TEAM CASTROL/JOHN AND ASHLEY PRE-RACE PACKAGE FOR CHICAGO
TEAM CASTROL/JFR 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON JOHN FORCE/ASHLEY FORCE HOOD Pre-Race Package for the 13th annual U.A. Route 66 Nationals June 3-6, 2010 Route 66 Raceway Joliet, Ill. Tenth 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) To celebrate 25 years of Castrol sponsorship, go to _www.castrolforce.com_ (http://www.castrolforce.com/) * * * * Castrol/JFR 25th Anniversary Flashback: One of the defining moments for John Force in his 25 years with Castrol was a final round victory over Jerry Toliver on June 4, 2000 that not only made him a Route 66 winner for the very first time, it also made him the most prolific winner in NHRA racing history. The win was the 86th of Force’s career and it enabled him to break a tie with Ford Pro Stock Hall of Famer Bob Glidden, who previously had been the sport’s biggest winner with 85 tour titles. Among the members of Force’s Castrol GTX crew for that victory? Dean “Guido�?? Antonelli, Eric Medlen and Robert Hight. It was four years later that Force came to Route 66 Raceway for what then was a second fall event and, on Oct. 2, 2004, became the first Funny Car driver to break the 4.70 second barrier when he qualified for the UA Route 66 Nationals at 4.697 seconds. He was even quicker on race day, setting an official NHRA national quarter mile record of 4.665 seconds before losing to Del Worsham in the final round. EVENT OVERVIEW: Robert “Top Gun�?? Hight, the reigning NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion, rolls into Route 66 Raceway, a track on which he has yet to win a tour event, hoping to build on a three-race winning streak that enabled him to move from ninth to second in points behind only boss, teammate and father-in-law John Force. Victories at Madison, Ill., Atlanta, Ga., and, two weeks ago, at Topeka, Kan., powered Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang to within 49 points of the lead Force has maintained since he won the season-opening 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif. The 40-year-old Hight, who’s already won 17 races in a driving career that did not begin until 2005, is the first Funny Car driver since 2008 to string together three consecutive victories and is only the eighth driver in history to do so. Despite Hight’s recent dominance, John Force Racing will send three legitimate contenders into the UA Route 66 Nationals, each with a shot at qualifying No. 1 AND winning the race. A resurgent Force may present the biggest challenge although 27-year-old Ashley Force Hood was runner-up a year ago and has been agonizingly close to a breakthrough win this season. She is presently fourth in the point standings in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. After a 2009 season in which he failed to reach the final round for the first time since 1984, Force made wholesale changes to his Castrol GTX High Mileage team this year, organizing an entirely new team to work with crew chiefs Austin Coil, Bernie Fedderly and Mike Neff while also making the switch to an in-house chassis powered by the Ford BOSS 500 nitro motor also championed by JFR. Force has won the spring race three times, always in even-numbered years (2000, 2004 and 2006). * * * * JFR RACING HISTORY AT ROUTE 66 RACEWAY: Wins – 5, three by John Force for Castrol GTX (spring race, 2000, 2004, 2006); two by Tony Pedregon by Castrol SYNTEC (fall race, 2002, 2003). Last year – Ashley Force Hood reached the final round before her Castrol GTX Ford lost traction and fell to former JFR driver Tony Pedregon, to whom she lost the previous year in the semifinals. Notable #1 – When he won at Route 66 Raceway for the first time in 2000, beating Jerry Toliver in the final, John Force made history by becoming the biggest winner in professional drag racing by earning what at the time was his 86th victory. That enabled him to move past Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, who had been the sport’s all-time winner. Notable #2 – Route 66 Raceway is one of the 17 NHRA tracks on which an all-JFR Funny Car final has been contested. In 2006, John Force beat Robert Hight to win the Route 66 Nationals en route to what became his 14th NHRA championship. Notable #3 – The last time John Force qualified No. 1 at the spring race (2003), he was upset in the first round by Joliet’s John Lawson. * * * * PRO POINTS (Current 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series point standings): FUNNY CAR – 1. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 728; 2. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 679; 3. Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger, 592; 4. