NHRA: Courtney Force's championship hopes potentially on the line this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

This weekend’s NHRA AAA Fall Nationals could wind up being the biggest race of Funny Car driver Courtney Force’s career.

The youngest daughter of 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force has enjoyed the best season of her seven-year Funny Car career.

Entering the 21st race of the 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series 2018 schedule, Courtney has won a single-season career-best four times – one-third of her 12 career wins in Funny Car (she’s the winningest driver in NHRA Funny Car history). She also has two runner-up finishes.

In addition, Force also has dominated qualifying throughout the season, being No. 1 in 11 of the first 21 races.

She also led the Funny Car point standings for much of the regular season: 12 of the first 18 races before the start of the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

But Sunday’s final eliminations at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas, south of Dallas, could potentially end up becoming a make-or-break situation for Force in her bid to win her first career NHRA Funny Car championship.

If she wins or reaches the final round Sunday, it will go a long way toward potentially getting her back in the thick of things.

But if Force slides any further in the standings, it will be very difficult to play catch-up in the three remaining races following this weekend’s race: Charlotte (Oct. 12-14), Las Vegas (Oct. 25-28) and the season finale in Pomona, California (Nov. 8-11).

There is significant cause for concern for Force. In the first two races of the Countdown, she was upset in the first round at Reading, Pennsylvania (after qualifying No. 1), and lost in the second round two weeks ago at Madison, Illinois.

Another first- or second-round exit this weekend deep in the heart of Texas could make it nearly impossible for Force to still win the Funny Car championship.

“We’ve struggled for a few races, but to think about how far we’ve come this year, I feel confident we’ll get it turned around,” Force said.

Force enjoyed her best career season showing in 2017, when she finished third in the standings, two spots below Funny Car champ and John Force Racing teammate, Robert Hight.

Force is in a similar situation heading to Texas: Hight leads the standings and she’s third, 70 points back.

If Hight continues his hot streak – he reached the semi-finals at Reading and won at Madison – he will be in the driver’s seat toward a second consecutive championship and third of his career.

That’s why this weekend is so important for Courtney Force, wife of IndyCar driver Graham Rahal.

She has reason for optimism: she is coming off a successful test after the Madison race and feels she and her team have found what has been missing the last two races.

“We’re feeling good about Dallas and I feel like we’ve got a good race car,” Force said. “We’re all still really motivated and we’ve got a shot at this championship. We’re going to fight hard to get back in it.

“There’s a lot of points to be gathered and we’re just coming to the halfway point (of the Countdown).”

Still, there’s no denying the significance of this weekend’s event.

“You don’t want to fall too far behind and get left in the dust,” she said. “But anything can happen. You’ve just got to keep pushing and focus on your own car. Otherwise, it can all make your head spin.”

Force has had some prior success at the Motorplex, winning there in 2014 and also qualifying No. 1 twice.

And as far as overall season finishes, she finished third in 2017, sixth in 2016, missed the Countdown in 2015, was fourth in 2014, seventh in 2013 and fifth in her rookie Funny Car season in 2012.

Courtney Force has watched her father rally back to win several of his 16 championships and feels she can do the same.

“We still have a huge shot to win this championship,” she said. “It’s a team effort and we’re all in this together.”

Qualifying will feature two rounds Friday at 2:15 and 5:30 p.m. CT, two more on Saturday at 1:15 and 4:30 p.m. CT. Final eliminations roll off Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. CT.

NOTES: This weekend is also pivotal for two other members of the Force family.

Defending 2017 NHRA Top Fuel champion Brittany Force is mired in a tie for ninth-place in the standings, 261 points behind class leader Steve Torrence.

Brittany is essentially two full race wins behind Torrence points-wise. She would likely have to win at least two of the remaining four races to even have a chance of catching Torrence and repeating as Top Fuel champ for a second consecutive year.

As for team patriarch John Force, he also needs to get things going in the right direction. The 69-year-old Force is ranked eighth in the Funny Car standings, 154 points behind Hight, who is both Force’s son-in-law as well as president of John Force Racing.

Also of note: Brittany Force and Robert Hight are both defending winners of this weekend’s event in Texas.

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Jett Lawrence remains perfect in the Pro Motocross series after recording another perfect round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California. In his second start on a 450, Lawrence won his second National with his fourth consecutive moto win. It is getting increasingly difficult to find the right superlatives to describe the exploits on the reigning 250 West Supercross champion.

“The track was so brutal out there,” Lawrence told NBC Sports Jason Thomas. “The bike handles amazing even when it’s not too friendly. You had to be really patient; you couldn’t take too much. I didn’t eat enough before that second moto. I kind of lost energy halfway through, but luckily I could use technique and balance and just keep that flow going.”

Lawrence leaves Hangtown with an 18-point advantage over Ferrandis in the 450 Motocross standings, but perhaps more importantly, he climbed to 19th in the SuperMotocross standings and should he stay there, he has an automatic invitation to the Main events in the SMX Championship.

