PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD SHUTE / AUTO IMAGERY SANAIR SUPER SPEEDWAY • SAINT-PIE , QUEBEC , CANADA • SUNDAY , JUNE 28 TH , 1987
THE FIRST OF MANY
With Kenny Bernstein ’ s “ Budweiser King ” and a whole bunch of Canadian fans watching on in the background , John Force charges down the track while competing at the 1987 Molson NHRA Grandnational outside Montreal . Diehard fans will recognize it as the site of Force ’ s first of 157 NHRA national event victories in Funny Car . With Austin Coil calling the shots on the Castrol GTX / Jolly Rancher Oldsmobile , Force defeated Ed “ The Ace ” McCulloch in the final round to get his long-awaited first win . The TV production crew couldn ’ t get into Canada , so rather than Steve Evans and the Diamond P cameramen , Force was greeted at the top end by “ three drunken Canadians ” as the 16-time NHRA world champion described in a 2020 interview .
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