Dirt
John Force Racing’s 2,500th
Funny Car round win another
milestone in team’s stellar history
By Lee Montgomery
J
ohn Force’s Funny Car victory at
the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville,
Florida, was memorable for many rea-
sons, including yet another milestone
over the team’s 40-year existence in the NHRA
Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
After winning all four
rounds, and coupled with
Robert Hight’s first-round
victory, the team achieved
the 2,500-round victory
threshold for Funny Cars.
Force’s final-round win over
rookie Jonnie Lindberg
sealed the deal.
JFR’s first round victory
was June 1, 1979, when Force
defeated Tom McEwen at
the Cajun Nationals in Ba-
ton Rouge, Louisiana. Force
himself has accounted for
just over half of those 2,500
Funny Car round victories, as
he now stands at 1,269, with
six round wins this season.
He defeated Del Worsham,
Jack Beckman, and Tommy
Johnson Jr. before beating
Lindberg on Sunday.
Even more impressive is that JFR’s 2,500
NHRA Funny Car round wins account for more
than 20 percent of wins all-time in the class.
“It was the reign of terror that started it all, with
Austin Coil, Bernie Fedderly and John Medlen,”
Force said. “It was really about a group of guys
– it wasn’t about me. I just wrote the checks, but
I got to drive one of the baddest hot rods on the
planet. We won just about everything.
“But those days are gone now. John Force wants
to stay in the game, and now we’ve got Robert
Hight, my daughter Courtney, young Austin Prock
is coming,” he continued. “I’m really excited about
this. We put the band back together. Mick Jagger
of the Rolling Stones said life’s a drag, but today,
life’s not a drag – it’s a drag race, and we won.”
Winning races and elimination rounds is one of
the things John Force has done best. Overall, nine
drivers have won Funny Car rounds with JFR.
The total includes: John Force at 1,269, Robert
Hight at 375, Tony Pedregon at 292, Courtney
Force at 134, Mike Neff at 118, Gary Densham
at 108, Ashley Force Hood at 105, Eric Medlen
at 95, and Phil Burkart Jr. at 4.
Hight added to his total Sunday, besting Bob
Tasca III in the first round with career-bests in
time and speed, and has two round wins this
season. Courtney Force won her first three
rounds of the season at Pomona, making it to
the final round.
“It’s amazing, but what’s really amazing is when
you look at who has most of those wins,” Hight
said. “John Force’s records – he’s so far out in front
of everybody else – it’s not even achievable. With
the competition level and everything else there
is today, these records we keep getting will never,
ever be broken. I was lucky enough to get the
200th victory for John Force Racing at Topeka
(2011), and that was pretty exciting.”
To do it at Gainesville, Hight said, was special.
In the 1990s, for example, Force participated
in 37 rounds out of a possible 40, and won 33
of those 40 rounds. He just kept winning...and
winning...and winning.
“He’s had good luck at Gainesville,” Hight
said. “But I take away from this that all three
of our Funny Cars are running good, and we’re
not searching for faster cars but right where we
want to be. We just need to
get a little consistency. I’m
just happy to be a little part
of those 2,500 round wins.
We have three good cars now,
and we’re going to get a lot
more wins.”
The milestone is more than
just a number. It represents
tireless efforts by drivers,
crew chiefs, team members,
fabricators, shop workers, and
office staff who have worked
with Force since the 1970s.
“If you look at the Tony
Pedregons that drove for me,
the Eric Medlens, the Gary
Denshams, Robert Hight, my
girls – if you go down that list,
they were all part of that. It
wasn’t just about me,” Force
said. “I’ve done well in the
sport, because I’ve lived it and
loved it. I give 110 percent to my sponsors, never
100 percent. We overdeliver, you have to.
“With the cast of characters we have, we’re go-
ing to keep hitting them with all we’ve got.”
The team earned its 2,500th round victory
across all NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Se-
ries classes last year. Including the team’s Top
Fuel dragster – piloted by Brittany Force and
sponsored by Monster Energy – the team’s round
victory total stands at 2,593. Brittany Force add-
ed another Top Fuel round victory Sunday, and
stands at 93 in her career.
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Issue 119
Setting Unbreakable Records