10 bigger than 100 for Force

By Brian Hilderbrand (contact)

Friday, April 5, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

As strange as it may seem, John Force is not as obsessed with winning his 100th National Hot Rod Association race as one might think.

Although he admitted it would be "neat" to become the first driver in NHRA history to hit the century mark in career victories, the 52-year-old Force has his eye on another number: 10.

As in 10 consecutive NHRA Funny Car championships.

Force enters this weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 99 career wins and 11 NHRA Funny Car championships -- including the past nine in a row. As far as Force is concerned, his 100th career victory would be one step on the path to another championship.

"Don't get me wrong -- 100 wins is a big milestone," Force said. "It's neat because nobody has done it but we have to focus on winning this race and winning the championship."

For that matter, Force said he would be just as happy if Tony Pedregon or Gary Densham -- who also race Funny Cars under the John Force Racing banner -- won the championship.

"I really would," Force insisted. "This year, our quest is to get that 100th win and to win the championship -- and I don't care if Tony or Gary gets that championship. It's every bit as satisfying (when they win) as when I win.

"I want to take my three teams -- not just me -- and beat the competition."

Force has done just that on a fairly regular basis for much of the past decade. After claiming his first NHRA win in 1987, Force has accumulated 78 victories since 1993, averaging 8.5 wins a season from 1993 to 2001.

But Force's road to drag-racing superstardom hasn't always been smooth.

"There was a time, ten or twelve years ago, that I thought about quitting," Force said. "I remember sitting out in Memphis, broke, with no money to eat a decent meal, and I thought 'I don't need this.' And every time I thought about quitting, it was like God opened a door and sent me somewhere else and another money deal came down and I made it to another race.

"That's why when I look at 100, people act like I'm going to quit when I get there; that's just a stepping stone to me. Once I get 100, then I'll go after 150. It's nice to get 100 because I wasn't the first car in the fours and I wasn't the first to run 300. I just hope it doesn't take as long to win this hundredth as it did to win my first. I spent the first 16 years (of my career) losing."

While he may be the odds makers' favorite to win this weekend's race, Force said he wasn't sure what to expect when he rolled his Castrol GTX-sponsored Ford Mustang to the line for his first run today.

"We were out (Wednesday) walking the racetrack and it's very hot," Force said of the unseasonably high temperatures. "The track's got a new surface that they've spent a lot of time grinding on and we've got to adapt to that. We have no data in our computer to tell us what we can get away with and you've got to come out of the box and get qualified.

"I've got to focus on this race -- not on winning my 100th race."

Force admitted he has been focusing on the Las Vegas race since he lost in the first round of eliminations at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., three weeks ago.

"We've been off for three weeks since Gainesville and I am ready to race," he said. "I want to get back in the groove at the racetrack, I want to get back into signing autographs, I want to get back to being with (crew chief) Austin Coil and my guys and talking about the car.

"I was in the office for the last three weeks and I almost went nuts -- it's too much stress for me. I'm a blue-collar guy and I like being with the guys at the track. What I love to do is drive the car -- I'd do it for free. It's all the work that goes with it: the autograph signings, the media, the airplane travel ... it's what we have to do and that's where you earn your money. The driving is the fun part of it."

And the winning.

* Broke Don Prudhomme's record for career NHRA Funny Car victories ** Broke Bob Glidden's record for career NHRA victories