Funny Car legend John Force picked up his first victory in two years, powering past Matt Hagan of Tony Stewart Racing to win the p Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, which was postponed by rain and then completed on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at Firebird Motorsports Park in Phoenix.

Force, the winningest driver in NHRA history, went 4.033-seconds at 318.24 mph in his PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, slipping past Hagan’s 4.048 to claim his 156th career victory and first since April of 2022. Force now has eight Winternationals wins to his credit and this marked another special one in his iconic career.

“I’m just facing the truth in life, that, you know, time’s running out, and I’m trying to hang on,” Force said. “This morning, I was talking about, ‘You know, maybe this is it, maybe I should just walk out the gate and go to the casino,’ and then all sudden you win and your weight and your personality just changes.”

“I was mad, mad at myself [for losing in the Mission Challenge earlier in the day], and I started saying, ‘You just need to get out of the seat, you’re just too old for this stuff’ or ‘Get out there and fight the fight.’ And I did and things went right, and I got the win, so I’m excited.”

Funny Car Racing Class Summary

WIN: John Force – 4.033 secs 318.24 mph (Career win #156)

R/UP: Matt Hagan – 4.048 secs 283.61 mph

Low ET: Matt Hagan – 3.893 secs

Top MPH: Matt Hagan – 330.15 mph

Bump: 4.823 secs

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Posted with files by NHRA Communications and Bruce Biegler

Photos by David Ostaszewski