Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: A Force on the track and in the office

Friday, April 15, 2005 | 10:11 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

John Force has had such unparalleled success as an NHRA Funny Car driver that his skills as a team owner often go unnoticed.

A year ago, Force tapped 30-year-old rookie Eric Medlen -- who had worked on Force's crew for eight years -- to drive the team's Castrol Syntec Funny Car that Tony Pedregon drove to eight victories and an NHRA championship the year before.

Medlen responded by winning a race, earning two No. 1 qualifying positions and finishing fifth in Funny Car points.

This winter, Force again tapped a rookie and crew member -- this time, his son-in-law Robert Hight -- to drive the team's Automobile Club of Southern California Funny Car that Gary Densham piloted to two wins and a fourth-place points finish in 2004.

In two races this season, Hight has qualified No. 1 at two of the four races and he earned his first Funny Car victory in only his fourth start last weekend at Houston Raceway Park. Hight is fourth in Funny Car points coming into this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"I never thought it would happen that fast for Robert," Force said. "I'm just thrilled for him. He and Eric make me look like I know what I'm doing.

"(The Auto Club) wanted me to hire a 'name' (and) you can't blame them. But I wanted someone who wasn't going to leave me; I'm looking five years down the road."

Force, a 13-time NHRA Funny Car champion and the sport's winningest driver with 115 national-event victories, is under contract with longtime sponsor Castrol to drive his Ford Mustang Funny Car through the 2010 season.

"I'm under contract to drive for this season and five more, so I've still got a lot of racing to do," Force said. "My main job is to win races and win championships for Castrol and all the other sponsors that support us. My other job is to train the next generation and get them ready to be the champions when I'm gone."

The next driver Force is expected to promote to the pro ranks is his 22-year-old daughter Ashley, who is driving a Top Alcohol Dragster in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Father and daughter both will be competing this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

OUT WITH THE OLD: This weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas will mark Kurt Johnson's final Pro Stock race in the ACDelco Chevrolet Cavalier. After this race, Johnson will trade in the Cavalier for the new Chevrolet Cobalt body style.

Johnson has won seven national events and earned four No. 1 qualifying positions since he debuted the Cavalier at the 2001 season opener in Pomona, Calif. -- which he won.

"We brought this ACDelco Chevy in with a win four years ago and I think we're going to put it out with one," Johnson said. "There's no reason we shouldn't be able to -- it's just a matter of executing.

"We're definitely excited about the new Cobalt ... but for now, we want to give the Cavalier a proper going-away party and I can't think of a better place to do that than Las Vegas."

Johnson has made three final-round appearances in eight races in Las Vegas, but still is searching for his first victory at The Strip.

CENTURY MARK: Drag-racing legend Don "The Snake" Prudhomme will earn his 100th career victory as a driver and owner if either of his drivers, Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) or Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) can win their class Sunday in Las Vegas.

Prudhomme, who won 49 races as a driver and 50 in 10 seasons as a team owner, entered the 2005 seasons with 98 career victories and reached 99 with Johnson's win in the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Dixon has three victories in Las Vegas, his most recent coming in this race last spring, and is tied with Kenny Bernstein for most Top Fuel wins at The Strip. Johnson scored his lone Las Vegas victory in the 2001 spring race.

HIGH (SPEED) STAKES: For the second consecutive year, the Palms Casino Hotel is offering limited-edition casino chips featuring Cruz and Tony Pedregon in conjunction with this weekend's races at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Palms has produced four chips in $5 and $25 denominations and are available at the property's gaming tables and casino cage. The chips depict highlights of the careers of Cruz, Tony and their late father, "Flamin' Frank" Pedregon.

ANDRETTI ACCIDENT: Four members of the Andretti Green Racing team were involved in a multi-car accident Wednesday evening in Northern California after leaving an Indy Racing League test at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Scott Graves, the team's director of engineering, and Tino Belli, the team's technical director, were listed in good condition Thursday morning after being admitted to San Francisco General Hospital. The extent of their injuries was not disclosed.

Martin Pare, the race engineer for driver Bryan Herta, and Brian Page, Herta's assistant race engineer, were released from the hospital Wednesday night.

The four were traveling in the same vehicle from the raceway to San Francisco International Airport at the time of the accident.

INFINEON TEST: Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti posted the fastest lap Wednesday in the second of two days of testing at Infineon Raceway. Franchitti posted a lap of 1 minute, 16.1015 seconds (108.797 mph) on the 12-turn, 2.3-mile road course.

Marlboro Team Penske's Helio Castroneves was second quickest at 1:16.4497 and Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing was third quickest at 1:16.4688.

The Indy Racing League will stage its first permanent road-course race at Infineon on Aug. 28.

UNIQUE VIEW: Las Vegas-based Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing is offering race fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team and its preparations for Sunday's American Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta.

Beginning this morning, the "Petersen Motorsports Paddock Cam presented by Firetide" will provide real-time streaming video from the team's paddock during the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta race weekend. The camera will remain active until the team leaves the track following Sunday's sports-car race.

The No. 31 Westward Ho Casino Porsche 911 GT3 RSR opened the 2005 ALMS season with a dominating victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Viewers can log on to the paddock cam free of charge at www.americanlemans.com, www.firetide.com or petersenmotorsports.com.