It was only fitting in Las Vegas, the site of numerous great heavyweight title fights, that heavyweights Matt Hagan and John Force met in a classic final round battle.

Hagan, the points leader was no match for Force, who is in second place, in a crucial final round at The Strip.

Force clocked a 4.232-second time at 281.36 mph to defeat Hagan who came in at 6.926 seconds at 110.96 mph.

More important than Force’s win is the fact the 14-time champion closed the gap on Hagan. Force came to Vegas 64 points behind and now trails Hagan by 37 points.

It was only fitting in Las Vegas, the site of numerous great heavyweight title fights, that heavyweights Matt Hagan and John Force met in a classic final round battle.

Hagan, the points leader was no match for Force, who is in second place, in a crucial final round at The Strip.

Force clocked a 4.232-second time at 281.36 mph to defeat Hagan who came in at 6.926 seconds at 110.96 mph.

More important than Force’s win is the fact the 14-time champion closed the gap on Hagan. Force came to Vegas 64 points behind and now trails Hagan by 37 points.

“We got him (Hagan) in the finals,” the 61-year-old Force said. “Mike Neff (my crew chief) has been great taking the lead on this car and Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly have allowed that to happen. The kid has brought more young energy to fight this fight.”

The title is now going to be decided at the 46th Auto Club NHRA Finals Nov, 11-14 at Pomona, Calif.

Force is chasing his 15th Funny Car world title. Hagan is only in his second year of competing in the class and he failed to make the Countdown to 1 playoffs last year.

The 27-year-old Hagan drives for Don Schumacher Racing.

Force ousted Jeff Arend, Melanie Troxel, and Bob Tasca III en route to the victory.

After Force lost to Dale Creasy in the first round at Reading, Pa., his team started searching for answers.

“We had to look at where we were off and it was mainly in weight,” Force said. “We make as much power as any of them (the other teams). We just had a weight problem. They took eight or nine pounds off of me and we put the car on a diet. They didn’t take away any safety, but it came without paint and it came without a lot stuff. There was no oil pressure gauge and we hung our fire bottles high to transfer weight and we got our 60 foots back. We can race with him now. I’m excited because of the money invested by Ford.”

During his post-race press conference, Force also took time to explain the importance of the movie Secretariat.

“If you have seen the two movies, Secretariat and Sea Biscuit, Sea Biscuit came from behind and they shipped him to California and he ended up winning the last two,” Force said. “Secretariat got whooped and he beat him in the last run by 25 horses. I live by my movies. Last night, I saw the Titantic and I cried. My wife (Laurie) said ‘your pathetic, it didn’t really happen this way.’ I didn’t mind her throwing the pearl over the boat, but I hated it when that kid drifted off into the water. I told my wife I would go into the water for you and she said, ‘yeah and you would be whining the whole time.”

Force also admitted he has no plans of retiring from driving anytime soon.

“I have been 25 years with Castrol and I have another year left and I’m trying to get a five-year extension,” Force said. “That would put me over 65. People retire at 65, but as long as my old race car will do the running, I’m not leaving. I love it too much. I’m holding my own with the young kids and it is all about energy. I have to pace myself. I told my wife we out ran him (Hagan) tonight, maybe with a little bit of luck. She told me it doesn’t matter how you run, you’re going to have a heart attack before you ever get to Pomona. That’s how we live, right on the edge.”

Although Force has won numerous world crowns, he realizes now how special it would be to capture another one, especially after his horrific crash in Dallas in 2007 where he sustained serious injuries.

“I won for so many years and after a while you take it for granted,” Force said. “Then you’re laying in a hospital bed and they’re telling you that you’re not going to walk possibly or you’re going to need a cane. I couldn’t lift my head. If I told you the nights that I crawled upstairs to get in my own bed instead of sleeping downstairs. Then, I would crawl out in my truck and I went through every drive-thru and I ate all day long because I had not eaten normal food. You then live in that gym and go through rehab and then you start thinking this is not working and you’re not going to make it. There were days I sat out in the car and cried because I didn’t have the energy to go in (to rehab). At the end of 2007, 2008 and 2009 I stunk. I was not even close, maybe I should have quit. But, I stayed with it and lived it and my family lived it with me, and I can race again. As long as I can remember, cars have been my life. Now, my kids are my whole life. They’re why I live. My wife loves me, she just doesn’t like
me. I can understand why because I’m a pain in the butt. I was so stupid, I was drunk all the time, winning championships and thinking I was something special and all I was, was just a real lucky guy with a great family and I was too stupid to know it.”

Now, Force believes he has a new lease on life.

“At the end of the day, I got a second chance and I ain’t going to screw it up again,” Force said. “I’m going to do my job, keep nose clean. If Hagan whips me. I’m going to say God Bless you kid. He’s fighting. He’s a tiger. He’s a bull, that’s what I like about him. It is hard to get up for him, he takes all I got. I’ve learned to time myself. I do not party anymore and I will not party tonight because we will be out here (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) testing in the morning and (Austin) Coil wants me here at 8 o’clock to warm up. I go to bed at night. I eat right and I do not do the things I used to do. I had to change my lifestyle. I gave it everything I had today and that’s what it takes for me to stay up with the young bucks. Hagan might get stressed, but he doesn’t get tired.”

If keeping up with the young stars in the class wasn’t enough Force also had all his crew members kiss his race car for good luck Sunday.

“We all kissed my Hot Rod and everybody was laughing at us and asking us why we kissed the race car,” Force said. “It is just like if you kiss your wife once and awhile, she might like you. I said let’s all kiss the race car and tell it you love it because it has got soul and heart and it will deliver and we needed all of that to make it happen and a little bit of luck.”

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