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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – Already this season, John Force has lost in the first round six times, been beaten by a woman for the first time ever and failed to qualify his Castrol GTX® High Mileage™ Ford Funny Car for an NHRA tour event for the first time
in 20 years.
With the mid-point in the season just ahead, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion finds himself outside the Top 10 in driver points for the first time since 1982.
Not to worry. Drag racing's most prolific winner has a prescription for what ails him and he takes the cure this week when the NHRA POWERade tour moves to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the 38th renewal of the Pro Care Rx SuperNationals.
"I'm going in with a different attitude," said the 58-year-old drag racing icon. "The Eric thing (prot‚g‚ Eric Medlen's tragic death following a testing accident last March) was rough on all of us, the fans as well as the racers, and I know that the overload from building new shops in Indy to training my girls, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney, to working with the TV show (A&E Network's real-life series "Driving Force") took a toll.
"But after last week (a whirlwind six days that started with testing in Joliet, Ill., and ended with the Gary Scelzi and Friends All-Star Challenge charity event in Visalia, Calif., with stops at Otterbein, Ind., Dearborn, Mich., and East Rutherford, N.J, in between), you know what? I remembered that if you've got heart, you never get tired.
"And I think that's what's been wrong with me," said the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection. "No heart. So I'll take all the blame (for the team's lack of success). But I've got a whole new attitude. I'm excited right now. My focus is back on the race car. She needs to come to life and we need to race our way out of this funk."
"The schedule's tough (the SuperNationals is the first of six races in six weeks), but it's probably the best thing for us. We need to get back in the game, win some rounds and win some races.
"We've had some issues," said the 122-time tour winner, "but after we lost in the first round at Chicago (Joliet), we had a five-hour team meeting and I think we're back on track. (Crew chiefs Austin) Coil and Bernie (Fedderly) have taken us back to the basics.
One of Force's "issues" was a turnover in key personnel unlike any he has experienced in his long championship run.
After 18 seasons on the road, Kevin McCarthy put down roots to manage the team's shop facility in Brownsburg, Ind., and, after 12 years as the facilitator for Coil and Fedderly, Dean "Guido" Antonelli moved over one pit spot to become crew chief for Ashley Force on the Castrol GTX Mustang.
"When you make changes, sometimes it just takes time for everybody to get back into a routine," Force said. "We've got good people. That's not the problem. The problem is the chemistry and the training. Guido' used to do the training to make sure everyone was on the same page. Now, Coil and Bernie are going to be more hands-on."
The dominant driver in the NHRA series over the last 20 seasons, Force has suffered from an atypical lack of consistency. He needs to make up ground this week. The problem is that the SuperNationals is not an event in which he has had much recent success. Although he's won four times at Raceway Park, he last visited the winners' circle in 1999. That's the longest he's gone without a win at any race in the series.
Nevertheless, because of the NHRA's new "Countdown to the Championship," which re-adjust the points for the Top Eight drivers for the final six races, he knows he still has a chance to defend his title.
"(The new format has) kinda played into our hands," Force said, "but we still have to perform. We have to win."
Did You Know:
When he lost to daughter Ashley in the first round of the Summit Southern Nationals last May at Atlanta, Ga., it was the first time John Force had been beaten by a woman driver in his 30 years as a professional racer. It also was the first ever father-daughter match-up in professional sports history.
Notable:– Old Bridge Township Raceway Park is the only track in the NHRA POWERade Series in which John hasn't won a race in the 21st century.
– In his last five appearances in the Pro Care Rx SuperNationals, John has advanced beyond the second round just once, losing in the final round of the 2004 race to then teammate Gary Densham.
FORCE SEEKS PRESCRIPTION FOR COUNTDOWN' SUCCESS
Champ Trying to Rally from Worst Start of Professional Career
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – Already this season, John Force has lost in the first round six times, been beaten by a woman for the first time ever and failed to qualify his Castrol GTX® High Mileage™ Ford Funny Car for an NHRA tour event for the first time
in 20 years.
With the mid-point in the season just ahead, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion finds himself outside the Top 10 in driver points for the first time since 1982.
Not to worry. Drag racing's most prolific winner has a prescription for what ails him and he takes the cure this week when the NHRA POWERade tour moves to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the 38th renewal of the Pro Care Rx SuperNationals.
"I'm going in with a different attitude," said the 58-year-old drag racing icon. "The Eric thing (prot‚g‚ Eric Medlen's tragic death following a testing accident last March) was rough on all of us, the fans as well as the racers, and I know that the overload from building new shops in Indy to training my girls, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney, to working with the TV show (A&E Network's real-life series "Driving Force") took a toll.
"But after last week (a whirlwind six days that started with testing in Joliet, Ill., and ended with the Gary Scelzi and Friends All-Star Challenge charity event in Visalia, Calif., with stops at Otterbein, Ind., Dearborn, Mich., and East Rutherford, N.J, in between), you know what? I remembered that if you've got heart, you never get tired.
"And I think that's what's been wrong with me," said the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection. "No heart. So I'll take all the blame (for the team's lack of success). But I've got a whole new attitude. I'm excited right now. My focus is back on the race car. She needs to come to life and we need to race our way out of this funk."
"The schedule's tough (the SuperNationals is the first of six races in six weeks), but it's probably the best thing for us. We need to get back in the game, win some rounds and win some races.
"We've had some issues," said the 122-time tour winner, "but after we lost in the first round at Chicago (Joliet), we had a five-hour team meeting and I think we're back on track. (Crew chiefs Austin) Coil and Bernie (Fedderly) have taken us back to the basics.
One of Force's "issues" was a turnover in key personnel unlike any he has experienced in his long championship run.
After 18 seasons on the road, Kevin McCarthy put down roots to manage the team's shop facility in Brownsburg, Ind., and, after 12 years as the facilitator for Coil and Fedderly, Dean "Guido" Antonelli moved over one pit spot to become crew chief for Ashley Force on the Castrol GTX Mustang.
"When you make changes, sometimes it just takes time for everybody to get back into a routine," Force said. "We've got good people. That's not the problem. The problem is the chemistry and the training. Guido' used to do the training to make sure everyone was on the same page. Now, Coil and Bernie are going to be more hands-on."
The dominant driver in the NHRA series over the last 20 seasons, Force has suffered from an atypical lack of consistency. He needs to make up ground this week. The problem is that the SuperNationals is not an event in which he has had much recent success. Although he's won four times at Raceway Park, he last visited the winners' circle in 1999. That's the longest he's gone without a win at any race in the series.
Nevertheless, because of the NHRA's new "Countdown to the Championship," which re-adjust the points for the Top Eight drivers for the final six races, he knows he still has a chance to defend his title.
"(The new format has) kinda played into our hands," Force said, "but we still have to perform. We have to win."
Did You Know:
When he lost to daughter Ashley in the first round of the Summit Southern Nationals last May at Atlanta, Ga., it was the first time John Force had been beaten by a woman driver in his 30 years as a professional racer. It also was the first ever father-daughter match-up in professional sports history.
Notable:– Old Bridge Township Raceway Park is the only track in the NHRA POWERade Series in which John hasn't won a race in the 21st century.
– In his last five appearances in the Pro Care Rx SuperNationals, John has advanced beyond the second round just once, losing in the final round of the 2004 race to then teammate Gary Densham.
