John Force seldom shocks anyone anymore with the outrageous things he says.

His unconventional behavior, not that it isn’t entertaining still, has become conventional.

John Force seldom shocks anyone anymore with the outrageous things he says.

His unconventional behavior, not that it isn’t entertaining still, has become conventional.

So imagine how he caught everyone, including himself and his wife, Laurie, off guard when he said something he hasn’t said in 30-plus years of NHRA Funny Car racing.

He predicted Saturday that he would be the No. 1 qualifier for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Minnesota's Brainerd International Raceway.

And like Babe Ruth pointing to his home-run spot, Force delivered in qualifying for the penultimate race of the so-called "regular season."

His 4.060-second elapsed time at 315.27 mph on the 1,000-foot course made him the No. 1 qualifier for the first time all weekend and deflated the 1-2-3 Don Schumacher Racing punch of Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, and Tommy Johnson Jr.

But Force's prediction was slightly off, for he thought Friday leader and teammate Robert Hight would regain the top spot or that Cruz Pedregon would show him up. Hight will start fifth in Sunday's eliminations and Pedregon seventh, after No, 6 Alexis DeJoria.

"I've never done this before – it ain't in my personality.  I don’t know why I did, but I said to the TV camera that I'm going to be No. 1. I did it, and I laughed about it," Force said. "It don’t mean that you might not get your tail end whipped tomorrow, but I told my wife and my grandkids and [daughter] Ashley in the car [tow vehicle] that I'm going for No. 1. And my wife said, 'You never say that – ever. In 30 years. It's just not in your make-up.' "

So why did he say it after throwing down his numbers in a flurry of fast speed and quick times after a rain delay? Had the sudden showers washed him anew with a sense of urgency, that old fighting spirit?  

"I have to start making a move now," Force said.

One could argue that he is in the middle of such a move. He has led the field at three of the four most recent events. And his team has combined to win the past four races. He and his teammates are first, second, and fourth in the standings. But Force wants more.

"I started making a move in January. It just went dead on me," Force said. "Right now I've got some deals on the table that I want to close, and they’re watching me real close. Nobody wants to buy you [if you can't perform]. I've heard it before: Guy's got this big deal because of who he was and now he can't hit his butt again. I don’t need to be there.    

"I've got to get this hot rod where it will win," he said, "and build the confidence in myself and all these kids around me and let the competition know that we're – "

He never finished his sentence. Did he mean to add, ". . . on the warpath," perhaps? Or ". . . determined to show a potential new sponsor that we are dominant," maybe? Or ". . . that I'm not satisfied with 11 victories here at this facility, just because it’s five more than any Top Fuel driver could stack up"?

We probably never will know what he was going to say.  But we know what he thinks of his team's collective performance this season.

"We've been good.  All my cars have been good. Not great. But together we've been great. I got two cars I'm still trying to get in the Countdown, Courtney's and Brittany's. And tomorrow will tell that tale," Force said.

The deal he wants to close is a long-term one, Force said. "I want to continue to race. I don’t want a one-year deal. I want a three- or a five-year deal. If I don’t get a deal over three [years], I ain't goin'. So we got a lot of deals that we're talking about. A lot of little ones are bunching up. And we signed some today."   

Force's first-round opponent will be Bob Bode (5.003, 150.72), the surprise, sentimental winner here in 2010. And when Force and Bode get on the racetrack together, strange things have happened from starting line mayhem at Las Vegas to qualifying close-calls at Pomona. So that match-up alone could mean extra drama, aside from Force's personal statements and his Countdown concerns.

But Force on Saturday told crew chief Jimmy Prock, "Push it to where you think it will go. Then pull it back from there! And it’ll run low E.T.  I finally figured out how he clicks. And that's all he had to do. That car makes big horsepower, and he's really confident in what he does. But he always swings for the fence. And we bring him back, just a hair: Put it in the bleachers – don’t put it over the bleachers."

Capps thought he had hit a home run for DSR with his 4.064, 314.17 that landed him the No. 2 spot and a first-round battle with Jeff Arend.

The NAPA Dodge driver -- a four-time winner here, including last year-- said, "The NHRA Safety Safari did a great job prepping the track [following the storm], and we ran that 4.064 and just got nipped by my buddy (John) Force.

"It seems like for that fourth session that it always cools off and we see some cloud cover and BIR is as good as any track with cool temperatures and it will hold anything you throw at it. It really cooled off after the rain and we put on a great show for the fans. It doesn't matter where you qualify. Look at last year when we blew the body off during qualifying on Saturday and we came back and won the race on Sunday. Anything can happen."

Brian Stewart and Dale Creasy Jr. missed the cut.

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