Show of Force

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

THURSDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

8 a.m. -- Sportsman qualifying

1 p.m. -- Comp Eliminator qualifying

4 p.m. -- Comp Eliminator qualifying

FRIDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

7:30 a.m. -- Sportsman qualifying/eliminations

2 p.m. -- Comp Eliminator qualifying

3 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

3:30 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

4 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

5 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

5:30 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

6:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

SATURDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

7:30 a.m. -- Sportsman eliminations

10 a.m. -- Comp eliminator (Round 1)

10:30 a.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

11:30 a.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout introductions

Noon -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Round 1)

12:15 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

1:15 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

1:45 p.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Round 2)

2 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

3 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster qualifying

3:30 p.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Final)

3:40 p.m. -- Funny Car qualifying

4:30 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

5 p.m. -- Comp eliminator (Round 2)

SUNDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

10 a.m. -- Pre-race ceremonies

11 a.m. -- Final eliminations

Shortly after qualifying for the fourth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals is completed Saturday afternoon at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, John Force will be presented with his 13th NHRA Funny Car championship trophy.

All Force has to do to clinch the title is to put his Castrol Ford Mustang into the 16-car field for Sunday's eliminations -- something he has managed to do for a staggering 344 consecutive races.

"If I don't break my leg or have a heart attack before I get there, I'll be OK," Force said of the championship. "We feel like we've locked it up, but you don't want to jinx yourself. Bottom line, as long as I get there and I put her in the show, then I'm going to be OK."

And Force, 55, can't think of a more fitting venue to celebrate his 13th championship than the Las Vegas drag strip. It was here, exactly one year ago, that Force watched his employee/teammate, Tony Pedregon, end his 10-year stranglehold on the Funny Car category by clinching the 2003 title.

Although Force said at the time that winning a championship as an owner was just as sweet as winning it himself, he now concedes that wasn't exactly the truth.

"When we won with Tony, it was like I won but I've got to admit it wasn't the same feeling," Force said. "When you come to Vegas, with the glitter and the dancing girls, you really want to be in the spotlight. Last year, Tony was in the spotlight, I wasn't, and as I looked at that, I thought, 'I really want to get back there where I belong,' and so it feels good to come back.

"I heard (the fans) cheer for Tony last year and it wasn't for me; it was for Tony Pedregon and I want to feel that again. I'm proud that he got it, but I want a taste of that again. And if that's ego, well, so be it because that's what I drive for."

Force has won more races (113 and counting) and more championships than any other driver in the history of the National Hot Rod Association and dominated his sport through the 1990s like no other racer in any form of motor sport. From 1990 to 2002, Force won 101 of 265 races and captured 12 championships.

As he is about to add an unprecedented 13th championship trophy to his collection, Force clearly has nothing left to prove -- at least that would seem to be the case. But he said he never lacks for motivation in his quest to rack up race victories and championships, thanks in large part to his four daughters, in general, and 21-year-old Ashley, in particular.

Ashley Force caught the racing bug nearly six years ago, when she attended a drag-racing school as gift from her father on her 16th birthday. Ashley recently clinched the Division 4 Top Alcohol Dragster championship in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and has two national-event victories this season in Top Alcohol Dragster.

"The thing that really bugged me most was during all those championships, I'd go home or maybe I'd be at the race and I'd say to my daughter, Ashley, 'Hey, baby. Dad did it again,' and she'd say, 'Well, that's cool.' But she never really understood what it means," Force said. "All of a sudden, now that she's out there racing ... I get to spend time with her and now I'm a loser. I don't need that -- I need to win this championship and I think most of my motivation comes from her.

"(My daughters) never knew what it meant (to win all those championships), so it's so important for me to be good -- especially for her, but for all four of my girls. I want them to know their dad is still in the game so they can be proud of me.

"When you hear, 'Dad, how come you've only won five races this year; you used to win 13.' That motivates you to get back in the fight."

As evidenced by this season, Force isn't finished rewriting the record book. As he watches his peers in drag racing and other sports announce their retirements, Force said he has no immediate plans to stop.

"If I quit racing tomorrow, I wouldn't know what to do with myself," he said. "Bottom line, I do it because I love it. You don't know what it's like until you've experienced it. The truth is, driving that racecar at night -- especially at Las Vegas -- there is no kind of experience like it.

"I could retire right now, but I do it because I love this driving with all my heart. It's a feeling I can't find anywhere else in life. I only find it through my children and what they accomplish -- that's the only other thrill I get that does it for me. I'm in this high-energy, go-all-the-time, cheer-of-the-crowd (life) ... you take that from me and I'm dead.

"I'm going to be here a long time, I promise."

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