Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Funny Car opponents target Force at Pomona

Thursday, July 5, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

John Force will be right at home when the inaugural Pep Boys 50th Anniversary Nationals gets under way today at the historic Pomona Raceway.

"I like California because it's my home and it's home to our drag racing museum, right there at the (Pomona Fairplex)," Force said. "It's where the season starts and ends and now it's where you race on Saturday night, too "

Although Pomona has hosted the season-opening Winternationals since 1961, this weekend's event marks the first time the pro cars will race under the lights. Saturday's final eliminations are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

"To me, that's where Wally Parks started it all," Force said of Pomona. "The first (NHRA national event) may have been in Kansas, but the fact is Pomona was the first one on the West Coast. You raced Saturday nights at Irwindale and Orange County, but if you were a real drag racer, you always ran Pomona."

Force goes into this weekend's event leading the Funny Car driver standings, 271 points ahead of Del Worsham and 306 ahead of teammate Tony Pedregon. Force, the 10-time NHRA Funny Car champion, has advanced to the finals seven times in the first 12 races this season and has posted three wins.

"They're shooting at us," Force said of the competition. "Del Worsham has run the numbers. So has (Bruce) Sarver with the Alan Johnson team. (Dean) Skuza with the Dodge, Baze (Whit Bazemore), Scotty Cannon ... You go up there every round and you know you can't make a mistake.

"But the team I really fear the most, and I've said this all along, is Snake's team with Ed McCulloch tuning and Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr. driving. Both of them have won this year and Tommy Jr. took me out two weeks ago at St. Louis. But there aren't any easy ones and it's not going to be any easier just because we're back home this week."

In 37 starts at Pomona, Force has been the number-one qualifier nine times and posted seven wins -- most recently at last year's NHRA finals.

The last time Force failed to qualify for a national event was Oct. 31, 1987 at the NHRA Finals.

Caden Robert Capps weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces.

"Shelley and Caden are just fine," Capps said. "Everything went perfectly. The timing is good because I can drive to Pomona and back home each day of the race."