FORCE AIMS FOR FIFTH U.S. NATIONALS TITLE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – By clinching a berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs two weeks ago at Brainerd, Minn., John Force extended his 
record-breaking streak of consecutive Top 10 finishes in the NHRA series to 29.
While that is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the fact that the last time the 64-year-old icon wasn’t a member of the Funny Car elite was 1984, a year in which a movie ticket cost $2.50, a gallon of gas $1.10 and Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of England, it isn’t even a blip on Force’s radar.
When he sends his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to the line for this week’s 59th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway, the 15-time champion will have much more on his mind than the NHRA record book.
Stung by the pending departure of two long-time sponsors, Force has gone into what he calls “fight mode.”
“I’m more motivated to win now than ever,” Force said of his bid to claim a fifth title in the world’s oldest, largest, richest and most prestigious drag race. “Castrol and Ford were part of the John Force Racing family for a lot of years, but nothing is forever.
“We’ve got this year and one more with Castrol and Ford and we’ll do the job for them,” said the 135-time NHRA tour winner, “but we’re also looking down the road to 2015 and the chance bring new people into the sport.”
And what better way to ramp up interest than to win the U.S. Nationals and, perhaps, an 18th team championship in the highly-competitive Funny Car division.
“What we do is sell for our sponsors,” Force said, “whether it’s cars or oil or appliances or insurance. But it’s like Grandpa Tasca (the late Bob Tasca Sr.) said, ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday.’ It’s still about winning and we’ve got three hot rods that can run for this championship.”
The best of the three rolling into Indy, though, is Force’s. Since he and son-in-law Robert Hight swapped rides four races ago, the embattled champion has been on a roll that continued last week during pre-Indy testing when he coaxed his 10,000 horsepower Ford to a 1,000 foot time of 4.021 at 318.24 miles per hour.
That’s both quicker and faster than the official track and event records which obviously will be in jeopardy once qualifying begins on Thursday.
A winner earlier this year at Bristol, Tenn., Force is fifth in the Funny Car driver standings going into the U.S. Nationals, which offers up the final opportunity for drivers to improve their positions before Mello Yello points are adjusted for the Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Realistically, Force could go into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed behind only Matt Hagan and Ron Capps. To do so, however, he will have to reverse recent fortunes at Lucas Oil Raceway where his team has won eight times in the last 11 years but he hasn’t won since 2002.
His stock is especially high this year, though, because he comes in with both motivation and momentum. In his last eight starts, the 15-time Auto Racing All-American has qualified no worse than sixth and has taken his Ford to the final round four times.
If there’s been a problem, it’s been the driver who, in adjusting to a new chassis, a new crew and a new crew chief admittedly has “not been where I need to be.”
“I know what’s wrong,” Force said, “and I’ll fix it. The big thing is we have a fast hot rod. Jimmy Prock swings for the fence. I like that. I’m getting more comfortable in the car and I’m excited going into Indy, the grandaddy. We’ve got a car that can win and that’s all you can ask for.”
