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NHRA
NHRA: Force Rocks Bandimere
Saturday afternoon, the body of John Force's Ford Mustang Funny Car was laying on Bandimere Speedway. Sunday, the spare was sitting in Victory Circle.
John Force made an incredible comeback after Saturday's drama to win on Sunday. (NHRA)
Saturday afternoon, the body of John Force's Castrol High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car was laying on Bandimere Speedway, minus the chassis after an explosion of the supercharger.
Sunday afternoon, the spare was sitting in Victory Circle.
Force scored his first victory of the season, getting the Wally when Matt Hagan red-lit in the finals of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
"Like the military, it's all about teamwork," said Force, who last won in the final event of 2010 at Pomona. "We've got great guys. Dean Antonelli, Ron Douglas have been struggling. Mike Neff and Jimmy Prock and everybody was helping. … Yeah, we did some damage, but we came back with those Fords."
The win was the 133rd of his glorious career and his sixth in the altitude of Denver. But Force, the 15-time and defending Funny Car champion, was without a victory in 2011 heading to Denver.
Teammate Robert Hight finally spoke up to his boss.
"I don't know what's wrong," Force told Hight. "My luck's bad. It's probably me. The race car's off."
"No, it's you," Hight told him. "You've got to get back in the game. Your head's in Oskosh at the air show, the Indy 500, every place you're going. You're not in your race car."
"How do you know?" Force said.
"Because I know," Hight said. "You taught me to live it, and you're not living it."
Force knew Hight was right. Even the normally laid-back Mike Neff, Force's other teammate, got in Force's face.
"Get out there and fight for it like you want it," Neff told his boss. "Kick my butt if you can because you're better than that."
Force did kick Neff's butt in Sunday's quarterfinals, knocking out the points leader with a pass of 4.290 seconds at 293.47 mph, even leaving ahead of Neff.
That eventually put Force in the finals against Don Schumacher Racing's Hagan, in a matchup of the combatants for the 2010 Funny Car championship. Hagan's Mopar Dodge Charger left .012 seconds too soon, and even though he out-ran Force (4.328 at 274.83 to Force's 4.361 at 285.23), it didn't matter.
"I'm back in the game today," Force said. "I'll be back the rest of the season. You have my word. Ain't gonna say I'm going to win, but I'll be back."
GEICO Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer was back in the game, too, winning in Pro Stock Motorcycle for the first time since 2007 – a streak of 71 races.
"Counting the days?" Stoffer said. "I was hoping everybody would forget that count because it kept coming up over and over again. But you know what? Patience, fortitude. This is a tough sport. There are awesome teams out there. We knew we had a good team, we just had to work through a lot of issues. Patience, strength, tenacity – that's what the GEICO team's about.
"I was really not thinking about it. I was trying to forget how long it's been. Our focus has been on consistency, not the numbers, not the points, not the win lights, but just being consistent. And you know what? We've been able to achieve that, and that's props to the team and the bike they give me."
Stoffer has been amazingly consistent this season, reaching three finals and one semifinal in six races before Denver. But mechanical problems plagued the team in the last two events, and Stoffer dropped from the points lead. And in Denver, more gremlins popped up Friday.
But crew chief/husband Gary Stoffer and the crew got the Suzuki running better, and Stoffer qualified No. 2. Sunday, she made two passes in the 7.2-second range in the first two rounds, and then knocked out points leader Eddie Krawiec in the semifinals with a .002-second light to win on a holeshot.
In the finals, Stoffer simply had a better bike than Michael Phillips, winning in 7.283 seconds at 182.58 mph, besting Phillips' 7.394 at 182.01 on The Edge Suzuki.
"Hats off to the GEICO Powersports crew back there," Stoffer said after her sixth NHRA victory. "We've been struggling with mechanical problems the last few races. This is a tough mountain to come to with mechanical problems on top of it. They did a great job, diagnosed everything and gave me such a phenomenal bike for Saturday and Sunday."
Spencer Massey had a phenomenal Fram dragster on Sunday, taking out teammates Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher en route to his third win of the season, Massey also locked up a spot in the Countdown to the Championship with his performance.
In the finals against Schumacher – who is still looking for his first won of 2011 in the U.S. Army rail – Massey was faced with a dilemma.
"The final round was kind of crazy," said Massey, who ran a 4.150 at 269.67 to Schumacher's 4.255 at 266.95. "It went out just past eighth-mile, and it started smoking the tires. I was sitting there going through my head: 'Do I pedal it? Do I grab the brake?' I was like, 'No, just keep my foot in it and hopefully that belt will stay on.' The Gates belt did, and it actually started hooking back up. It must've put out a cylinder or two. I never saw Tony, and that win light came on, and I started going crazy."
Mike Edwards has never been accused of going crazy after winning, but he was all smiles after knocking out defending race winner Allen Johnson in the Pro Stock final when Johnson left early.
But the key to winning Sunday, Edwards said, was getting lane choice in the final with a run of 6.974 seconds at 197.08 mph in the Penhall Pontiac GXP. Johnson had qualified No. 1 and had low ET in the first two rounds in the Mopar Dodge Avenger. But he slowed in the semifinals, giving Edwards lane choice.
"I was really shocked," Edwards said. "I hadn't out-run Allen all weekend. Obviously, he had something happen to slow down that much. There was quite a bit of difference in the lanes for the Pro Stock cars. Fortunate for us, we got that. That was huge. I think that was probably the race, really."
The two waged a staging battle in the finals, as neither wanted to light the stage bulb first.
