TEAM CASTROL/JOHN AND ASHLEY PRE-RACE PACKAGE FOR GAINESVILLE
TEAM CASTROL/JFR 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON JOHN FORCE/ASHLEY FORCE HOOD Pre-Race Package for the 41st annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals March 12-14, 2010 Gainesville Raceway Gainesville, Fla. Third event in the Countdown to the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Championship * * * * follow John Force Racing at _www.twitter.com/jfr_racing_ (http://www.twitter.com/jfr_racing) * * * * Castrol/JFR 25th Anniversary Flashback: After earning his very first NHRA tour victory at the 1987 Molson Grandnational at Montreal, Canada, John Force drove his Castrol GTX Oldsmobile to victory for the first time in the continental U.S. when he beat veteran Bruce Larson in the final round of the 1988 NHRA Spring Nationals at Columbus, Ohio. Force credited his win at Montreal to the fact that, after losing nine straight final round matches, he had resigned himself to another defeat and resolved to just have fun, executing a particularly lone burnout. As a result, when he went to the starting line, the pressure was gone – and he performed flawlessly. The same was true at Columbus. “I wasn’t thinking about winning the race,�?? Force recalled. “I was thinking about getting it over so I could get back to California (where wife Laurie was preparing to give birth to his youngest daughter, Courtney). So I just went up there and did my job (and made it home in time to welcome the last of his four daughters).�?? * * * * EVENT OVERVIEW: Off to his best start in eight seasons, 14-time NHRA series champion John Force returns this week to the 41st annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals as the Full Throttle points leader and as the favorite to win the Gainesville Raceway Funny Car championship for a record eighth time. After driving his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to victory in the season-opening Winternationals and to runner-up honors in the NHRA Arizona Nationals, the 127-time tour winner is the points leader for the first time since 2006. Force will be joined at the Gatornationals by teammates Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood, who occupy the No. 4 and No. 6 spots in the current standings. The reigning Full Throttle champion, Hight is winless in five previous appearances in the Florida classic at the wheel of the Auto Club Ford Mustang although crew chief Jimmy Prock has won twice – once in Top Fuel with Joe Amato (1997) and once in Funny Car with Hight’s predecessor, Gary Densham (2003). Force Hood, who won the Gatornationals in her final year in the Top Alcohol Dragster division (2006), has been eliminated in the second round in each of her three starts in the Castrol GTX Mustang. * * * * JFR RACING HISTORY AT GAINESVILLE RACEWAY: Wins – 10 (including one by Ashley Force Hood for Castrol GTX in Top Alcohol Dragster, 2006). Seven by John Force for Castrol GTX (1992-1996, 1999, 2001); 1 by Tony Pedregon for Castrol SYNTEC (2002); 1 by Gary Densham for the Auto Club of Southern California (2003). Last year – After qualifying second, Ashley Force Hood was upended by rookie Matt Hagan in round two. Ashley’s father, 14-time series champion John Force, reached the semifinals before falling to overall race winner Bob Tasca III. Notable #1 – Eric Medlen beat John Force in the first round of the 2007 Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. It was the last round Eric won before he suffered fatal injuries in a testing accident the day after the race. Notable #2 – Austin Coil, who is beginning his 26th season as crew chief to 14-time champion John Force, earned his first NHRA tour victory at the 1982 Gatornationals, celebrating in the winners’ circle with then driver Frank Hawley. Notable #3 – John Force won the Gatornationals five consecutive years, 1992 through 1996, the longest such streak of his illustrious career. * * * * PRO POINTS (Current 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series point standings): FUNNY CAR – 1. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 224; 2. Jack Beckman, MTS Dodge Charger, 187; 3. Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger, 148; 4. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 121; 5. Matt Hagan, Diehard Dodge Charger, 120; 6. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 111; 6. Bob Tasca III, Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang, 111; 8. Tony Pedregon, Quaker State Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 104; 9. Del Worsham, Al Anabi Toyota Solara, 97; 10. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 86. TOP FUEL – 1. Cory McClenathan, 201; 2. Doug Kalitta, 196; 3. Larry Dixon, 161; 4. Tony Schumacher, 144; 5. Morgan Lucas, 108; 6. Steve Torrence, 107; 7. Troy Buff, 103; 8. Shawn Langdon, 92; 9. Antron Brown, 90; 10. Brandon Bernstein, 85. PRO STOCK (reflects qualifying and one round of racing completed on Feb. 21 at Phoenix; racing to resume in conjunction with Gatornationals) – 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 197; 2. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 147; 3. