FORCE'S HALLOWEEN COSTUME ROCKS VEGAS
Sat, 2008-11-01 10:29
John Force came to the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals sporting the best costume of all. He
was dressed like a former NHRA Funny Car world champion and at the end of the day, he performed like one.
Force drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.062 elapsed time at 307.37 miles per hour.
A man who this time last year could only stand for a limited amount of time with the help of a walker took the stairs to the second floor press room. John Force came to the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals sporting the best costume of all. He
was dressed like a former NHRA Funny Car world champion and at the end of the day, he performed like one.
Force drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.062 elapsed time at 307.37 miles per hour.
A man who this time last year could only stand for a limited amount of time with the help of a walker took the stairs to the second floor press room.
“I’m in the gym every day and I am religious about that,” Force said of the exercise regimen that made today’s top performance possible. “I’m building muscle and I even have a belly. I’m building a lot of muscle in the gym.”
While the muscle in the gym made Friday’s incredible performance possible, Force hasn't yet convinced crew chief Austin Coil to unleash some of the muscle his Castrol GTX Ford possesses.
Force admits that since the Dallas accident, Coil has been reserved in tuning the 14-time champion to the max out of fear another accident could transpire.
“The doctor already said I couldn’t take another hit like the one in Dallas because I’m too old,” Force admitted. “I think that holds him back at crunch time but he’s starting to loosen up. I told him tonight I wanted to go for it or we might as well go home.
“He asked me, ‘What if I hurt you? I told him then we ought to quit now. Austin is a very emotional guy and we have focused mainly on safety. I’ve let the other cars on the team do the running. By next year I will be back to win the game.”
The last two seasons has provided Force with an experience unlike any in fourteen previous years. He learned how to ride the roller coaster up and down.
“I was on fire a lot of times in the early days and I tried tuning and I really got on fire,” Force said. “Then we started riding the wave of success and winning. Now I’ve been smacked down. My drive now is mentally stronger.
“When you get on top like we did, we used to get tired of doing the winner’s circles. Coil and I were guilty of that. It got old week after week, but when I ended up in the hospital in Dallas I knew it had been taken away from me. I thought I was going to win it last year. That’s how I thought.
“You never realize how much something means to you until it is taken away.”
The last time Force qualified on the pole was Indy 2006.
Force drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.062 elapsed time at 307.37 miles per hour.
A man who this time last year could only stand for a limited amount of time with the help of a walker took the stairs to the second floor press room. John Force came to the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals sporting the best costume of all. He
Force drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.062 elapsed time at 307.37 miles per hour.
A man who this time last year could only stand for a limited amount of time with the help of a walker took the stairs to the second floor press room.
“I’m in the gym every day and I am religious about that,” Force said of the exercise regimen that made today’s top performance possible. “I’m building muscle and I even have a belly. I’m building a lot of muscle in the gym.”
While the muscle in the gym made Friday’s incredible performance possible, Force hasn't yet convinced crew chief Austin Coil to unleash some of the muscle his Castrol GTX Ford possesses.
Force admits that since the Dallas accident, Coil has been reserved in tuning the 14-time champion to the max out of fear another accident could transpire.
“The doctor already said I couldn’t take another hit like the one in Dallas because I’m too old,” Force admitted. “I think that holds him back at crunch time but he’s starting to loosen up. I told him tonight I wanted to go for it or we might as well go home.
“He asked me, ‘What if I hurt you? I told him then we ought to quit now. Austin is a very emotional guy and we have focused mainly on safety. I’ve let the other cars on the team do the running. By next year I will be back to win the game.”
The last two seasons has provided Force with an experience unlike any in fourteen previous years. He learned how to ride the roller coaster up and down.
“I was on fire a lot of times in the early days and I tried tuning and I really got on fire,” Force said. “Then we started riding the wave of success and winning. Now I’ve been smacked down. My drive now is mentally stronger.
“When you get on top like we did, we used to get tired of doing the winner’s circles. Coil and I were guilty of that. It got old week after week, but when I ended up in the hospital in Dallas I knew it had been taken away from me. I thought I was going to win it last year. That’s how I thought.
“You never realize how much something means to you until it is taken away.”
The last time Force qualified on the pole was Indy 2006.
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