5/5/08

Mike Neff sure knows how to take care of business. On the same day John was celebrating his 59^th birthday, Zippy won his first career round as a driver and advanced to his first final round—in only his ninth start. And he nearly beat a red hot Tim Wilkerson in that Madison final.

That makes JFR’s recent final round record the best in the category. Ashley advanced to the previous three, winning in Atlanta, and now Mike adds a fourth, with a runner-up finish. Add to that Robert’s final in Phoenix and that gives the team five finals in the first six races.

But the recent woes continue for Robert and Jimmy, who fell in the Madison semi’s and haven’t gone to a final since that Phoenix race—following their season-opening win in Pomona. By this time of the year, that AAA team has usually gotten the car dialed in and running low E.T.’s and top speeds regularly. It has been a different story this year.

How many of us were rooting for John to have had a better day on Sunday? How cool would it have been for him to win the race on his big 5-9—the same day he reached yet another of his infinite performance milestones with his 1000^th round win—and the potential to face Mike in the final? But John fell to Robert in Round 2 and round wins are not coming as easily for Robert this year as they have in the past. You might say he needed that win light just a little more than the boss did.

I wasn’t at the race in Madison this weekend due to other commitments but I did leave a birthday greeting on John’s cell phone voicemail wishing him a great day from my family and me. I also sent him a gift card for dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, with the intention that he and Laurie will use it when they get back to Yorba Linda and pig out at their earliest opportunity!

I recently heard someone say “60 is the new 40” and since John is only five months older than I am, I find a lot of truth to that. Can you imagine someone 59-years-old racing a nitro Funny Car with the skill and stamina John has—especially only eight months after a very serious accident—at an age when not long ago, you would be preparing for retirement? I can remember that when my dad was 59, he was already in pre-retirement mode, making plans for what he would do with all his spare time and beginning the process of slowing down.

Today, John is still one of the premier drivers in all of motorsports, is a threat to win whenever he comes to the starting line, and keeps a schedule of promotional and corporate commitments that a man half his age would have trouble staying in step with. And he’s in better physical condition now than he was before his accident in Dallas. He’s lost some weight, he eats much healthier, and his rehabilitation program has given him added muscular strength. If you’ve ever heard the old adage, “Doing what you love will keep you young”, John is living proof of that.

And his deal with his sponsors insures that John will be racing his Castrol Mustang at least another three years, which to me, is utterly amazing. And to think that when I was 30, I thought anyone over the age of 50 was a decrepit fossil!

Time now for a week off before racing resumes in beautiful Thunder Valley in Bristol, TN. Following the action, I’ll have more from “In the Groove” here on the official website of John Force Racing so I’ll expect to see you back here then.

In the meantime, buckle up, drive defensively, and watch out for the other guy!