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 136; 4. Rodger Brogdon, Pontiac GXP, 112; 5. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, 105; 6. Larry Morgan, Lucas Oil Ford Mustang, 102; 7. Ron Krisher, Chevrolet Cobalt, 99; 8. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 87; 9. Ronnie Humphrey, Pontiac GXP, 85; 10. Shane Gray, Pontiac GXP, 82. * * * * TELEVISION (all on ESPN2, all times Eastern Daylight): Qualifying – Sunday, March 14, 12-2 am NHRA RaceDay – Sunday, March 14, 11 am. Race Highlights – Sunday, March 14, 6-9 pm Repeat race highlights – Wednesday, March 17, 3-5 am * * * * NEXT EVENTS (2010 NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship): Inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, March 26-28, Charlotte, N.C. 23rd annual O’Reilly Spring Nationals, April 9-11, Houston, Texas 11th annual SummitRacing.com Nationals, April 16-18, Las Vegas, Nev. 14th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals, April 30-May 2, Madison, Ill. (St. Louis) 30th annual Summit Southern Nationals, May 14-16, Atlanta, Ga. * * * * CONTACTS: For John Force Racing, Inc.: Elon Werner Kelly Anontelli Chad Light 214-244-1184 317-858-8900 714-921-8123 _elon@johnforceracing.com_ (mailto:elon@johnforceracing.com) _kelly@johnforceracing.com_ (mailto:kelly@johnforceracing.com) _chad@johnforceracing.com_ (mailto:chad@johnforceracing.com) For BP/Castrol: Dave Densmore Lori Anne Gola _denswood@aol.com_ (mailto:denswood@aol.com) _lorianne.gola@bp.com_ (mailto:lorianne.gola@bp.com) 214-244-0008 973-633-2393 For Ford Racing: Kevin Kennedy _kkennedy@pcgcampbell.com_ (mailto:kkennedy@pcgcampbell.com) 313-203-7108 For the Auto Club of Southern California: Rick Lalor _lalor.rick@aaa-calif.com_ (mailto:lalor.rick@aaa-calif.com) 714-885-2085 * * * * For additional information or photos, contact one of the representatives above or go to _www.johnforceracing.com_ (http://www.johnforceracing.com/) or _www.nhra.com_ (http://www.nhra.com/) . * * * * For Immediate Release RESURGENT FORCE AIMING TO EXTEND LATEST STREAK 14-Time Champ Aims For Third Straight Final Round GAINESVILLE, Fla. – John Force is like crabgrass. Just when you think he’ s gone, shazam, back again, stronger than ever. After a brutally long 2009 season during which he failed to win an NHRA tour event for the first time in 23 years, the 60-year-old icon began the current campaign in spectacular fashion. After driving his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to an historic season-opening victory in the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., Force ended three years of qualifying frustration by starting No. 1 and reaching the finals just one week later in the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Phoenix. As a result, for the first time in eight years, the sport’s biggest winner rolls into Gainesville Raceway as the NHRA Funny Car points leader and the favorite to claim the Funny Car championship in Sunday’s 41st annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. At an age when most of his peers are content to manipulate nothing more challenging than a TV remote, Force this year has demonstrated that he still can muscle an 8,000 horsepower hybrid race car down a 1,000 foot course as quickly as anyone in the world. The upshot is that a 15th individual Funny Car Championship – and 17th in 21 seasons for John Force Racing, Inc. – suddenly seems both realistic and achievable, something that wasn’t true a mere three months ago. This time, Force owes his resurgence to a willingness, 35 years into his career, to effect major change. He’s added a crew chief, replaced all but one member of last year’s crew and swapped last year’s chassis for a new one built in-house at the JFR facility in Brownsburg, Ind. -more- John Force at the Gatornationals 2222 With the new chassis, a new 2010 Ford Mustang body and a BOSS 500 Ford nitro motor developed at JFR, Force’s current mount bears little resemblance to the one he last drove to a title in 2006. Nevertheless, the most provocative of Force’s moves was aligning Mike Neff, who last year was a Top 10 driver, with Hall of Fame crew chiefs Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. Combining Neff’s “young gun�?? mentality with the experience of Coil and Fedderly thus far has proven to be genius. “Obama may be struggling with change, but John Force isn’t,�?? said the 127-time Full Throttle tour winner. “We had to shuffle the cards a little bit. For financial reasons, we couldn’t run the fourth car this year so it only made sense (to make use of the tuning expertise Neff demonstrated when he and driver Gary Scelzi beat Team Force for the title in 2005). “We just put a young (guy) in with the older generation and they gave me a good hot rod,�?? Force said. “We want to get John Force Racing back to when it used to dominate. We had that at Pomona and we had it at Phoenix. Now, let’s see if we can do it again.