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Force's
qualifying streak ends at 395 consecutive races
Time
finally ran out Saturday on John Force, the 14-time
and reigning NHRA Funny Car champion. Drag racing's
biggest winner will watch Sunday's eighth annual
SummitRacing.com Nationals from the sidelines
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after
failing to make the 16-car starting lineup for
the first time since Oct. 31, 1987.
Driving
a heavier version of the Castrol GTX High Mileage
Ford Mustang in which he qualified for the first
three races of the season, Force bumped into the
field on his final attempt Saturday – but
couldn't stay there. He wound up 17th with a time
of 4.852 seconds, just shy of the 4.837 rung up
by No. 16 qualifier Jack Beckman.
"I
was given the same opportunities as everyone else,"
Force said after seeing his streak of 395 consecutive
starts come to an unexpected end. "We just
didn't get the job done. It's that simple. I've
still got two cars in and there's a Force still
out there still (daughter Ashley was the No. 3
qualifier at 4.748 seconds in the Castrol GTX
Ford and son-in-law Robert Hight No. 2 at 4.740
in the Auto Club of Southern California Ford).
"There's
bigger things in life that I've faced," said
the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection.
"Trust me. So, this is only a little stone.
We've been climbing mountains lately.
"I
love what the fans did (in giving him a standing
ovation)," Force continued. "I don't
let myself get down in no kind of situation. I'm
just going to come out here tomorrow and root
the kids on – Robert (son-in-law Robert Hight,
who qualified second in the Auto Club Mustang)
and Ashley. Hope we get a win. We'll take a look
at our ol' hot rod and then test here on Monday.
Most of all, we want to get out of here with a
safe race.
"It's
easy to be good when you're on top," said
the 57-year-old icon, "when you win 14 championships,
but if you can put up with it when you get beat
in the dirt, it shows what you're made of. My
whole team has been beat up (but) we're gonna
go back tonight and rally ‘em, not just in
this situation, but with what's been going on
the last three weeks (with the death of Eric Medlen).
"I've
got sponsors out here – Castrol, Ford, Mac
Tools, AAA of Southern California – plus
some new sponsors in Mach 1 Air Services, Racebricks
and Nordic Boats and that's probably my toughest
call, but they understand the business and they
know we'll be back.
"Bottom
line, I've got no complaints. I thank the sport,
I thank the fans, I thank the media and I thank
God. There's not a better job in the world. So
now it's done and I can move on," Force said.
"I've got bigger fish to fry. We're working
with the NHRA, the PRO and our vendors to make
this a safer sport for everyone and that's my
mission, me and John Medlen (Eric's crew chief
and father, who is heading up Force's safety initiative)."
The
second longest streak in history was 303 straight
starts by Pro Stock veteran Warren Johnson. Ironically,
the second longest active streak, the one that
Top Fuel dragster driver Doug Kalitta had run
to 164, also came to an end Saturday. That makes
Angelle Sampey's 152 straight starts in the Pro
Stock Motorcycle class the longest active streak.
Force,
who has been decidedly unlucky at LVMS, a track
on which he has won just one time in 14 career
appearances, had been flirting with qualifying
failure all year long, making the starting field
on the last of his four qualifying attempts in
two of the three races in which he previously
had participated. This time, he couldn't come
up with a miracle to extend the record.
The
last time Force failed to make a field for which
he attempted to qualify was Oct. 31, 1987 when
he was shut out of the 16-car lineup for the season-ending
World Finals at Pomona, Calif., dropping him from
second to fourth in the final standings. His daughter,
Ashley, the No. 3 qualifier Saturday, was just
four years old at the time.
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