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 591; 5. Jack Beckman, MTS Dodge Charger, 575; 6. Matt Hagan, Diehard Dodge Charger, 530; 7. Bob Tasca III, Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang, 506; 8. Tony Pedregon, Quaker State Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 491; 9. Tim Wilkerson, Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang, 479; 10. Del Worsham, Al Anabi Toyota Solara, 467. TOP FUEL – 1. Larry Dixon, 845; 2. Cory McClenathan, 748; 3. Tony Schumacher, 737; 4. Doug Kalitta, 690; 5. Antron Brown, 592; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 543; 7. Shawn Langdon, 448; 8. Morgan Lucas, 441; 9. David Grubnic, 339; 10. Steve Torrence, 338. PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 958; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 691; 3. Jeg Coughlin Jr., Chevrolet Cobalt, 603; 4. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 546; 5. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, 517; 6. Ron Krisher, Chevrolet Cobalt, 488; 7. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 445; 8. Rodger Brogdon, Pontiac GXP, 391; 9. Rickie Jones, Pontiac GXP, 383; 10. Bob Yonke, Pontiac GXP, 346. PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – 1. Hector Arana, Buell, 475; 2. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 374; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson V-Rod, 369; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson V-Rod, 354; 5. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 328; 6. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 279; 7. David Hope, Buell, 257; 7. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 257; 9. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 243; 10. L.E. Tonglet, Suzuki, 240. * * * * TELEVISION (all on ESPN2, all times Eastern Daylight): Qualifying – Saturday, June 5, 11 pm-1 am NHRA RaceDay – Sunday, June 6, 10-10:30 am Race Highlights – Sunday, June 6, 4-7 pm Repeat race highlights – Tuesday, June 8, 2-4 am * * * * NEXT EVENTS (2010 NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship): 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals, June 11-13, Englishtown, N.J. 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, June 18-20, Bristol, Tenn. 4th annual Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, June 25-17, Norwalk, Ohio. 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals, July 9-11, Seattle, Wash. 23rd annual FRAM/Autolite Nationals, July 16-18, Sonoma, Calif. 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals, July 23-25, Denver, Colo. * * * * CONTACTS: For John Force Racing, Inc.: Elon Werner Kelly Antonelli 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 COIL, FORCE BACK ON TOP AS TOUR HITS CHI-TOWN Veteran Crew Chief Returns to Chicago Roots JOLIET, Ill – Who’s the biggest winner in Chicagoland sports history? At the moment, you might consider the Blackhawks who, for the fourth time in franchise history, have the Stanley Cup clearly in sight. Or, perhaps, the Bulls who, with Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, won six NBA titles. Or even the Bears, winners of nine pro football championships including Super Bowl XX? However, if you checked the box marked “none of the above,�?? give yourself a gold star and take an extra $20 out of petty cash. From the standpoint of winning major professional sports championships, you have to look outside the box, outside the traditional stick-and-ball mentality of middle America. You have to think extreme and we mean “8,000 horsepower, zero-to-315 mile-an-hour acceleration-in-1,000-feet�?? extreme. That’s where you’ll find Chicago native Austin Coil, winner of 16 – count ‘ em – 16 world championships in the high speed, high intensity world of NHRA drag racing. To be completely accurate, that’s 16 and counting because, entering this week’s 13th annual UA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, Coil and motorsports icon John Force, driver of Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, are back on top of the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car standings and in position to win yet again. In an era in which professional coaches and athletes change their allegiances as often as they change their footwear, Coil and Force have been the heart and soul of Castrol GTX drag racing for 25 seasons. A line mechanic at a now defunct Chicago Dodge dealership, Coil demonstrated an aptitude for speed and performance that ultimately led him to found, with Chicago pals John Farkonas and Pat Minick, a drag racing team that for 10-plus seasons fielded one of the most feared Funny Cars on the planet. The “Chi-Town Hustler�?? was the best-known Funny Car from a bygone era, one that recalled aviation’s “barnstorming�?? era. It was a time when Funny Cars were paid a flat performance fee to compete in “match races�?? at drag strips from East Coast to West which today, wouldn’t