Teammate, Funny Car points leader Robert Hight says Force is his most dangerous rival.
As the John Force Racing organization starts its quest this weekend at Reading, Pa., for a 22nd NHRA championship, company president and Funny Car points leader Robert Hight said he’s most concerned about boss John Force, his teammate and No. 5-ranked competitor.
At age 73, Force is eyeing his 800th career start at Maple Grove Raceway, site of the first of six Countdown to the Championship events in the Camping World Drag Racing Series. An unreachable number for a newcomer to the sport? Consider a rookie coming into the NHRA pro ranks next season. Schedule is 21 races for 2023. To reach 800 starts, at 21 races per season, it would take that rookie 38 years to reach 800.
Milestone aside, Hight isn’t unconcerned about the Nos. 2-4 challengers—Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, and Bob Tasca III. Capps is the reigning class champion with a huge head of steam after his $80,000 Pep Boys All-Star Callout Race and his jinx-breaking U.S. Nationals victory two weeks ago at Indianapolis. Hagan is the Tony Stewart Racing driver and three-time champion with whom he traded salvos during the first stretch of the season. And Tasca has won three of the past five races.
None, however, are hungrier than Force.
Hight uses the way Force signs his autographs as a case in point. Force scribbles his name and adds the notation “16x,” meaning “16-time champion.”
John Force Racing’s Robert Hight enters the Countdown to the Championship as the top seed in Funny Car.
NHRA/National Dragster
And Hight said of Force, “He wants to get 17 so bad. He’s tired of signing his name and putting ‘16X.’ And that’s the kind of mentality you have to have to win championships.”
Then Hight made a prediction about the title chase: “This thing’s going to come down . . . I’ll make a prediction right now . . . It’s going to come down to Sunday in Pomona. And for the drivers, with the points-and-a-half format that they have at Pomona, it’s going to be tough to clinch it before Pomona.”
Force and his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro have an advantage at this weekend’s Pep Boys Nationals. He has won a record seven times at Maple Grove Raceway, most of any driver in any class (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2013). Last September here, Force was No. 1 qualifier for the seventh time and lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.
With just a 50-point gap between himself and top-seeded Hight because the sanctioning body reset the standings to separate the title-eligible racers in 10-point increments, the 155-time winner said he’s feeling confident.
“Starting the Countdown, the points reset really is working in our favor. Robert Hight and the Auto Club team are up there but it’s within reach,” Force said. “Reading has been good to me in the past. [It would] be good to get some momentum going. We want to start with a good, long weekend, keep ourselves in the conversation. These last six races are going to be exciting.”
Hight’s hoping Force doesn’t make the race too exciting. He said Force “has won the most and he’s in my stable. We share information, we work together, we share data, and those guys are always going to know what we’re doing in our pit area and how our car is set up. So I guess if I had to fear anybody, that would be the one.”
Qualifying at Reading starts Friday and continues Saturday, and eliminations will get under way Sunday morning.
Keyword: John Force Reaching Another NHRA Unreachable Milestone in Countdown Opener