Ageless drag racing wonder John Force sets national record in Winternationals qualifying - MotorSportsTalk

Choose your adjective: Whoa! Damn! Unbelievable! Incredible!

All of those words would definitely fit the bill to describe how ageless wonder and 16-time NHRA Funny Car champ John Force powered to a national elapsed time record during Friday’s qualifying for the season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Force, who will be 65 in less than three months, made it very clear that he intends on winning a record-breaking 17th Funny Car championship this season by flying down the dragstrip in a record time of 3.966 seconds at 324.12 mph.

While he has pretty much rewritten almost all of NHRA’s record books, it’s the first time in more than a decade that Force’s name has been attached to a national elapsed time or speed record in the Funny Car class.

“(Crew chief) Jimmy Prock has his stuff together,” Force said. “I never thought it would run 96. That impressed me. I told ’em, check the clocks. When we saw (teammate) Robert (Hight) run that 99 (3.999 seconds), Jimmy knew it was there.”

Force laid the groundwork for the record-setting run Friday evening by covering the track at 3.983 seconds on his first qualifying run earlier in the day.

Antron Brown led Top Fuel qualifying with a time of 3.731 seconds at 326.00 mph, while Allen Johnson led Pro Stock drivers with a top qualifying effort of 6.517 seconds at 212.53 mph.

Two more pro qualifying sessions take place Saturday at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. PT. Sunday’s final eliminations start at 11 a.m. PT.

Here are Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the season-opening 54th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Top Fuel — 1. Antron Brown, 3.731 seconds, 326.00 mph; 2. Shawn Langdon, 3.746, 328.70; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.753, 328.38; 4. Bob Vandergriff, 3.761, 322.58; 5. Spencer Massey, 3.775, 321.50; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.781, 324.05; 7. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.788, 322.73; 8. Tony Schumacher, 3.808, 322.73; 9. David Grubnic, 3.830, 321.96; 10. Leah Pritchett, 3.843, 319.98; 11. Terry McMillen, 3.863, 322.58; 12. Troy Buff, 3.866, 303.50. Not Qualified: 13. Sidnei Frigo, 3.899, 312.57; 14. Brittany Force, 3.916, 279.15; 15. Clay Millican, 4.084, 249.76; 16. Steve Faria, 7.441, 81.87; 17. Scott Palmer, 8.246, 94.55; 18. Richie Crampton, 8.582, 89.46; 19. Steven Chrisman, 12.623, 70.60.

Funny Car — 1. John Force, Ford Mustang, 3.966, 324.12; 2. Robert Hight, Mustang, 3.996, 317.94; 3. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.014, 304.67; 4. Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.040, 317.27; 5. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.046, 320.13; 6. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.077, 316.01; 7. Chad Head, Camry, 4.079, 303.23; 8. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.082, 314.75; 9. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.104, 309.06; 10. Gary Densham, Charger, 4.199, 289.20; 11. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.303, 236.46; 12. Paul Lee, Charger, 4.306, 244.43. Not Qualified: 13. Terry Haddock, 4.358, 224.77; 14. Bob Tasca III, 4.577, 194.63; 15. Jeff Diehl, 4.617, 182.85; 16. Jack Beckman, 5.409, 103.74; 17. Tim Wilkerson, 6.454, 113.40; 18. Cruz Pedregon, 6.531, 103.66; 19. Phil Burkart, 7.955, 90.47; 20. Alexis DeJoria, 8.285, 82.74; 21. Bob Bode, 8.396, 73.27.

Pro Stock — 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.517, 212.53; 2. Vincent Nobile, Chevy Camaro, 6.528, 212.29; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.541, 212.39; 4. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.541, 211.79; 5. Dave Connolly, Camaro, 6.543, 211.53; 6. Erica Enders-Stevens, Camaro, 6.547, 211.79; 7. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.547, 211.73; 8. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.549, 212.36; 9. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.554, 211.96; 10. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.569, 210.60; 11. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.573, 211.26; 12. Jimmy Alund, Camaro, 6.574, 211.39. Not Qualified: 13. Larry Morgan, 6.576, 210.73; 14. Deric Kramer, 6.593, 210.05; 15. Matt Hartford, 6.634, 208.78; 16. Paul Pittman, 7.338, 143.05; 17. Shane Tucker, 9.059, 99.25.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”