Final entry: Force locks up record 14th POWERade Funny Car championship

John Force clinched a record 14th NHRA Funny Car Championship Sunday by beating closest pursuer Ron Capps in the second round of the 42nd annual Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. [Complete story]

Funny Car, round two

Force lines up in the left lane, which has produced tons of tire smoke in the first two rounds. Force gets out on Capps, .064 to .072, and pulls away as Capps blue Dodge loses traction and gets out of the groove at half-track. Austin Coil’s masterful tune-up produces a 4.742, 326.95 while Capps coasts to a 5.26.

Force clinches the championship, the 14th of his career.

With second place already locked up, Hight stages in the less-favored left lane against Johnson. Prock has the same magic as Coil, getting down the tricky lane expertly with a 4.75 as T.J. smokes the tires at halftrack.

Force will face Hight in the semifinals; Force has lane choice, but the only drama now is who will win the race.

Quick Quotes:

Force: “I’ve always had the killer instinct -- that will to win at all costs -- but the truth is I have the best bunch of guys. They’re the ones who got it done; they’re the champions. Look at the side of my race car; look at all these sponsors. They’re the ones who make it happen and allow us to do what we do. I don’t want to celebrate too much because I know how Ron feels.”

Capps [after talking to Force]: “He just told me to keep my chin up and never quit; he says he doesn’t have many years left, and then it will be a free-for-all. This is devastating. I don’t know what other word describes it. We had the points lead for a long time and we let it go. What makes it hard is we never know if we’ll be in this position again, if Ed will be here. I feel bad for the guys. I’m the one on TV all the time but they’re the ones who do all the work.”

Hight: "I’m happy. It’s my second year in Funny Car and to finish second to John Force, that’s not a bad deal at all. He’s the champ, the 14-time champ, for a reason. It’s an honor to finish second to him and have it go to the last race. I saw the whole thing on [Motel 6 Vision]. I was happy for him and called him on the radio and congratulated him for winning the championship.”

Current points:

Force: 1,596

Hight: 1,524

Capps: 1,503 (eliminated)

Funny Car, round one

Force leads the trio of challengers to the gauntlet and runs 4.801, 284.69 against Head, who slows to a 6.11.

Hight, knowing he now needs to set the record to win the championship, makes a strong 4.701, 324.67 after Gilbertson smokes the tires early.

Capps (pictured) keeps the scenarios alive by eking out a close win over Tim Wilkerson, 4.75 to 4.77.

Force and Capps will race one another in round two; Capps will have lane choice. Hight will square off against Tommy Johnson Jr. Hight has lane choice.

Quick Quotes:

Force: “She lost the blower belt and just parked. I was waiting for Head to go by; I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go,’ I guess she got in trouble early. Don’t talk to me about the championship; I don’t want to hear about it right now. Do you know what a Hail Mary is? I do. The only touhdown pass I ever threw in high school was a Hail Mary. If I lose the next round then Capps will be right there ready to win and set the record. That would be a Hail Mary. It could happen. I know Hight can set the record because I know what he’s got.”

Hight: “That was good. I was a little nervous because that’s the first time we’ve gone down the right lane, but Jimmy said he was alright and that’s the lane everyone was winning in, and that’s all I needed to do here. This is unbelievable. I’m a very lucky guy; here we are in Pomona, at the last race of the year and I’m racing for the championship. If we can go on and win this race and set the record it will be exciting no matter what anyone else does.”

Capps: “It’s emotional for me right now. When you put everything you’ve got into everything you do to reach your goal together with a group of guys like I’ve got and it comes down to this race and your chances of winning the championship are probably gone, it’s emotional. We have lane choice against Force but we’d need to beat him, win the race, set the national record and somewhere in there have run a backup run for the record. That’s just not going to happen.”

Current points:

Force: 1,576

Hight: 1,504

Capps: 1,503

Scenarios

1. If Force loses to Capps, either he or Hight must win the race and reset the national record to win the championship. Hight already has a backup for the record; Capps does not.

2. If Force defeats Capps, Hight cannot win the championship.

Championship scenarios

John Force (pictured) owns a 72-point lead over Robert Hight and a 73-point edge on Ron Capps. If Force loses in the first round, Hight and Capps will need to win the race, or runner-up and reset the national record to pass him. If Force wins the first round, they will have to win the race and reset the record. If Force reaches the semifinals, Force clinches the championship.

All the drivers are on the same side of the ladder.

Force will race No. 14 qualifier Jim Head in round one. Capps will race No. 11 qualifier Tim Wilkerson. If both Force and Capps win their first-round races, they will face each other in the second round. Potential semifinal opponents include Hight, Bob Gilbertson, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Gary Scelzi.

Hight will face No. 15 qualifier Gilbertson in the first round. If he wins that round, he will face the winner of the Johnson Jr.- Scelzi match. He could potentially face Capps or Force, or either or their first-round opponents in the semifinals.

Funny Car qualifying session No. 4

Force and Jack Beckman stage under ultra cool and cloudy skies, Force in the left lane, Beckman in the right. Whit Bazemore, in the pressroom watching Beckman wheel his former ride, predicts a 4.67 for Beckman, then grins broadly as that number lights up the scoreboard: 4.671, 333.66, the fastest run in Funny Car history. Force is right there with a 4.677, 328.33.

Capps, running in the right lane alongside Mike Ashley, surprisingly can’t better his earlier number, slowing to a disappointing 4.75, 326.63.

The fans are on their feet as Hight (pictured), in the left lane, stages against Medlen with a potential national record run in the cards. Hight powers down the track in a bath of strobe lights from the stands, but falls just short of Beckman with a 4.672 at 328.94.

Hight finishes second, Force third, and Capps sixth, with all three drivers on the same side of the ladder Sunday. Hight will race Bob Gilbertson, Force will take on Jim Head, and Capps will saddle up alongside Tim Wilkerson. If Force and Capps each win their first-round races, they will pair off in round two. The winner of that race could potentially face Hightin the semifinals.

Force needs to win two rounds to lock out his foes, but with he and Hight already owning backup runs for a new national record, a lot of things still can happen.

Official adjusted points after qualifying:

Force: 1,536

Hight: 1,464 (-72)

Capps: 1,463 (-73)

Quick Quotes:

Force: "I spun down there. That's okay. I'm excited for Robert. He needed some points to get around Capps and he got 'em. We wanted to get our cars 1-2-3 but ol' Jack Beckman is running great right now. This is exciting. I'm up right now but I know if I don't take care of business in Round 1 I could end up down real quick."

Hight: "It left good that time, finally. Only one ‘chute came out down there and it was hopping around. It's so hard to release the brake when that sand trap is coming up like that but if you don't stop the hopping you're in worse shape. It's a must-win situation for Ron and I. We're gonna do all we can to win the race and if we get to the finals and it's dark and cool we'll try for the record then. If it doesn't work out for us than John's the champ again and that's awesome also."

Capps: "No matter what happens, what an exciting finish we're having here. We're all crowded around the TV watching what the other guys are running. We're all wondering where we're gonna finish, who we're gonna race. It's cool. It looks like we're all on the same side of the ladder and I've got Hight in Round 2 if we both make it that far. That's what we needed to happen. Still, we've got to take care of what we're doing and try to win."