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E-mail: dan@danspitstopracing.com
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John Force
John Force Seriously Injured In Dallas
The mood of the day was tempered greatly by an accident involving superstar racer John Force, who suffered two broken legs and injuries to his hands and arms in a high-speed collision with Dallas racing legend Kenny Bernstein. Force had to be airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
"I'm glad that [John Force is] alive," Dixon said. "From that point you can fix anything. A lot of credit goes to the Safety Safari, the medical team, and the rules package for the way the cars have to be built so that you can survive an accident like that. I feel safer in my car that goes 330 mph than I do in my rental car going 55 mph on the way to the track. I feel like I could run over a nuclear bomb, and I trust in that. He'll be back racing one day; you can count on that.
Cruz Pedregon would have faced Ashley Force, who left the track to be with her father at the hospital
"I was watching Force's race on the monitor and I saw what happened," Pedregon said. "I have to admit it really shook me up. It took me back to when I was a kid and my dad told me about these wrecks where cars got cut in half. I ran over there to try and help and there was no cockpit. It really scared me. I just wanted to hear that he was okay. Broken bones will mend. I wanted to hear he was talking and if he was swearing, even better. From what it looked like, he's very lucky.
John Force
Career Highlights
- 2006: Had three wins, including the season-ending Auto Club Finals, to increase his NHRA record for wins to 122; Led the Funny Car point standings for just five events, but took over the lead for good after Reading en route to his NHRA-record 14th POWERade world championship; Won his sixth career Skoal Showdown and first since 2000; Qualified for all 23 events, upping his streak to 392 consecutive events at which he’s qualified, dating back to Pomona 2 in 1987; Earned his 131st career No. 1 qualifier with quickest qualifying E.T. at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals; Collected his 967th round win, pulling him within 33 of 1,000
- 2005: Led his category with five wins to increase his NHRA record for wins to 119; Led the Funny Car point standings for more than a third of the season (eight of 23 events), including with just two events remaining; Finished third, 32 points behind Gary Scelzi and 24 points behind Ron Capps, in the tightest Funny Car points race in NHRA history; Qualified for all 23 events, upping his streak to 369 consecutive events at which he’s qualified, dating back to 1987 Pomona 2; Earned his 125th career No. 1 qualifier with quickest qualifying E.T. at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals; Collected his 926th round win, pulling him within 74 of 1,000
- 2004: Clinched an unprecedented 13th career NHRA POWERade Funny Car world championship at Las Vegas 2; His five victories on the season upped his NHRA-record career total to 114 and gave him at least one victory for 18 consecutive seasons and 16 consecutive seasons finishing in the top three of the POWERade point standings; Established the national record for time (4.665 seconds) and speed (333.58 mph) at Chicago 2 event; Led his category in final round appearances (12), No. 1 qualifying positions (seven), low E.T. of the event (five) and top speed of the event (six); Had a .746 winning percentage in elimination rounds with a with a 53-18 win-loss record; Force and daughter Ashley (Top Alcohol Dragster) won Pomona 2, making them the first-ever father-daughter duo to win at a national event; Including Force, the three Ford Mustangs which comprise Force Racing finished first, fourth (Gary Densham) and fifth (Eric Medlen); His national record for speed was faster than the Top Fuel national record heading into the 2005 season; Qualified for all 23 events, upping his record streak to 346 consecutive events at which he has qualified, dating back to 1987 Pomona 2.