"Just an ol' redneck and a hillbilly having fun," said Edwards, who won for the 31st time in his career in Pro Stock. "We got the Wally, but he's still king of the mountain, I believe."
Up next for the Full Throttle Series is the July 29-31 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals from Infineon Raceway.
Sunday afternoon, the spare was sitting in Victory Circle.
Force scored his first victory of the season, getting the Wally when Matt Hagan red-lit in the finals of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
"Like the military, it's all about teamwork," said Force, who last won in the final event of 2010 at Pomona. "We've got great guys. Dean Antonelli, Ron Douglas have been struggling. Mike Neff and Jimmy Prock and everybody was helping. … Yeah, we did some damage, but we came back with those Fords."
The win was the 133rd of his glorious career and his sixth in the altitude of Denver. But Force, the 15-time and defending Funny Car champion, was without a victory in 2011 heading to Denver.
Teammate Robert Hight finally spoke up to his boss.
"I don't know what's wrong," Force told Hight. "My luck's bad. It's probably me. The race car's off."
"No, it's you," Hight told him. "You've got to get back in the game. Your head's in Oskosh at the air show, the Indy 500, every place you're going. You're not in your race car."
"How do you know?" Force said.
"Because I know," Hight said. "You taught me to live it, and you're not living it."
Force knew Hight was right. Even the normally laid-back Mike Neff, Force's other teammate, got in Force's face.
"Get out there and fight for it like you want it," Neff told his boss. "Kick my butt if you can because you're better than that."
Force did kick Neff's butt in Sunday's quarterfinals, knocking out the points leader with a pass of 4.290 seconds at 293.47 mph, even leaving ahead of Neff.
That eventually put Force in the finals against Don Schumacher Racing's Hagan, in a matchup of the combatants for the 2010 Funny Car championship. Hagan's Mopar Dodge Charger left .012 seconds too soon, and even though he out-ran Force (4.328 at 274.83 to Force's 4.361 at 285.23), it didn't matter.
"I'm back in the game today," Force said. "I'll be back the rest of the season. You have my word. Ain't gonna say I'm going to win, but I'll be back."
GEICO Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer was back in the game, too, winning in Pro Stock Motorcycle for the first time since 2007 – a streak of 71 races.
"Counting the days?" Stoffer said. "I was hoping everybody would forget that count because it kept coming up over and over again. But you know what? Patience, fortitude. This is a tough sport. There are awesome teams out there. We knew we had a good team, we just had to work through a lot of issues. Patience, strength, tenacity – that's what the GEICO team's about.
"I was really not thinking about it. I was trying to forget how long it's been. Our focus has been on consistency, not the numbers, not the points, not the win lights, but just being consistent. And you know what? We've been able to achieve that, and that's props to the team and the bike they give me."
Stoffer has been amazingly consistent this season, reaching three finals and one semifinal in six races before Denver. But mechanical problems plagued the team in the last two events, and Stoffer dropped from the points lead. And in Denver, more gremlins popped up Friday.
But crew chief/husband Gary Stoffer and the crew got the Suzuki running better, and Stoffer qualified No. 2. Sunday, she made two passes in the 7.2-second range in the first two rounds, and then knocked out points leader Eddie Krawiec in the semifinals with a .002-second light to win on a holeshot.
In the finals, Stoffer simply had a better bike than Michael Phillips, winning in 7.283 seconds at 182.58 mph, besting Phillips' 7.394 at 182.01 on The Edge Suzuki.
"Hats off to the GEICO Powersports crew back there," Stoffer said after her sixth NHRA victory. "We've been struggling with mechanical problems the last few races. This is a tough mountain to come to with mechanical problems on top of it. They did a great job, diagnosed everything and gave me such a phenomenal bike for Saturday and Sunday."
Spencer Massey had a phenomenal Fram dragster on Sunday, taking out teammates Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher en route to his third win of the season, Massey also locked up a spot in the Countdown to the Championship with his performance.
In the finals against Schumacher – who is still looking for his first won of 2011 in the U.S. Army rail – Massey was faced with a dilemma.
"The final round was kind of crazy," said Massey, who ran a 4.150 at 269.67 to Schumacher's 4.255 at 266.95. "It went out just past eighth-mile, and it started smoking the tires. I was sitting there going through my head: 'Do I pedal it? Do I grab the brake?' I was like, 'No, just keep my foot in it and hopefully that belt will stay on.' The Gates belt did, and it actually started hooking back up. It must've put out a cylinder or two. I never saw Tony, and that win light came on, and I started going crazy."
Mike Edwards has never been accused of going crazy after winning, but he was all smiles after knocking out defending race winner Allen Johnson in the Pro Stock final when Johnson left early.
But the key to winning Sunday, Edwards said, was getting lane choice in the final with a run of 6.974 seconds at 197.08 mph in the Penhall Pontiac GXP. Johnson had qualified No. 1 and had low ET in the first two rounds in the Mopar Dodge Avenger. But he slowed in the semifinals, giving Edwards lane choice.
"I was really shocked," Edwards said. "I hadn't out-run Allen all weekend. Obviously, he had something happen to slow down that much. There was quite a bit of difference in the lanes for the Pro Stock cars. Fortunate for us, we got that. That was huge. I think that was probably the race, really."
The two waged a staging battle in the finals, as neither wanted to light the stage bulb first.
"Just an ol' redneck and a hillbilly having fun," said Edwards, who won for the 31st time in his career in Pro Stock. "We got the Wally, but he's still king of the mountain, I believe."
Up next for the Full Throttle Series is the July 29-31 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals from Infineon Raceway.
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