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NHRA: Force Getting Closer to 10th Winston Crown

12 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

There is one word that John Force is saying a lot these days: Focus.

It's become the battle cry for his Castrol GTX team as they prepare his ultra-quick Ford Mustang for the season's final stretch in his bid to become the second 10-time NHRA Winston champion in the history of the sport. Following the rain-delayed event in Englishtown, N.J., Force increased his lead to 222 over rival Jerry Toliver, driver of the WWF Racing Pontiac Firebird.

"We just need to stay focused," said Force, who has raced to eight victories this season and recently won the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout at the U.S. Nationals. "There's still a lot of racing ahead. We need to protect our points lead and we need to beat some people so that we can help my teammate Tony Pedregon."

Force, a four-time winner at Maple Grove Raceway, is cautiously optimistic about his chances for another championship. Mostly because of bad memories from 1992, the season that Cruz Pedregon put a string of victories together and overcame a huge Force lead to steal the title away.

"That's how easy it can turn around," said Force of the only year in that decade he didn't claim the Funny Car crown. "I told my guys, if we go into a slump and Toliver wins a couple in a row, he's right back in it. It'd be just like 1992, when Cruz (Pedregon) won five straight races (five of the last six in the season) and caught us for the title."

Text provided by Anthony Vestal

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