John Force takes PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevy
to Four-Wide Nationals second round

Photo credit: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
CONCORD, N.C. (April 30) – Sixteen-time Funny Car champion John Force took the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro to the second round of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals before running into a buzzsaw quad that ended his day early.

Force, who qualified No. 3, sped into the second round with a pass of 3.937 seconds at 309.20 mph. He got to the finish line first in the quad against No. 6 qualifier Ron Capps, No. 11 qualifier Del Worsham and No. 14 qualifier Chad Head.

Capps also advanced, and he and Force then squared off against No. 2 qualifier Robert Hight – Force’s John Force Racing teammate – and No. 10 qualifier Jack Beckman. All four drivers have won NHRA Funny Car championships, with Capps the defending Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champ.

But Force’s chances went away almost immediately, as he slowed to a pass of 5.618 seconds at 128.54 mph and finished fourth in the quad.

“We made some mistakes today,” Force said. “We qualified good, we turned the corner, but we still have some work to do. The guys are on top of it. The aerodynamics is great and this car is really good. The motor is showing power but we have to get some more improvements for our motor program.”

JFR qualified first (Courtney Force), second (Hight) and third (John Force) but was unable to turn that into more than two round wins on race day.

But Force, the all-time win NHRA win leader with 148 victories, is still encouraged by the progress of his team.

“We are right there, and we are going to be testing all day tomorrow and maybe Tuesday,” Force said. “And we are going to be OK.”

Force next races in the NHRA Southern Nationals next weekend at Atlanta Dragway.