Courtney Force, the youngest daughter of NHRA Funny Car racer John Force, will always have soft spot in her heart for Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., as it is now the site of her first NHRA national event win.  The 21-year-old Force wheeled her Jerry Darien-tuned Top Alcohol Dragster to the winner’s circle at the NHRA Northwest Nationals over the weekend.  Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Doug Gordon shared the winner’s circle with Force, notching his first national event win of the year.

YOUNGEST FORCE GRABS FIRST NATIONAL EVENT WIN AT NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

Courtney Force, the youngest daughter of NHRA Funny Car racer John Force, will always have soft spot in her heart for Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., as it is now the site of her first NHRA national event win.  The 21-year-old Force wheeled her Jerry Darien-tuned Top Alcohol Dragster to the winner’s circle at the NHRA Northwest Nationals over the weekend.  Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Doug Gordon shared the winner’s circle with Force, notching his first national event win of the year.

Courtney Force qualified in the No. 9 spot and faced off against some of the veterans of the class during eliminations. The Yorba Linda, Calif., racer beat Mark Niver in round-one, Dale Carlson in the second round and in the final it was Chris Demke of Sunland, Calif.  Against Demke, Force laid down a 5.440-second, 257.83 mph pass to his 5.508-second, 218.87 mph effort.  Carlson and Demke are both former division champions.  In the semis Force squared off against her sister Brittney who red-lighted.

Gordon, a resident of Morro Bay, Calif., qualified in the No. 4 spot and made progressively quicker runs throughout eliminations.  In the second round he beat four-time Northwest division champ Brian Hough and in the semifinals he faced off against former Pacific division champion Steve Gasparrelli.  Gordon made his best run of the weekend in the final against Roger Bateman, Calgary, Alb.  He laid down a 5.572-second, 258.91 mph pass in the final which was more than enough to cover Bateman who slowed to a 9.047-second run.  Gordon was runner-up earlier this year at the Winternationals and Bateman was runner-up at the national event in Las Vegas.

Comp Eliminator racer Tom Mettler of Bakersfield, Calif., scored the win in his ’01 Dakota, beating out Craig Schuck of Springfield, Ore.  Standout sportsman racer Dan Fletcher of Churchville, N.Y., made two final-round appearances at Pacific Raceways, taking the win in Super Stock and scoring runner-up points in Stock Eliminator.  In Super Stock he ousted Joe Sorensen of Woodburn, Ore., and in Stock Eliminator he fell to Corona Del Mar, Calif., racer Doug Lambeck.  All four race cars in the Super Stock and Stock Eliminator finals were ’69 Camaros.  Michael Dalrymple, Sunnyside, Wash., earned the win in Super Comp, beating out Ed Hauter, Lynnwood, Wash., in the final; Mike Shannon, Kelowna, B.C., won in Super Gas, ousting veteran racer Mike Ferderer, Buckley, Wash.; and in Super Street, Gary Ericksen, Vancouver, Wash., grabbed the win over Seattle’s Steve Beggerly.

 

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