FUNNY CAR

John Force was racing in his 246th final round and he picked up his 147th win Sunday. Force won for the second time in the Countdown to the Championship and outran his daughter Courtney Force in the 47th all JFR Funny Car final. The 16-time champion moved up from No. 7 to No. 5 in the Mello Yello point standings and just seven points out of fourth place.

“They told me all I had to do was win this race and I had a shot at (Ron) Capps then I found out at the top end that wasn’t the case. I want a recount,” joked Force.

In a classic final round John Force pulled up beside his youngest daughter for the fifth time in a final round. The pair of Force’s had split the previous four races and today it was the elder Force to took the rubber-match win.

Courtney Force and the Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro took a starting line advantage but the now four-time Toyota Nationals winner quickly caught up to her and at the stripe. It was John with a winning time of 3.884 seconds at 327.19 mph against Courtney’s 3.906 second run at 325.85 mph. That was Courtney Force’s lone run on race day outside the 3.8-second range and it was Force’s only 3.8-second run of the day.

Force’s winning day started when the PEAK Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car team took out John Bojec in the first round. It was the first time John Force raced Bojec, who was Force’s 139th different opponent for the 16-time champion. Force picked up his 1,257th career round win running 3.906 in front of Bojec’s 5.116-second run.

In the second round. Force’s PEAK Camaro wasted no time in getting to the finish line first against Chad Head with a strong 3.917-second run at 325.92 mph.

Cruz Pedregon before his amazing wheel-standing run.

“When I saw Cruz (who had an enormous wheel stand in the first round) I was screaming, ‘That’s Jungle Jim!’ It freaked me out because that was how Jungle drove all the time. He was fearless. That is where drag racing came from. We are special and I really believe that when it comes to motorsports. What we all do in drag racing from Super Comp to Top Fuel we do it for the passion and the love,” said Force.

During Saturday qualifying Alexis DeJoria’s Toyota Camry crossed the finish line and then moved across the center line to hit the left-hand wall on the driver’s side. Although she exited the car under her own power, she is barely recovered from a crash earlier in the season at Sonoma.

“During Q3 we made a really good run - I got a bonus point and top speed - but then my parachute got sucked up underneath my Patrón Toyota Camry and wrapped around the rear end,” DeJoria explained. “I lost brakes, couldn’t stop the car and somehow my left tire was wedged into the body so I couldn’t steer it either. The malfunctions were like a domino effect. In that moment, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and there I was just headed for that wall again.

“I hit the wall pretty hard, but overall I was fine. It rung my bell a little bit, but my body felt fine. That says a lot about all of the changes they made to my seat after Sonoma. After Q3, we brought my car back to the pit, pulled the back-up body out and were able to run the same chassis for Q4.”

DeJoria and her Tequila Patron Toyota team opted to not compete on Sunday, but plan to be at the Finals in Pomona in two weeks. Courtney Force got a bye in the first round.