- 2003: Won an NHRA national event for the 17th consecutive season; established the record for consecutive national event qualifying streaks (304, Las Vegas 1) and has qualified for 323 consecutive events, dating back to 1987 Pomona 2; qualified No. 1 five times; one of four Funny Car drivers to qualify for all 23 events; established national record for E.T.; recorded career-best performance numbers; his three Ford Mustangs won a combined 13 of 23 national events and finished No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 in the final Funny Car standings
- 2002: Won a record 10th consecutive Funny Car championship, 12th overall; Earned his 100th career victory (Houston), and is second only to Richard Petty for wins in all major motorsports; Earned six No. 1 qualifying positions; Led the Funny Car category in victories (eight) and final round appearances (10); Force Racing's three cars won 16 of 23 events
- 2001: Claimed 11th Funny Car championship; Lowered NHRA elapsed-time record to 4.731 (Reading); Qualified No. 1 six times; Earned six victories; Went to the final round a category-high 13 times
- 2000: Earned 10th NHRA Funny Car championship; Broke Bob Glidden’s career victory record when he won his 86th event (Chicago); Earned double-digit victories (11) for the fifth time in his career; Won the Funny Car bonus event for the fifth time; Earned more votes than any other driver named to the Auto Racing All-America Team by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association for the third time
- 1999: Won six times in the first eight races en route to ninth NHRA Funny Car championship; Set NHRA records for time (4.788 seconds) and speed (324.05 mph); Won the $200,000 top prize in the first NHRA Showdown which pitted Funny Cars against Top Fuel dragsters at Bristol Dragway
- 1998: Won fewer races than both Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon, but still managed to claim his eighth championship; Became the first Funny Car driver to hold fastest speed (323.89 mph) in NHRA history; Became first Funny Car driver to break the 4.80-second barrier (4.787, Dallas 2)
- 1997: Earned his seventh NHRA Funny Car championship; Led the point standings for the entire season; Set the Funny Car speed record at three consecutive events Ñ Topeka, Memphis and Dallas 2
- 1996: Took the NHRA Funny Car championship for the sixth time, his last in a Pontiac; Became the only drag racer named Driver of the Year for all of American motor racing after reaching the finals 16 times in 19 races and winning 13 events; Became the first driver to break the 4.90-second barrier while lowering the national record to 4.889 (Topeka); Won 65 rounds and was the No. 1 qualifier 13 times; Won the bonus event at Indianapolis
- 1995: Earned his fifth NHRA Funny Car championship; Won the first of three straight titles in NHRA Invitational bonus race at Rockingham; Never trailed in points after winning the third race of the season at Gainesville
- 1994: Became the winningest driver in Funny Car history when his 10 season victories boosted his career total to 42 -- seven more than legendary Don “the Snake” Prudhomme; Won five straight times in one stretch and won seven of the season’s last 10 events en route to the Funny Car title
- 1993: Rebounded from his second place finish in 1992 by winning six of the season’s first seven races and seven of the first nine to reclaim the championship; Won at Indianapolis for the first time in his career; Claimed the Funny Car bonus event win
- 1992: After forging a substantial early lead, lost the championship to Cruz Pedregon, who won five of the season’s last six races
- 1991: Secured his second consecutive championship title by reaching the finals 10 times
- 1990: Won first NHRA championship by 43 points
- 1989: Claimed season's only victory at Reading
- 1988: Won his first race in the U.S. when he prevailed at Columbus; Earned his first home track win (Pomona Raceway) when he beat Kenny Bernstein in the final at Pomona 2
- 1987: Earned first career victory (Montreal), beating Ed McCulloch in the final round; Won the Funny Car bonus event for the first time
- 1986: First year with crew chief Austin Coil produced three final-round appearances
- 1985: Runner-up at Phoenix
- 1984: Without major sponsorship support, appeared in only 12 events and qualified for 10
- 1983: Finalist at Englishtown and Pomona 2
- 1979: Made first career final-round appearance (Baton Rouge) losing to Kenny Bernstein
Personal
- Wife: Laurie; Daughters: Adria (6/4/69), Ashley (11/29/82), Brittany (7/8/86), Courtney (6/20/88)
- Height/weight: 5'11”, 190 lbs.
- Hobby: Storytelling
- Notable: Daughter, Ashley, competes against him in Funny Car class; daughters Brittany and Courtney compete in Super Comp.
- Enjoys riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and collecting Elvis Presley memorabilia
- Drove trucks and became a television pitch man for a truck-driving school during early racing career
- Also owns the Funny Cars driven by Robert Hight
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DPR Sports & Racing News
United States
ph: 630-776-3411
dan
