JOHN FORCE: PRAY THIS THING TO THE WINNER'S CIRCLE
Tue, 2009-05-26 22:33
The crash and the rehab were hell on the soul, but the missing wins were worse on the spirit.
It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time world champion.
For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins (1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait was almost unbearable.
“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007. The crash and the rehab were hell on the soul, but the missing wins were worse on the spirit.
It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time world champion.
For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins (1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait was almost unbearable.
“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007.
The win not only gave Force the confidence he needed to continue to stay competitive in arguably one of the most talent-stacked categories in NHRA history, but it shot the former champ from fifth to a strong third in the point standings, a position that helped keep the NHRA legend within the top 10 point standings at the mid-point of the regular season of the 2008 Countdown to the Championship, ultimately leading to a Countdown to 1 playoff appearance later that year.
“Just give me a race car and I’ll pray this thing to the winner’s circle,” said Force.
For Force, who is currently ninth in the Funny Car point standings, a win in Topeka could propel the driver further up in the point standings and give the NHRA legend a 10th win at the track, the most of any other driver at Heartland Park Topeka.
It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time world champion.
For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins (1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait was almost unbearable.
“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007. The crash and the rehab were hell on the soul, but the missing wins were worse on the spirit.
It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time world champion.
For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins (1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait was almost unbearable.
“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007.
The win not only gave Force the confidence he needed to continue to stay competitive in arguably one of the most talent-stacked categories in NHRA history, but it shot the former champ from fifth to a strong third in the point standings, a position that helped keep the NHRA legend within the top 10 point standings at the mid-point of the regular season of the 2008 Countdown to the Championship, ultimately leading to a Countdown to 1 playoff appearance later that year.
“Just give me a race car and I’ll pray this thing to the winner’s circle,” said Force.
For Force, who is currently ninth in the Funny Car point standings, a win in Topeka could propel the driver further up in the point standings and give the NHRA legend a 10th win at the track, the most of any other driver at Heartland Park Topeka.
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