�?? Force has won the Gatornationals seven times, once stringing together five straight wins (1992-1996) and reaching the final round nine times in 11 years. That said, the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection admittedly has struggled in his most recent appearances. Although he reached the semifinals a year ago (losing to eventual race champion Bob Tasca III), he was eliminated in the first round in both 2007 and 2008. He last won the Florida classic in 2001 although he was runner-up in both 2004 and 2006. * * * * Force at the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals: �?? John has more wins in the Gatornationals than any other Funny Car driver (seven) but has advanced out of the first round just once in the last three years. �??Five straight Gatornationals’ wins (1992-1996) represent his most successive victories in a single event. �?? John actually failed to qualify at his first Gatornationals (1979) but made the Sunday show as an alternate when Larry Fullerton couldn’t answer the call. �?? Only five times in 30 appearances has John qualified outside the quick eight. Gatornationals summary: 30 Starts, 11 Final Rounds, 7 Wins, 5 No. 1 Qualifiers, 54-23 Record Notable: From 1991 through 2001, John went to the final round nine times, missing only in 1997 and 2000. Quotable: “It wasn’t so much the winning as it was the coming back from the cellar because after not winning at all last year, I was in the cellar. When you’ ve won all those championships, you start to think winning is easy. It’s not.�?? – JOHN FORCE, after winning the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., and ending a 40-race victory drought. -www.johnforceracing.com- For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US. John Force at the Gatornationals 3333 FORCE’s Edge Overall NHRA records (which also are Funny Car division records) – Most career victories (127) – Most series championships (14) – Most career final rounds (204) – Most career rounds won (1046) – Most consecutive series championships (10, 1993-2002) – Most consecutive seasons with one or more victories (22, 1987-2008) – Most consecutive seasons with at least one final round appearance (24, 1985-2008) – Most consecutive seasons with multiple tour victories (18, 1990-2007) – Most consecutive national events without a DNQ (395, 1988-2007) – Most consecutive Top 10 seasons (25, 1985-present) – Highest winning percentage, one season (91.5%, 65-6) Other NHRA Funny Car division records – Most final rounds, one season (16, 1996) – Most victories, one season (13, 1996) – Most rounds won, one season (65, 1996) – Most career No. 1 starts (132) – Most No. 1 starts, one season (11, 1996) – Most consecutive final round appearances, one event (nine, 1992-2000, Atlanta, Ga.) – Career starts (527) Awards – Driver of the Year (1996) – Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2008 inductee) – AARWBA Auto Racing All-America Team (14 times, 1990, 1993-2002, 2004-2006) – Jerry Titus Memorial Award (most AARWBA votes, 4 times, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002) – AARWBA Comeback Award (2008) – Speed TV Comeback Award (2008) – SAE Motorsports Achievement Award (2008) – AutoSport Magazine’s John Bolster Award for lifetime achievement (2005) John Force at the Gatornationals 4444 Milestones – First round win, over Tom McEwen, June 1, 1979, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La. – First No. 1 qualifier, May 25, 1986, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La. – First tour victory, June 28, 1987, Le Grandnational Molson, Montreal, Canada – First Funny Car driver to break 4.90 second barrier, July 6, 1996, Topeka, Kan. – First drag racer to win Driver of the Year award for all of American motor sports (1996) – First Funny Car driver to break 4.80 second barrier, Oct. 24, 1998, Dallas, Texas – First (and only) drag racer to win 100 events, April 14, 2002, Houston, Texas – First Funny Car driver to break 4.70 second barrier, Oct. 2, 2004, Joliet, Ill. – No. 2 (behind Don Garlits) in balloting to determine Top 50 drivers in NHRA’s first 50 years (2001) – First win at 1,000 foot distance, Feb. 14, 2010, Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals, Pomona, Calif. – First (and only) drag racer to win 1,000 racing rounds, May 4, 2008, Madison, Ill. * * * * JOHN FORCE By the Numbers 1 Driver of the Year award for all American motor sports (1996) 2 victories since a career-threatening 2007 crash in Dallas, Texas 3 screws securing ankle bones from compound fracture suffered in 2007 crash 4 time winner of Jerry Titus Memorial Award for receiving most votes in balloting for the Auto Racing All-America Team (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002). 5 seasons with 10 or more tour victories (1993-94, 1996, 1999-2000). 7 career victories in the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals (1992-96, 1999, 2001) 8 years since most recent Gatornationals victory 9 runner-up finishes before winning for the first time at Montreal, Canada in 1987. 10 straight Funny Car titles (1993-2002). 