74-year-old John Force races to record 156th NHRA victory and 1st in 2 years – Orange County Register

CHANDLER, Ariz. — John Force earned his record 156th NHRA victory and first in two years as the 74-year-old Funny Car passed Matt Hagan Saturday at Firebird Motorsports Park to close the postponed Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. .

Force clocked 4.033 seconds at 318.24 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro SS for his eighth victory in the event postponed two weeks ago at Pomona.

“I’m just facing the truth in life, you know, time is running out and I’m trying to hang on,” Force said. “This morning I was saying, ‘You know, maybe this is it, maybe I should just walk out the door and go to the casino.’

“And then all of a sudden you win and your weight and your personality changes. Things went well and I got the win, so I’m excited.

Justin Ashley won in Top Fuel and Dallas Glenn won in Pro Stock in Pomona’s other divisions. In the Arizona event, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Austin Prock (Funny Car) and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) dominated qualifying, and Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), JR Todd (Funny Car) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge specialty races.