John Force Racing News

Funny Car Icon Back in Green-and-White at HRP

HOUSTON, Texas Back this week in the familiar green-and-white of Castrol GTX®, his principal sponsor for the last 24 years, John Force is looking for a new edge at Houston Raceway Park, site of the 22nd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals.

The 59-year-old drag racing icon, the sport's biggest winner, is hoping that, in this case at least, familiarity breeds content.

After going 2-3 in a three-race turn at the wheel of a black-and-gold Mustang touting BP/Castrol's new Edge brand, Force returns this week to the colors in which he has secured the majority of his record 125 NHRA tour victories.

"We've always done good in Texas," Force said. "Dallas and Houston. They're both big horsepower tracks. Robert's won there (a reference to teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight, the 2005 Spring Nationals champ) and Ashley was in the final last year."

Although he presently is only ninth in the Full Throttle driver standings, Force believes he finally has a race car capable of getting him back to the No. 1 position he has occupied 14 times since the 1980s.

"Bottom line, we struggled," Force said of a 2008 season in which he finished seventh in points, "(but now) we've got a good hot rod. Last year, we didn't have a car that could run with these guys.

"Don't know why, but we seemed like we were always behind. The end of last year, things started getting better and Coil and Bernie (crew chiefs Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly) changed a lot of stuff in the winter: new injector, new clutch, new blower (supercharger)."

Indeed, even though he won just two rounds in the first three races, the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection deserved better.

He qualified solidly in each race (third once; fourth twice) but twice lost in the first round before finally getting back on tracktwo weeks ago when he drove into the semifinals at the ACDelco Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.

"We just got outrun at Pomona. We were good in qualifying and we ran good first round, but Cappsie (points leader Ron Capps) just ran better. At Phoenix, we had that fuel leak at the starting line and smoked the tires. It's early (in the season), but you don't want to lose too many chances."

Force, whose 2002 Houston victory was the 100th of his career, is vying with teammate Mike Neff to become the first driver in 40 years to win a NHRA tour event in a Ford-powered, Ford-bodied Funny Car. His Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang and Neff's Ford Drive One Mustang both are powered by the BOSS 500 nitro motor developed in a collaborative effort by JFR and Ford.

Although the engine eventually will power all four of the JFR Mustangs, right now there is not enough inventory to support such an ambitious effort.

"After we got a second machine (a MAG Giddings and Lewis CNC), we were finally

able to get blocks for me," Force said. "Now we can run blocks on one machine and

(cylinder) heads on the other. That's really pumped up the production."

* * * *

At Houston Raceway Park:

Although he has won seven times at HRP, six times in the O'Reilly Spring Nationals,

John hasn't celebrated in the winners' circle at Houston since 2002.

That 2002 Houston victory enabled John to become the first and only professional

drag racer to win as many as 100 races.

Last Year:

-- After qualifying No. 9, John reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Del Worsham.

Did You Know?

-- John is trying to extend to a record-setting 23 the number of consecutive seasons in

which he has won at least one NHRA tour event. He currently shares the record with

Warren Johnson.

-- John hasn't qualified No. 1 since Sept. 1, 2006. That's 55 races, the longest he's

gone without starting No. 1 since beginning his career with a 59-race drought.

-- John is featured, with daughter Ashley, in the latest edition of ESPN The Magazine,

on newsstands Friday.

Force and Coil:

-- Over the 25 years they have been together, John Force and Austin Coil have gone to the final round in 42.4 per cent of ALL the races they've run (198 of 468) in the NHRA series.

-- Force and Coil were winless in their first 31 races together, finally earning a breakthrough win on June 28, 1987 at Montreal, Canada.

-- En route to 14 NHRA championships and 126 tour victories, there always have been

three constants Force, Coil and Castrol.

-www.johnforceracing.com-

For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US

FORCE's Edge

Overall NHRA records (and Funny Car division records)

Most career victories (126)

Most series championships (14)

Most career final rounds (202)

Most career rounds won (1017)

Most consecutive series championships (10, 1993-2002)

Most consecutive seasons with one or more victories (22)*

Most consecutive seasons with at least one final round appearance (26)*

Most consecutive seasons with multiple tour victories (18, 1990-2007)

Most consecutive national events without a DNQ (395, 1988-2007)

Most consecutive Top 10 seasons (24)

Highest winning percentage, one season (91.5%, 65-6)

Biggest cash payday, one event ($210,000, Winston Showdown, Bristol, Tenn., July

10, 1999)

Most rounds won, one racetrack (101 at Auto Club Raceway, Pomona, Calif.)

*tied with Warren Johnson, Pro Stock

Other NHRA Funny Car division records

Most final rounds, one season (16, 1996)

Most victories, one season (13, 1996)

Most rounds won, one season (65, 1996)

Most career No. 1 starts (131)

Most No. 1 starts, one season (11, 1996)

Most consecutive final round appearances, one event (nine, 1992-2000, Atlanta, Ga.)

Career starts (505)

Awards

Driver of the Year (1996)

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2008 inductee)

AARWBA Auto Racing All-America Team (14 times, 1990, 1993-2002, 2004-2006)

Jerry Titus Memorial Award (most AARWBA votes, 4 times, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002)

AARWBA Comeback Award (2008)

Speed TV Comeback Award (2008)

SAE Motorsports Achievement Award (2008)

AutoSport Magazine's John Bolster Award for lifetime achievement (2005)

Milestones

First round win, over Tom McEwen, June 1, 1979, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La.

First No. 1 qualifier, May 25, 1986, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La.

First tour victory, June 28, 1987, Le Grandnational Molson, Montreal, Canada

First Funny Car driver to break 4.90 second barrier, July 6, 1996, Topeka, Kan.

First drag racer to win Driver of the Year award for all of American motor sports (1996)

First Funny Car driver to break 4.80 second barrier, Oct. 24, 1998, Dallas, Texas

First (and only) drag racer to win 100 events, April 14, 2002, Houston, Texas

First Funny Car driver to break 4.70 second barrier, Oct. 2, 2004, Joliet, Ill.

No. 2 (behind Don Garlits) in balloting to determine Top 50 drivers in NHRA's first 50

years (2001)

First (and only) drag racer to win 1,000 racing rounds, May 4, 2008, Madison, Ill.

* * * *

JOHN FORCE By the Numbers

1 position from which he has won 55 of his record 126 NHRA races

2 first round losses in 24 appearances at HRP

3 or more wins in 18 straight seasons (1990-2007)

4 times in 24 appearances qualified worse than sixth at HRP

5 seasons with 10 or more tour victories (1993-94, 1996, 1999-2000)

6 different race winners in John Force Racing Mustangs (John Force, Ashley

Force, Robert Hight, Tony Pedregon, Gary Densham, Eric Medlen)

7 career victories at Houston Raceway Park, six in the O'Reilly Spring Nationals.

8 final round appearances in the O'Reilly Spring Nationals

9 runner-up finishes before winning first tour event in June, 1987, at Montreal

10 straight Funny Car titles (1993-2002)

-www.johnforceracing.com-

For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US