JOHN FORCE WINS NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
EPPING, NH — Once again 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 New England Nationals. 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.

“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.
“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.
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.
To begin eliminations, Courtney Force lined up beside first-time challenger Dom Lagana, her 29th different opponent since she began her professional Funny Car career in 2012. She had lane choice her team chose the left lane. The Traxxas team sped to a 4.130 second elapsed time at 312.28 mph next to Lagana’s 4.653 at 186.98 mph and turned on the win light.
“We had a pretty good weekend with our Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro team. Thinks are looking up for us. We qualified fourth, went to the semi-finals and above all, we’re closing that gap to the No. 10 spot,” said Force.

The 26-year-old’s first round win put her in an unfortunate battle with her teammate and brother-in-law, Robert Hight. This was their thirteenth match-up, but only their second this season and the first time they have raced each other at New England Dragway. The last time they met in eliminations was Phoenix of this year and Hight got the win.
Hight left the line first, but got into some trouble towards the finish line, giving Force the perfect opportunity to drive around him for the win. She posted a 4.198 at 307.72 mph to his 4.628 at 192.06 mph and advanced to the semi-finals. In Force’s three appearances at New England Dragway she has advanced to at least the semi-finals every race.
“I’m proud of my guys this weekend. We’re just going to get this thing back in the trailer and get to Bristol so we can get some round wins and keep moving up. We’re moving in the right direction and this is the weekend we needed,” said Force.
In the semi-final round, Force had tough competition with Tommy Johnson Jr. for a spot in the final round. This was their fifth time meeting in eliminations, but their first time this year and their first time at New England Dragway. They have met in the semi-finals four out of the five times they have raced each other. Their last meeting was at the AAA Texas Fall Nationals last year in the Countdown to the Championship. Force was victorious in that meeting and went on to win that race.
“I think our Traxxas team has been struggling a little bit, but I’m very thankful for the team I have behind me. They gave me a great car this weekend and I think we’ve got a pretty consistent one lately, just haven’t had any luck on race day,” said Force.
Her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car went into tire smoke right at the hit of the throttle. She pedaled it, but Johnson had already driven through the lights for the win. Her winning record against the veteran driver is now 3-2.
“We’re climbing back up every weekend and getting back in the game. We went up in smoke in the semis. I think we pushed it a little too hard in the heat, but that’s’ what you need to do if you want to win.
The AAA New England Chevrolet Camaro SS had its strongest qualifying effort of the season and went into race day as the No. 5 qualifier. Robert Hight rolled his Funny Car up to the starting line as half of the first pair of Funny Cars to take to the track after a lengthy Top Fuel session that saw three different stoppages for oil downs. Paired up with Tony Pedregon the delay did not affect the 2009 Funny Car champion as he raced his AAA New England Chevy Camaro SS to victory with a solid 4.114 second run at 315. 19 mph. Hight had already secured top speed of the race on Friday and was looking at a second round match-up with teammate Courtney Force.
“We felt good about our chances today. We qualified well and getting that first round win was big. We had three first round losses in the previous three races so we knew we needed to start going rounds. Tony (Pedregon) is tough but Mike Neff had a great plan and made a strong run to give us lane choice going into the next round,” said Hight.
In the second round Hight had the advantage just past 330 feet but the AAA New England Chevy started mixing up cylinders and smoked the tires. Hight will hold onto his spot in the Mello Yello Top Ten and focus on success in Bristol next weekend.
“With three races in a row you can’t dwell on race days that did not go your way. We put this race behind us. It was good to see John get another win but we need to go rounds and I know our win is around the corner. The best part about this weekend was the enthusiasm the fans had for us. I saw it on the track walk this morning. We will carry that positive energy to Bristol and get right back to business,” added Hight.
It was a banner day for the Monster Energy Top Fuel team even though they came up 1/100th of a second short of reaching back to back final rounds for the first time. Brittany Force was at the top of her game in the first round taking out veteran Doug Kalitta in a classic pedal-fest.
“Pedalling the car happens so fast and it comes with experience. I am still learning and every run is different. I think I handled that run pretty well. I got out of it and let it settle down and then I got back on the throttle nice and smooth,” said Force who now holds a 4-6 record against Kalitta. “It hooked up again and got us far enough down the track to get the win over Kalitta. I don’t mind pedaling this Monster Energy dragster and I am getting better at it.”
In the next round Force faced Richie Crampton and his Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster who was the No. 2 qualifier while Force made the field as the No. 10 Top Fueler. Force took the win with a superior 3.885 second pass as Crampton hazed the tires and lit up the scoreboard with an elapsed time of 4.121 seconds.
In the semi-finals for the third race in a row, a personal best for Force, she was paired with three-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon. It was a battle of second generation drivers and on Sunday Dixon was able to advance beyond Force. In one of the closest races of the day Dixon overcame a starting line disadvantage, .100 to .081, to get the win 3.855 seconds to 3.894 seconds.
“Looking back at the last three races I think this Monster Energy team is on fire right now. We have never performed like this. It is more than just performance this whole team has pulled together. We are pushing our dragster during qualifying and then showing up on race day and going rounds,” said Force, who solidified her position as the No. 8 Top Fuel driver in points.
“I am very proud of the entire team especially my crew chiefs Todd Smith and Ronnie Thompson. They had to be patient all year long because we couldn’t push the car because we didn’t have the funding. Now with Monster Energy we can really press it. Overall it was a great weekend and you can’t complain about going to two semi-finals and a final in the last three races. We are ready to get to Bristol and that is one of my favorite tracks.”