JOHN FORCE STILL CHASING DREAM OF GATORNATIONALS GREATNESS
GAINESVILLE, FL (March 16, 2016) — John Force made his first trip to the historic Gatornationals in 1979. The upstart driver was the No. 17 qualifier and was on the outside looking in but when the No. 14 driver could not make the call Force was able to race on Sunday. There would be no Cinderella story for the SoCal racer as he was quickly dispatched by one of his racing heroes Tom “Mongoose” McEwen in the first round.
“Just to be beat up by Mongoose, the people you dreamed to be like, that was unimaginable. The dream wasn’t winning it was just qualifying. I was lucky if I could make the show. If you got in the show you got picked off in the first round. The dream was there to someday win it. I went to Florida and the only place I had ever seen an alligator was a zoo. I looked out the window at a media event and then there was an alligator walking around outside. It freaked me out,” recalled Force nearly forty year later.
Force would return to Gainesville Raceway two years later and lose to legendary racer and tuner Dale Armstrong in the first round. In 1981 Force had an early breakthrough racing to the semi-finals. It would take a decade of perseverance and determination before Force reached his first Gatornationals final round losing to 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Marc Oswald. This loss actually started a level of dominance that the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals had never seen before.
From 1992-1996 Force won five straight Gatornationals titles and from 1991 to 2001 Force was in nine of eleven final rounds and picked up seven wins.
“In the early days when I was trying to win the Gatornationals I was on fire almost every time. I was on fire sideways and then you got out of the race car screaming at (NHRA announcer) Steve Evans about how awesome racing was and capturing that moment,” said Force. “It was never about going to the Gatornationals and being a champion. I would love to hear the cheer of the crowd because I was brave or dumb enough to drive one of these cars when it was on fire. It was about chasing the dream and the struggle. The struggle is what who makes you who you are. My kids are going through that now. It you didn’t have a struggle then winning would have no meaning.”
The level of competition at the Gatornationals was always high due to the fact that racers came from all over the country to race in the warm weather and against the top racers. There was shift in the 90s as legendary Funny Car drivers moved up to Top Fuel and a new crop of talent stepped in to blaze a new path for the Funny Car category.
“(Don) Prudhomme and (Kenny) Bernstein moved to Top Fuel and the Funny Car world was changing. (Al) Hoffman was a fighter. Cruz (Pedregon) was always right in the heat of battle. The 90s were a new era of Funny Car. We would have to match race in the next town to made ends meet. We were all over the east coast just trying to make a living. That is where we earned to money to get to the national event. We were selling t-shirts out of the back of our trailers. It was a different world,” said Force.
The rivalries are what made the racing action at the Gatornationals so intense.
“I loved Al Hoffman. He was a true racer. He kicked the side of my car on the return road one time. I will never forget that. He hated losing and he had that fight in him. That just gave you the message that he would see you at the next race,” added Force.
As the 47th running of the Gatornationals gets underway this week Force will be looking for his eighth Gatornationals title. In 2014 Force was edged out by teammate Robert Hight in a great all JFR Funny Car final. Force was racing as the No. 16 qualifier (the only spot he has never won a race from) and had to beat a Who’s Who of talent to get to the final that included Cruz Pedregon, Del Worsham and daughter Courtney Force. Force’s motivation still runs deep when he thinks about heading out to Gainesville Raceway for qualifying and race day.
“The ride to the race track was where the dream really started every day. I remember talking to guys like Tripp Shumake and Gary Densham, they were the little guys like me. The Prudhommes, the Garlits, and Shirley Muldowney all walked on water,” said a nostalgic Force. “I couldn’t even talk to them. We went there to chase the dream and (wife) Laurie went with me. You wanted to stand on the starting line with the dream to win. There were great times there for me. The first time I won the Gatornationals was big. That was a big time race.”
HIGHT HUNGRY TO TAKE BITE OUT OF GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE, FL (March 15, 2016) —- Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team are looking for one more round win. So far this season they have had one of the most dominant nitro Funny Cars on the NHRA tour but they have been shut out of the winner’s circle. At the last race in Phoenix with lane choice in the semi-finals against eventual winner Tim Wilkerson Hight’s Funny Car overpowered the starting line and his shot at his first win in 2016 went up in smoke.
This weekend the 47th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals will get underway at the historic Gainesville Raceway and for Hight it will be a chance to put Phoenix behind him.
“That was a tough round to lose. We saw Courtney (Force) overpower the track but we felt good about our chance of making a good run. I have some much confidence in (crew chief) Mike Neff and these crew guys I felt like we were going to go to the final and race John Force,” said Hight after the race.
Last year Hight started the season with back to back semi-final finishes and then came a surprising loss in the first round of the Gatornationals. In the previous three races in Florida Hight had two wins and a semi-final finish to his credit. Hight’s latest win in 2014 came from the No. 10 qualified position and denied teammate and boss John Force is unprecedented eighth Gatornationals win.
“The Gatornationals is one of the most significant races of our whole series. In golf you have four ‘majors’ and the Gatornationals is definitely one of drag racing’s ‘majors’ as well. You look at the history and the names of the drivers that have won here. Every big time name like (Don) Garlits to (Kenny) Bernstein to (Don) Prudhomme that have multiple wins here. I would love to get No. 3 this year,” said Hight.
Hight’s performance on track this season has been strong from the first day of qualifying throughout the race weekend. At the season opening Winternationals he qualified No. 3 and lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Ron Capps. Two weeks later in the desert Hight was No. 4 qualifier and was taken out by Wilkerson who picked up the win. Losing to the eventual winner does not make the extremely competitive Hight feel any better.
