’s fourth No.1 final qualifying position of the season, sixth at Pacific Raceways and the 150th of his career. Ten years ago Force won this race from the No. 1 position as well.

Even though crew chief Jimmy Prock and the rest of the team took advantage of the great weather conditions on Friday night, they knew to dial back the ground pounding 8,000 horsepower BOSS 500 engine for Sunday’s eliminations. The team knew just how far they could push the racing surface before the warmer weather conditions would blow away the massive Goodyear slicks or hurt the engine on John’s Mustang.

Force faced Jeff Diehl in the opening round of eliminations. Force crossed the finish line first with a 4.102-second run at 307.58 mph to Diehl’s trailing 4.354-second pass at 282.36 mph.

Force next faced nemesis Cruz Pedregon. These two fiercely competitive Funny Car drivers have squared off against each other 93 times in competition with Force winning 63 of those match-ups. Force left first and went trucking straight down Pacific Raceways. Pedregon gave it everything he had, but the times said it all. Force ran a 4.161-second pass at 302.48 mph to Pedregon’s losing 4.184 at 296.37 mph.

In the semifinal battle with Alexis DeJoria, Force left first again. However, unlike the previous runs in which John’s Mustang went down the Pacific Raceways groove, his Mustang starting hazing the Goodyear slicks just past the 600-foot mark. DeJoria was right there to snatch the win from John, but then her Funny Car started to lose traction. It was John’s massive holeshot and great reaction time of 0.075 to DeJoria’s 0.170 that allowed him to get the win despite running a slower 4.301 pass to her 4.252 run.

Force lost lane choice in the final round against another seasoned veteran and old teammate Gary Densham. These two drivers first raced each other 24 years ago in Montreal and over the years, they’ve raced each other a total of seven times in prior final round match ups with John getting four wins.

Gary Densham had his best weekend of the season.

Once again, John’s Mustang leapt off the starting line first, ahead of Densham and without missing a beat, crossed the finish line first with a 4.173 second run at 302.48 mph to Densham’s tire smoking 5.808 at 120.44.

“I raced Densham 40 years ago at this track and we were having so much fun down there in the staging lanes. I know we’re supposed to be serious, it’s race day but when you’re racing a friend (Densham) and he comes up here on a budget and look how good he does, steps it up and races with these guys, and after only being out here few times all year and to get in the final is awesome for him. I always say that I don’t mind losing to a teammate like Robert (Hight) or Courtney (Force) and when I’ve lost to Gary, I don’t mind as I feel he’s still a teammate,” said John Force.

The win, his 78th in a Ford Mustang Funny Car, tied Force with NHRA Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden as the winningest Ford sponsored driver in any motorsports series.