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<\/a>John Force collected his 149th (!) NHRA Wally<\/p><\/div>\n
John Force captured his 149th Funny Car victory Sunday during the Dodge Mile-High Nationals held at Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver.<\/p>\n The winningest driver in NHRA history defeated a Who\u2019s Who of drivers including two-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, long-time nemesis Cruz Pedregon, daughter Courtney Force, the current points leader and No. 1 qualifier and in the final round Force, in his PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro, took out the second winningest Funny Car driver, Ron Capps.<\/p>\n Force was the No. 5 qualifier and drew a tough first round opponent in Matt Hagan. In a classic John Force Racing versus Don Schumacher Racing match-up, Force took out Hagan with a strong 4.158 second run at 285.77 mph as Hagan slowed to 4.279 seconds at 265.69 mph. The win was Force\u2019s 1,300 round win of his illustrious career.<\/p>\n The second round saw Force squaring off with a driver he has raced over 100 times, Cruz Pedregon. The rivals both know each other\u2019s tricks and habits but it was Force who got the better of the two-time Funny Car champ beating him off the line with a stellar .037 reaction time and getting a hole shot win with a 4.139 second pass to Pedregon\u2019s quicker 4.137-seconds. It was Force\u2019s start that secured the win at the finish.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to beat a lot of great racers today. Hagan, Cruz, Capps. I love them all. My fire was in me,\u201d Force said. \u201cI am fighting and I got tired of hearing me snivel to myself. My wife doesn\u2019t even want to talk to me. I am working through rehab to get out here to win races. I don\u2019t know why I won this race but I have a lot more fight in my belly.\u201d<\/p>\n In the semifinal he faced one of his toughest opponents all season, daughter Courtney Force. She was the No. 1 qualifier and also the points leader. In addition, she held a 4-0 record against him in their head to head matchups this season.<\/p>\n It was a coin flip off the starting line and the elder Force pulled away past half track for the win and a chance to pick up his first victory since the Gatornationals in 2017, a span of 34 races.<\/p>\n The final round was another epic battle between Force, the winningest driver in Funny Car history, and Ron Capps, the second winningest driver. It was Force again taking a starting line advantage with another .037 reaction time and getting the win over Capps 4.075 to 4.067.<\/p>\n John Force used a better starting line RT to defeat Ron Capps in the Dodge Mile-High Nationals championship round.<\/p><\/div>\n Force\u2019s record against Capps improved to 58-38 and 11-8 in final rounds.\u00a0The win gave Force 1,303 round wins and 149 career wins and he becomes the most prolific winner in Denver history with seven titles. The win also positions Force to sweep the famed Western Swing for the second time. He is the only Funny Car driver to win the three races in three weeks gauntlet, a feat he accomplished in 1996.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to thank the fans and all the sponsors all over my car PEAK, Auto Club, Advance Auto, Monster, Carquest and Chevrolet,\u201d Force said. \u201cI really have to thank Jon Schaffer, my crew chief, and Ronnie Thompson. There are also guys like Jimmy Prock, Brian Corradi and Daniel Hood and, as a team, we are starting to put it back together.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nitrofccanada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Denver-NFFC-JF.jpg\")
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