“I want to win race for my team and for my sponsor the Auto Club. We are running really well for sure but we need to get those four round wins on Sunday to feel really good. I think a lot of the work we did over the off-season is paying off not just for this Auto Club Chevrolet team but also for the PEAK team and the Traxxas team. I get excited when all the John Force Racing teams are going rounds,” said Hight.
“It was great in Phoenix to have all three of our Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car reach the semi-finals. We would have liked to have gotten the win but we need to have that kind of performance all season to race for this Mello Yello Funny Car championship. Gainesville is a special track and I think we should do really well there this weekend.”
GATORNATIONALS VICTORY THE GOAL FOR TEAM TRAXXAS
GAINESVILLE, FL (March 15, 2016) — With a fresh start to the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season, Courtney Force and her Traxxas team are set to try their luck at the 47th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, one event on the circuit that has been challenging for the young driver in the past.
Force’s best qualifying position to date at the Gatornationals is 5th, but the team has seen a quick, more consistent Traxxas Chevy this season. Force explains her team is going for a personal best weekend at the Gatornationals, but it won’t be an easy feat.
“I definitely think our Traxxas team this year has the car to beat our personal best qualifying at this track, but a lot of my competitors have also improved since last year. I’m not sure what’s going to happen yet, but we’re all anxious to get there. This weekend will make for some fast qualifying for the fans to see,” said Force.
The third qualifying session at the 2012 Gatornationals was a Funny Car career mile marker for Force. It was her first contact with the guard wall in a Funny Car. At the time, it was one of many “firsts” in her young, but rapidly accelerating career. She was able to learn from the experience, but says it’s always in the back of her mind when she returns to this race.
“I think you learn something on almost every run. I know I learned a lot on that specific run my rookie season because it was a first for me. It’s always in the back of my head and I’m extra aware on this race track for that reason. It’s hard to not think about previous contact with the wall there, but I think it benefit me as a driver in the long run,” said Force.
Last year Force qualified her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car in the No. 8 position and went into Sunday’s eliminations against Ron Capps. The team was in the top half of the field with a clean 4.104 second ET at 312.13 mph on Friday (which was 3rd lowest of the session) and had lane choice over Capps.
“It’s really cool to look back at runs and stats just from last year and to see how far the Funny Car category has come in just a year. I think this is great for our sport and especially the fans to see this huge jump in ET’s. I have some high hopes for our Traxxas Chevy Camaro SS going into this race. I’m sure there will be some records set more than once and I’m hoping it’s our team at the top of the board.
“We always keep an eye on the weather going into an event and when you see rain you have some extra pressure to make every run count. Our Traxxas team needs to make a solid run right out of the box on Friday so we have room to play and be a little more aggressive after that,” said Force.
BRITTANY FORCE CONFIDENT AND READY FOR GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE, FL (March 15, 2016) —- The Monster Energy Top Fuel team and driver Brittany Force are excited to be heading back to the track for the 47th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Two weeks ago Force narrowly missed out on winning her first Top Fuel race in a close final round against Leah Pritchett. It was the first all-female Top Fuel final since 1982 and many people grabbed on to the idea that there was a budding rivalry between Force and Pritchett. The pair of drivers were both quick to point out there was nothing personal about the on-track competition.
“I understand the reasoning behind the media hyping Leah and I as rivals in Phoenix. An all-female final round is huge and is something we both have wanted since we started our Top Fuel career in 2013. The last all female final round was back in 1982 and the fact that it took 34 years to repeat the past proves what we are up against and how male dominated our sport is,” said Force.
“I don’t have one rival that I’m always going after. That’s how you lose focus on doing your job and end up making mistakes. Every driver in the lane next to me on Sunday is my rival. Each team is out there for the same reason. We want to turn on those win lights and be the person standing in the winner’s circle. Leah and I both wanted that Phoenix win and we both went after it. We both had great race cars but unfortunately our team fell short of bringing home the win.”
For the record Force has faced two-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown in three final rounds and Richie Crampton, Tony Schumacher and JR Todd once each in finals before crossing paths with Pritchett in Phoenix. The most recent CARQUEST Nationals was Force’s second trip to a final round in the desert and has her sitting in third place in the Top Fuel points.
“It feels good when you consider this is our second race into the season and we are already in a final. That is pretty outstanding especially with all the changes we made in the off-season. Getting to that final makes us feel really good. We have a long season ahead of us but I know it will be a good one,” said Force.
“Going rounds definitely gives you confidence. When you have guys like (crew chief) Brian Husen and (Top Fuel consultant) Alan Johnson working on your car but it also really pushes you to make sure you are on your game. Now I have a car and I have to perform well and do the job as a driver. It adds some pressure but I think it adds pressure in a good way.”
Force continues to mature behind the wheel and with the guidance of Brian Husen and Alan Johnson the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster is considered one of the early championship contenders. So far this season Force has qualified in the top half of the field at both the Winternationals (No. 6) and the CARQUEST Nationals (No. 5). Last year Force has her strongest effort at the Gatornationals qualifying No. 7 and reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in her career.
In the history of the Gatornationals only a handful of Top Fuel drivers have picked up their first career Top Fuel win at this historic event. The list of first time Top Fuel winners is headlined by Del Worsham (2011) and Eddie Hill (1988) plus a quartet of drivers from the early 1970s including Dave Settles (1974), Herm Peterson (1973), Jimmy King (1971) and Dave Chenevert (1970).