It took eight tries but Funny car legend John Force added another race track and NHRA national to his winning collection. Force raced to victory at the 8th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals securing his unprecedented 140th Funny Car win and moving into the No. 2 position on the Mello Yello Funny Car point standings.

“This win today was special to me. I had come to Norwalk decades ago for their Night of Fire events and match races but never won the NHRA event here, and I want to win every race. I came close a few times racing against Ashley and Courtney but I never won the big one at this place. I just couldn’t get a NHRA national event win here and I won them all with the exception of Epping so I really wanted this win,” said John Force.

Going into race day, John Forces Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang had qualified second with a thundering 4.016 second run at 322.04 that set the track speed record at Summit Motorsports Park. Crew chief Jimmy Prock and the rest of the team knew just how far they could push the track conditions without blowing away the massive Goodyear slicks under Force’s Mustang.

In the opening round, John was lined up with fellow Mustang Funny driver Tim Wilkerson. Even though John ran faster in qualifying and had lane choice, he knew Wilkerson is a tough competitor. John’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang left first and never looked back as it rocketed down the track with a 4.080 second run at 317.72 mph.

John Force then headed into the quarter-finals where he would face Chad Head. Head would have lane choice over Force but crew chief Jimmy Prock knew how much they could push the track conditions and not over power the surface with the 8000-horsepower BOSS 500 engine.

At the first hint of green from the Christmas tree, John’s Mustang blasted off the line and led all the way to the finish line. The scoreboards lit up with a 4.217 second run at 279.21 mph. Not the best run during eliminations, but enough to get Force to the semi-finals.

The semi-finals would be an epic matchup between John Force and his arch rival Cruz Pedregon. These two diehard drivers have had the most head-to-matches in NHRA history, 93 to be exact. John knew Pedregon would be tough; therefore, he wasn’t going to leave anything on the table that would open the door for Pedregon to get around his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang.

Both drivers left the starting line with John Force having a slight starting advantage. The two Funny Cars motored down the track, side-by-side with headers flames shooting up over eight feet in the air.

When they crossed the finish line, it could have been anyone’s race but the scoreboard said it all as John ran a 4.149 second run to Pedregon’s 4.150 pass. This was Force’s closest run during eliminations and he expected nothing less from a competitor he has the highest respect for.

In the final round, John would go up against Ron Capps. Another formidable competitor, John knew he’d be tough as these two have battled it out a total of 73 times with 16 of those matchups in final rounds. Despite John’s 9-7 record against Capps, he wasn’t going back down one bit and be denied a long awaited victory at today’s race.

Both cars left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times but by mid-track, the John’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang was beginning to pull away. As the smoked cleared the win light in John’s lane illuminated and the scoreboards told the rest of the story, 4.113 second pass to Capp’s 4.135 performance.

“Good day and great weekend for John Force Racing but luck is a big part of this game. I’m just glad I could share it with the fans and my family. When your heart’s right, you drive your best. If you go out there and get all jacked up with pressure and it takes over, the body doesn’t respond and then you’re junk. But when you’re happy and the heart’s right, the mind does everything right,” said John Force.

Event Essentials:  Summit Racing Equipment Nationals (Norwalk Ohio)

Del Worsham set low ET and qualified #1 at Norwalk with a 4.000 secs.

Posted by: Elon Werner

Photos by: Steve Embling & Dave DeAngelis