NHRA: Force closing in on 10th Winston Title; Taking nothing for granted
24 October 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
BAYTOWN, Texas - Jerry Toliver and his WWF Racing Pontiac
Firebird capped
off the '99 season with a victory in Pomona, Calif., and then exploded
onto
the scene in 2000, winning two of the first three national events. John
Force-critics were convinced that the nine-time Winston champ was losing
his
strangle-hold on the series title. Oh how the critics have been silenced.
Force, from Yorba Linda, Calif., regained his championship form and, after
dropping to fifth in the points early in the season, has reclaimed his
familiar position atop the Winston standings with his Castrol GTX Ford
Mustang. Force has strung together an impressive season collecting nine
wins
during the year, boosting his career victory total to 90, an ongoing
record
for national event wins.Force will be looking to add to that win total and collect his seventh career victory at Houston Raceway Park, when he competes in the fourth annual Matco Tools SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions, Oct. 26-29, in the Lone Star state. The $1.8 million race is the 22nd of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
"It's not over," Force said of the points race. "We're in better shape now than we were two months ago but all it takes is for (Toliver) to get on a roll and us to get in a slump and the lead is gone. That's what cost us the championship in 1992. We thought the race was over and went into test mode."
Text Provided By Anthony Vestal
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