During NHRA’s New England Nationals,  John Force rose to the occasion and came up big when it mattered the most. Facing Tommy Johnson Jr., the No. 1 qualifier and arguably the most consistent Funny Car on the property, Force raced his Peak Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to victory at the 3rd annual event. As the No. 3 qualifier Force defeated Dave Richards, Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon to reach his 240th final round and secure his 143rd win over Johnson Jr.

(Legendary John Force collected career win #143!)

“I raced here 38 or 40 years ago before most of you were born to come back and have one race on the circuit that I couldn’t win; I needed this race win. One of these days I am going to go out and it is going to break my heart but I ain’t leaving until I win all of them and now I’ll try and win all of them twice. This was a great day,” said Force from the winner’s circle stage. “My daughter (Courtney Force) spanked me in the inaugural race and I tried to screw her up in the first race but I couldn’t do it. I taught her too well. I am giving this trophy to Peak Antifreeze and Coolant and BlueDef. They were the first ones to take a chance on me last year. Lucas Oil and Chevrolet joined us and now Monster Energy is with us. We have Auto Club, Mac Tools and Traxxas and all these great companies share in this win.”

In the final Force racing in the left lane cruised to victory with a winning time of 4.160 seconds his second quickest elapsed time of the day to outrun Johnson Jr’s 4.195 second time. Force now has won at 25 different race tracks including all those presently in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The win in New Hampshire brings Force’s win total to 20 different states and Canada. This was the seventh time Force has defeated Johnson Jr. in a final round.

(John Force outlasted Tommy Johnson Jr in the fuel FC final)

“They told me Tommy Johnson Jr. was going to rip my throat out today. I said that is bad because not only is he going to rip my throat out but he might whip me on the starting line too. His car was outrunning everybody and we got into the smack talking game and had some fun. He is a good guy and a great racer,” said Force. “I want to thank my crew chief brain-trust from Jon Schaffer to Mike Neff along with Ron Douglas, Dan Hood, Todd Smith and Ronnie Thompson. We are starting all over and rebuilding but we are having a ball doing it.”

This is the 24th season that Force has multiple wins and he has won at least one race in 28 of the last 29 years.

In the second round Force ran up against his toughest foe in the past four years, Matt Hagan. The pair of drivers have won the past four Mello Yello Funny Car championships and have a growing friendly rivalry. Today Hagan had lane choice on the strength of a quicker elapsed time in his first round win but if didn’t matter to the 16-time Funny Car champ. As the Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car rolled up to stage Force went into game mode and left the starting line with a .051 reaction time. At the finish line Force took the win light on a mini hole-shot 4.186 to 4.182 seconds.

(JFR team racer Robert Hight set top speed at 320.13 mph)

After the round win Force was pumped up and ready for a semi-final match-up with Cruz Pedregon.

“We are struggling a lot of places but we are learning. They (DSR) can only drag one race car up to the starting line at a time. They tell me I have Hagan this round and that guy gets up there and rips the throttle out of the car. I had to get up for him and I probably rolled in deep but my car ran fast,” said Force. “At the end of the day he is a great racer and I love to race him. He is a great champion and I got another round win and I will take them any way I can get them even if it is dumb luck.”

The final round win was significant for Force and more importantly John Force Racing considering Johnson Jr. was denied a win that would have locked up one of the last two available slots in the Traxxas Nitro Funny Car Shootout. Both Robert Hight and Courtney Force are close to winning their own races this season and securing spots in the $100,000 to win specialty race.

Event Essentials:   NHRA New England Nationals (June 12-14th, 2015) 

(Tommy Johnson Jr qualified #1 at 4.047 secs and went to the FC final round)

Posted by:  Elon Werner

Photos by: Steve Embling & Gary Nastase