“On this track, you just have to manage,” Lawrence continued. “If you try to take too much and not respect the track, it will bite you very quickly. It was humbling on the first few laps. I got kicked on the cutout at the start of the third section, the tabletop going to the left. I had to get my focus because the boys were coming.”

Still in his first few races since returning from a concussion suffered at Houston in the Supercross series, Dylan Ferrandis finished second with results of third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2. While Ferrandis was happy with the result, he remains hopeful that he will contend for victory shortly.

“The first moto was very hard for my physically, Ferrandis said. “I got arm pump and when you get arm pump your body gets tired. But I’m very happy because we made a big change for the second moto. We tried stuff every session today and in the last moto the bike was much better, but unfortunately I wasn’t sure what I could do with this bike because the track was very hard and difficult to pass.”

RESULTS: How they finished in the 450 Overall at Hangtown

With the rash of injuries at the end of the Supercross season, the podium was filled with heartwarming stories. Cooper Webb returned to action last week in Pala and failed to make the podium. He is steadily improving with a third-place finish in Hangtown. after finishing with a 4-2.

“It’s incredible what seven days can do,” Webb said. “Last week I felt like I was going to get lapped in the second moto. This week, I could see the leader. It was nice. I fought hard, learned how to suffer again there and that felt nice.

Moto 2 wasn’t pretty for Lawrence. On several occasions in the opening laps, he nearly high sided as he rode the front wheel through the ruts. The reward was worth the risk. By the halfway point, Lawrence had 4.5-second lead over Webb, who was embroiled in a tight three-rider battle for second with his teammate Aaron Plessinger pressuring him and Ferrandis ready to take advantage if those made contact.

It took 20 minutes for Plessinger to get around Webb and once he did, he trailed Lawrence by four seconds. But then, with three minutes remaining, Plessinger crashed and had difficulty restarting the bike, handing second back to Webb who has seven seconds behind Lawrence. Plessinger fell to fourth with results of third and sixth.

Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the top five with a 5-4.

Heartbreak for Aaron Plessinger as he was charging forward 💔#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/vQtKIsuhVg

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 4, 2023

Last week Hunter Lawrence won the overall with a 3-1. He repeated that feat in Hangtown in an exact replica of his Fox Raceway results last week. In Moto 1, Lawrence got off to a slow start and lost 10 seconds in the opening laps. Forced to overcome a sixth-place position in the race at the end of Lap 1, he once again caught the riders ahead of him when the field hit heavy traffic. For the second week, scored another 3-1 for the Hangtown National win.

“The start was crucial’ I knew I had to go,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “They laid a lot of water down, so I didn’t want to be behind any longer than [I was]. First hot one of the year, was a bit of a wakeup call, so I’m happy to get out of here safe and healthy.”

Lawrence’s third-place finish in Moto 1 featured a fierce battle for final spot on the podium when he caught Spain’s Guillem Farres and France’s Tom Vialle. With Lawrence hailing from Australia, the international nature of the sport was highlighted.

Lawrence left Hangtown with a 10-point advantage over Haiden Deegan in the Pro Motocross championship battle.

Click here for 250 overall results

Justin Cooper finished second in both motos to finish second overall. Hangtown represented a huge improvement from Fox Raceway where he finished fifth overall with a 5-4 finish in the two motos. Cooper pressured Haiden Deegan in the second half of Moto 1 and he earned the holeshot in the second moto and stayed within three seconds of Lawrence in that race.

“He was following me a little bit, checking out my lines, seeing where he was better,” Cooper said. “It’s disappointing to give up the lead like that but it was way better than last weekend. I will definitely take two seconds. I want to be on the top of the step. I feel like I get close to the top step but I never get it done. That’s building up the frustration – the fire. I really want to get one of these wins, so it’s time to start digging.”

Haiden Deegan earned the first holeshot of his career in Moto 1 and rode away from the field, building a four-second lead in the opening laps. Cooper trimmed the lead at the halfway point and for a while it leveled off at two seconds. Then Cooper made another charge with three to go and closed to within a second. Deegan was biding his time, however.

“I was saving a little. I knew at the end Justin was going to try and put a charge on. I let him get up close and then sent it super hard at the end to break him a little at the end.”

Deegan’s first moto win comes in only his fourth National and he remains perfect in regard to podiums this year.

“This was a dream since I was a little kid, to win,” Deegan said. “And in my fourth race, it’s gnarly. I was just sending it. I was getting a little tired at the end becasue I left my mouth open the whole time. It’s unreal; I’m so hyped. I wanted to win bad and I proved it to you guys.”

Chaos erupted in turn 1 in Moto 2 Jeremy Martin went and another rider ran over his arm. Michael Mosiman crashed further down the track on that same lap. Both riders were helped off course by the Alpinestars Medical team.

Deegan grabs his first 250 Mx moto win!1️⃣#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/1FH5s1ZHfn

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 3, 2023