Funny Car legend John Force said that a week or so ago, “all of a sudden my brain just popped.”

That’s debatable, for some folks could have sworn that happened years ago.

With his patter Friday evening – after securing the provisional No. 1 qualifying position for the Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla. – about Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger and drinking wine and “hearing the music” and magic wands, it’s no telling when he began drifting out of the groove.

But whatever music wafted through his mind or whatever caused him to swap crews with Robert Hight following the Phoenix race, it appears to be just what he needed. His already up-and-down season has started to gain some traction.     

John Force prevailed in an evening session on the Auto-Plus Raceway 1,000-foot course that saw Ron Capps’ freshly minted track elapsed-time record fall three times and Force’s own daughter set the track speed record that he matched minutes later.

The PEAK Chevy Camaro driver reeled off an elapsed time of 3.832 seconds that equaled Del Worsham’s fourth-quickest-ever mark and a 333.25-mph speed. (He dismissed the latter, saying, “That ain’t fast” because he said he was under the impression he had clocked a 335.)

It all came on this weekend that commemorates the 10th anniversary of the death of Force’s protégé Eric Medlen, who passed away from injuries during a post-Gatornationals testing run.

“We made changes in the past few weeks. People ask why,” Force said. “Neff [John Force Racing crew chief Mike Neff] said it was because I was drinking wine and walking through my shop and I got all emotional. It’s the 10th anniversary of Eric, that we lost him here. We know how much we all loved him.

“And I was just looking at all the pictures and all these things that really mattered, and all of a sudden, my brain popped. And it said, ‘You’ve got to put Robert back with Jimmy Prock, where he won the championship. You’ve got to put me back with Neff, where I won the championship.  . . . It all just made sense,” he said.

“It wasn’t the wine,” Force said. “My heart just felt good, and I knew it was good, because I started hearing the music. And when you lose the music, you’re dead and you don’t even know it. You’ve got to find the music. That’s the hardest thing to do. And that makes everything right. So in the midst of all that, we made changes.”

Matt Hagan roared to the top of the provisional order with a 3.854-second E.T. that erased early leader Ron Capps’ track record of 3.865 with a track-best 329.58-mph speed. Courtney Force set the track speed record at 333.25 mph, then Hight knocked out Hagan’s E.T. record with a 3.844 – all within mere minutes.

Finally, John Force seized the attention with his run, but said, “I don’t have no magic. There is no magic. It’s just getting the minds right and hearing the music. And the boys heard the music, at least for one day. And we’ll be humming in the morning.”

Two more qualifying sessions are set for Saturday. Eliminations will go at 11 a.m. Sunday, when Force certainly hopes he can bury his first-round loss at the most recent event.

He said his second-session blast was straight as an arrow – apparently to match all the arrows inside his cockpit that point to the gas gauge, the kill switch, and the parachutes. He even has an emblem of St. Christopher, the Catholic patron saint of travelers, on the hood of his injector. (“It really works,” he promised, citing his 180-degree turnaround following a crash-marred 2016 season.)

“There are a lot of things I do that aren’t like normal people,” Force said. “But who’s to say what normal is?”

He has a point. And St. Christopher might be covering his eyes, for all we know. Maybe he’s just along for the ride, listening to the music.