Force wins record 11th title

Monday, Oct. 22, 2001 | 9:49 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

ENNIS, Texas -- John Force won a record 11th NHRA title with a second-place finish Sunday in his Funny Car at the O'Reilly Fall Nationals.

Force had been tied with former Pro Stock driver Bob Glidden for the most championships in the history of the sport and comes into this weekend's inaugural ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals with 98 career victories.

The championship also was an unprecedented ninth straight for Force, who clinched the title while losing to teammate Gary Densham in the final round.

Densham covered the quarter-mile strip at Texas Motorplex in 4.832 seconds at 318.13 mph. Force went 4.852 at 318.69 in a battle between Ford Mustangs.

Force clinched the title in the second round of racing when Del Worsham beat Whit Bazemore. Force needed to get in one more round of racing than Bazemore, who stands in second place in Winston Funny Car points.

"I hadn't realized what had happened," Force said. "Bazemore smoked the tires and everyone said we won. It was a big relief to get it over with. I'm not trying to kid anyone; we are under a lot of pressure to win and it gets hard to focus sometimes. That's why being inside that race car is such a good place for me to be. It's so calm.

"I got to hand it to Bazemore. He got out of the car and said, 'It's your 11th, well enjoy it. It will be your last.' His crew was laughing. He just jumped right at me, and he has a right to. If that teams stays together, without a doubt, he will get (a championship). It's all a matter of time. They got to wear me out sooner or later."

Force was racing Sunday despite learning that his mother, Betty Ruth Force, had died earlier in the morning in Southern California following a lengthy illness. She was 77.

"She was almost 80 years old, but she packed a hundred years into her life," Force said. "She was a big fan of drag racing, as responsible for getting me to this point as (crew chiefs) Austin Coil or Bernie Fedderly.

"My sister was with her and she said she died very peacefully and I'm happy for that. She was so weak, I think her heart finally just gave out. It hurts, but one of the last things she told me was that she was going to a better place to be with my dad."

Larry Dixon, V. Gaines and Bob Panella Jr. also were winners Sunday.

Dixon beat Doug Kalitta with a run of 4.553 at 320.05 to move within 15 points of Top Fuel points leader Kenny Bernstein. Kalitta smoked the tires and coasted to a time of 7.908 seconds at 105.64.