pass even minimal NHRA safety standards. Coil scoffs at crew members, crew chiefs and drivers who complain about the organized 23-race series that today crowns world champions in Funny Car, Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes. -more- John Force at the UA Route 66 Nationals 2222 “None of us had any money,�?? Coil said of his early days in the sport, “so when we took the car out to race, we had to come home with some cash. Keep in mind that, in the heyday of the ‘Chi-Town Hustler,’ if you didn’t run an NHRA national event, you could run three match race dates the same weekend for $1,500 apiece. So we’d go run our booked-in deals and know we were coming home with $4,500. “Our busiest season was probably 1970,�?? Coil recalled, “(when) we ran 96 match race dates with one car. ‘Jungle’ (the late ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman) ran like 142 that year, but he had three (different) cars on the circuit. He didn’t personally drive all those dates. All of our dates were run by us with the same car, driven by Pat Minick.�?? When the match race market began to dry up in the early ‘80s, Coil and Co. baffled the experts by, not only making the transition to the structure of the national series, but by winning NHRA Funny Car championships in 1982 and 1983. By late 1984, though, sponsorship had run out and Coil found himself without a race team at about the same time that Force decided that if he ever was to achieve his dream of winning a championship, he needed someone with Coil’s skills and reputation. They struck a tentative deal on the phone during Thanksgiving dinner in 1984 and, 129 tour victories and 14 championships later, despite a couple of speed bumps, like last year’s winless season, their first in 23 years, they’re still on top. At 64, Coil still has a passion for the sport, one that was rekindled this season when Force added Mike Neff to the mix. Now, Neff, Coil and Bernie Fedderly jointly make the mechanical decisions on the Castrol Ford that carried Force to victory in three of the season’s first six races including the inaugural 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte. * * * * Force at Route 66 Raceway: �?? Each of John’s three career wins at Route 66 Raceway came in the spring in an even-numbered year (2000, 2004 and 2006) �?? John became the first Funny Car driver to cover the 1/4 mile in fewer than 4.70 seconds on Oct. 2, 2004 when he was clocked in 4.694 seconds at Route 66 Raceway. �?? When he won the 2000 race, John earned his 86th tour title and passed Pro Stock driver Bob Glidden to become the all-time NHRA career leader. The Breakdown: At the UA Route 66 Nationals 12 races, 5 final rounds, 3 wins, 4 No. 1 qualifiers, 20-9 round record At Route 66 Raceway: 17 races, 7 final rounds, 3 wins, 5 No. 1 qualifiers, 31-14 round record 2010 Season 10 races, 4 final rounds, 3 wins, 3 No. 1 qualifiers, 18-6 round record Career 535 starts, 206 final rounds, 129 wins, 134 No. 1 qualifiers, 1056-406 round record -www.johnforceracing.com- For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US. John Force at the UA Route 66 Nationals 3333 FORCE’s Edge Overall NHRA records (which also are Funny Car division records) – Most career victories (129) – Most series championships (14) – Most career final rounds (206) – Most career rounds won (1056) – 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 (134) – Most No. 1 starts, one season (11, 1996) – Most consecutive final round appearances, one event (nine, 1992-2000, Atlanta, Ga.) – Career starts (535) Milestones – First start, Oct. 8, 1978, World Finals, Ontario, Calif., lost to Gordie Bonin – First round win, June 1, 1979, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La., over Tom McEwen – First final round, June 1, 1979, Cajun Nat’ls, Baton Rouge, La., vs. Kenny Bernstein. – First No. 1 qualifier, May 25, 1986, Cajun Nationals, Baton Rouge, La. – First tour victory, June 28, 1987, Le Grandnational, Montreal, over Ed McCulloch – 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. – First Funny Car driver to win in four-wide format, March 28, 2010, Charlotte, N.C. -more- John Force at the UA Route 66 Nationals 4444 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 By the Numbers 1 Route 66 win as No. 1 qualifier (spring, 2000) 2 first round losses in the last three years in the Route 66 Nationals (2007-2008) 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 final round appearances in 17 races at Route 66 Raceway 9 runner-up finishes before winning for the first time at Montreal, Canada in 1987. 10 straight Funny Car titles (1993-2002). 