14 times named to AARWBA Auto Racing All-America First Team. 25 consecutive Top 10 finishes (1985-present) 127 tour events won 1046 competitive rounds won. -www.johnforceracing.com- For more information about Castrol-branded products, contact us at Castrol/US.com To celebrate 25 years of Castrol sponsorship, go to _www.castrolforce.com_ (http://www.castrolforce.com/) For Immediate Release FORCE HOOD FIGHTS ‘FEMALE’ DRIVER TAG Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Champ Credits 10-‘Man’ Crew GAINESVILLE, Fla. – While NASCAR tries desperately to characterize Danica Patrick as the best female driver in modern-day stock car racing, Ashley Force Hood is trying just as hard to escape such labeling in an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series that moves this week to Gainesville Raceway for the 41st renewal of the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. Although she has been remarkably successful in her first three pro seasons, earning 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year honors, becoming the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event as well as the first to drive a Funny Car to victory in the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Force Hood even now is reluctant to fully embrace her female celebrity. “I really think the whole gender thing is kind of old news,�?? said the daughter of 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force. “We have a lot of women in our sport who have won races and championships. I was born a female. I had no control over that. Otherwise, I’m just another driver trying to improve and become more competitive, just like everyone else. “I’m a female driver, but I’m backed up by a crew of 10 guys,�?? she said of her success at the wheel of a Castrol GTX Ford Mustang in which she set the current national speed record at 312.13 miles per hour. “They’re the ones who have made it possible for me to develop and made me look probably better than I really am. As the only female (on the team), I get a lot more credit and attention than I probably deserve. “Now if we had an all-girl crew with a female driver, that would be something to talk about. I think someday that will happen.�?? As for Danica’s bid for stock car racing success, Ashley is supportive, if not that knowledgeable. “I think a lot of people want a rivalry between us and want me to root against her,�?? Ashley said of the driver who now is concentrating her efforts on open wheel racing after making a couple of starts in NASCAR’s secondary Nationwide Series. “Honestly, I don’t know that much about the racing that she does. I really only pay attention to drag racing. -more- Ashley at the Gatornationals 2222 “I’ve met her only a couple times,�?? Ashley continued. “Before I got married, we were both at an event for our sponsors. She came over and introduced herself and was asking me how the wedding plans were going, such the opposite conversation I’m sure most people would think two women race car drivers would have. It was just neat. I only talked to her for a few minutes. She’s very nice. “I think for any driver, whether male of female, it’s tough in motor sports. It’s not an easy thing to win races and I know the pressure is put on a lot of new drivers, so I support her. I hope she does well.�?? As for Ashley’s own career, it no longer is a subject of skepticism. After failing to win as a rookie, she earned a breakthrough victory at Atlanta in 2008 and last year had a breakout season, winning twice in eight final round appearances, finishing second in points behind teammate and brother-in-law Robert Hight and starting from the No. 1 qualifying position a category-best six times. That performance established the 27-year-old graduate of Cal State-Fullerton as one of the pre-season favorites to win the Full Throttle championship that has gone to a John Force Racing driver 16 times in the last 20 seasons. After a slow, though certainly not disastrous start to the 2010 season, Ashley is hoping to jump start her title bid on a Gainesville track on which she has won before, although not in a Funny Car. In 2006, her final year behind the wheel of an A/Fuel dragster prepared by Jerry Darien, the former high school cheerleader won the Top Alcohol Dragster championship at Gainesville Raceway on the same day her dad was the Funny Car runner-up. * * * * Ashley at the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals: �??Seeking her first victory at Gainesville Raceway since she won the Top Alcohol Dragster title in 2006. �?? Has been eliminated in the second round in every Gatornationals appearance in the Funny Car division. Gatornationals summary: 3 Starts, No Final Rounds, No Wins, No No. 1 Qualiifiers, 3-3 Record Career summary: 67 Starts, 13 Final Rounds, 3 Wins, 9 No. 1 Qualifiers, 82-64 Record Notable: Reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Champion Quotable: “None of these crew chiefs want to ever give themselves any credit and they really should because it’s just amazing when things all come together and you have a car that’s running really, really fast (that’s) also getting down the track every run. You have recipe for success there.�?? – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD. -www.johnforceracing.com- For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US