PHOENIX, Ariz. – There was a time when the NHRA’s Arizona Nationals, contested this week for the 29th time at Firebird International Raceway, was little more than a John Force fund raiser.
During one stretch (1994 through 2002), the Hall of Fame owner/driver won seven times while forging an elimination record of 31-2. He seemed virtually unbeatable regardless of the form his Castrol GTX Funny Car might assume – Chevrolet (1994), Pontiac (1995-96) or Ford (1997-present).
But times change.
Over the last six years, the same man who once seemingly owned the desert has advanced out of the first round just once. More disconcerting is the fact that while he remains the biggest winner in event history with three more titles than Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, he hasn’t put a Castrol GTX Mustang in the winners’ circle since 2005.
That downward trend may be about to change.
With Mike Neff’s return to crew chief duties on the 10,000 horsepower Castrol Funny Car, Force hopes to shove the pendulum in the other direction this week when he returns to a Firebird track he helped open as a first race headliner back in 1985.
In 28 previous appearances in the Arizona Nationals, Force never failed to qualify while reaching the finals in almost every other start (13 times).
Of course, right now, if the 63-year-old icon is to regain the respectability he seeks, he may have to do something he hasn’t done very often in his career and that is “spank” his daughter, Courtney, the current Funny Car points leader.
Force is 1-2 against his youngest daughter who dispatched him unceremoniously in the first round of last year’s Arizona Nationals and went on to finish four places ahead of him in the final NHRA standings.
“It’s hard for me to get (my energy) up to race my girls,” Force said. “I love them so much and want them to succeed, but I’ve gotta put that aside because I get paid to win just like they do and if I can’t show my sponsors that can still go for the championship, well, they’re not going to be around.
“They ask you, ‘what have you done for me lately?’ They don’t want to know about 15 championships and all those (134) race wins,” said the man who last year was a first ballot inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Al.
“And that’s how it should be. That’s what keeps me motivated. I want to show Robert (son-in-law Robert Hight, driving of the Auto Club Ford) and Courtney that I can still race for a championship and I think I can. I’m excited.”
He has every reason to be optimistic. After all, the last time he and Neff collaborated, the result was a championship (2010). Moreover, the last time they teamed up at Phoenix, Force went all the way to the final round before a one-day postponement changed the track conditions, resulting in a loss of traction that cost him the win. It’s the only time in the last six years that he has been ousted in round one.
Neff, who finished fifth and third in points the last two seasons as both driver and crew chief on the Castrol GTX Mustang, opted out of double-duty by his own choice to concentrate on the job he loves the most – tuning a nitro-powered hot rod.
Which works out really well, because Force just loves driving one.
From: Dave Densmore
More...
During one stretch (1994 through 2002), the Hall of Fame owner/driver won seven times while forging an elimination record of 31-2. He seemed virtually unbeatable regardless of the form his Castrol GTX Funny Car might assume – Chevrolet (1994), Pontiac (1995-96) or Ford (1997-present).
But times change.
Over the last six years, the same man who once seemingly owned the desert has advanced out of the first round just once. More disconcerting is the fact that while he remains the biggest winner in event history with three more titles than Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, he hasn’t put a Castrol GTX Mustang in the winners’ circle since 2005.
That downward trend may be about to change.
With Mike Neff’s return to crew chief duties on the 10,000 horsepower Castrol Funny Car, Force hopes to shove the pendulum in the other direction this week when he returns to a Firebird track he helped open as a first race headliner back in 1985.
In 28 previous appearances in the Arizona Nationals, Force never failed to qualify while reaching the finals in almost every other start (13 times).
Of course, right now, if the 63-year-old icon is to regain the respectability he seeks, he may have to do something he hasn’t done very often in his career and that is “spank” his daughter, Courtney, the current Funny Car points leader.
Force is 1-2 against his youngest daughter who dispatched him unceremoniously in the first round of last year’s Arizona Nationals and went on to finish four places ahead of him in the final NHRA standings.
“It’s hard for me to get (my energy) up to race my girls,” Force said. “I love them so much and want them to succeed, but I’ve gotta put that aside because I get paid to win just like they do and if I can’t show my sponsors that can still go for the championship, well, they’re not going to be around.
“They ask you, ‘what have you done for me lately?’ They don’t want to know about 15 championships and all those (134) race wins,” said the man who last year was a first ballot inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Al.
“And that’s how it should be. That’s what keeps me motivated. I want to show Robert (son-in-law Robert Hight, driving of the Auto Club Ford) and Courtney that I can still race for a championship and I think I can. I’m excited.”
He has every reason to be optimistic. After all, the last time he and Neff collaborated, the result was a championship (2010). Moreover, the last time they teamed up at Phoenix, Force went all the way to the final round before a one-day postponement changed the track conditions, resulting in a loss of traction that cost him the win. It’s the only time in the last six years that he has been ousted in round one.
Neff, who finished fifth and third in points the last two seasons as both driver and crew chief on the Castrol GTX Mustang, opted out of double-duty by his own choice to concentrate on the job he loves the most – tuning a nitro-powered hot rod.
Which works out really well, because Force just loves driving one.
From: Dave Densmore
More...