25 consecutive Top 10 finishes (1985-present) 129 tour events won 1056 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 STAYS HOT ON AND OFF THE TRACK Champion’s Daughter Among Route 66 Favorites JOLIET, Ill. – It’s been a very good year for Ashley Force Hood, the 27-year-old Californian whose cover girl good looks hide the steely resolve of a woman whose day job regularly subjects her to five G’s of raw acceleration. At the wheel of the 8,000 horsepower Castrol GTX Ford Mustang she drives for John Force Racing, Inc., she already has broken her own world record for Funny Car speed this year by accelerating to 316.38 miles per hour in just 1,000 feet, she’s started from the No. 1 qualifying position for the 10th time in her career, she’s appeared in two final rounds and she currently is fourth in Full Throttle driver points. Off the track, she’s written articles for newspapers, websites and magazines; penned an entry for a soon-to-be-released book; been featured in the book “Top Dogs and Their Pets�?? by award-winning photographer David Woo; and produced a video starring her drag racing cats, Simba and Gizmo. She’s served as a spokesperson for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger�?? drive that took in a record 77.1 million pounds of food, she’s written and illustrated a “Drag Racing 101" primer for younger sister Courtney, who soon will be joining her on the pro tour, and she’ s conducted more interviews she thought possible including several with Chicago-area TV stations and newspapers leading up to this week’s 13th annual United Association Route 66 Nationals. Nevertheless, the graduate of Cal State-Fullerton admits to harboring just a tinge of frustration because she has not been the dominating presence she was at this time a year ago. She’s hoping that will all change this week in her return to her adopted home track, Route 66 Raceway. “My real home track is Auto Club Raceway (in Pomona, Calif.),�?? said the daughter of drag racing icon John Force, “but my husband, Dan, is from Chicago so this is like my ‘other’ home track.�?? Force Hood’s car, prepared by crew chiefs Dean “Guido�?? Antonelli and Ron Douglas, has been typically quick and fast and the former high school cheerleader has driven it well. The problem is that when she has been at her best, the car has stumbled. The reverse also has been true. -more- Ashley at UA Route 66 Nationals 2222 As a result, Ashley comes to town this week as the only JFR driver without a win in the season’s first nine races. Ironically, she was the only team driver WITH a victory at this time last year. “Timing is everything in this sport,�?? Ashley said, “and so far our timing has just been a little off. The most important thing is that we know we have a car that will perform in the heat – and that’s what we expect to see the next four weeks. “We race every weekend in June and we expect to be on hot racetracks in summer heat,�?? said the reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals champion. “We’re looking forward to that because we did well in those conditions last year. Plus, it’ll be good to get into that weekly racing routine where everything just happens. Sometimes it’s best not to have to think. Just take what you ’ve learned and let it work for you.�?? “It’s great to be where we are,�?? said the graduate of Cal State Fullerton. “You want to be in the Top 10 because that’s how you get into the Countdown, but you want to finish as high (in the order) as possible. Robert won last year from 10th place, but I don’t see that happening again.�?? Force Hood was third in points entering last year’s Countdown to 1. That meant she started the 50 points down to pacesetting Tony Pedregon. “Just being in the Top 10 is important,�?? she acknowledged, “but position is (important), too. The higher you start, the less ground you have to make up at the end.�?? * * * * Ashley at the UA Route 66 Nationals: �?? Last year, after qualifying second, Ashley beat Jack Beckman, Bob Tasca III and JFR teammate Mike Neff before losing to her nemesis, Tony Pedregon, in the final round �?? In 2006, her last season in the Top Alcohol Dragster division, Ashley reached the semifinals before falling to Sean O’Bannon. The Ashley Report: At the UA Route 66 Nationals 3 races, 1 final round, 0 wins, 0 No. 1 qualifiers, 5-3 round record 2010 Season 9 races,, 2 final rounds, 0 wins, 1 No. 1 qualifier, 11-9 round record Career 78 races; 74 starts, 15 final rounds, 3 wins, 10 No. 1 qualifiers, 91-71 round record Notable: Ashley is the reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Champion and the national record holder for Funny Car speed at the 1,000 foot distance at 316.38 miles per hour. Quotable: “�??It’s great to be (in the Top 5 in points), but the most important thing is that we have a car that is good in the cool (weather) and also good in the heat.�?? – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD -www.johnforceracing.com- For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US