John Force begins championship run with win in Charlotte

Bobby Bennett


When the grandstand bears your name, there's an obligation to win. At least that's how 16-time NHRA champion John Force sees it.

Force lived up to the legend as he drove his Advance Auto/Peak-sponsored to career victory No. 146 by outrunning No. 1 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. to claim the NHRA Carolina Nationals Funny Car crown at zMax Dragway on Sunday.

Joining Force in the winner's circle were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Force started the day with a day with a determination to win the only event on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour he's never won since the event was added to the 24-race tour in 2008.

"It's tough for me to get out of bed in the morning, being in the gym every night to be able to stay [physically] in this hunt," Force admitted. "I got up this morning, and I was mad. I told her I was going to win today. She told me I couldn't say that. Right before the final round, she reminded me what I said this morning. I told her even if I don't win; I have a race car that can win."

Force entered eliminations as the No. 3 qualifier and beat Dave Richards to open the day. He scored a lucky break in the quarter-finals when his brakes failed on the starting line against Tim Wilkerson, but still managed to run down Wilkerson, despite leaving the starting line three-tenths of a second too late. He knocked off point leader Ron Capps to advance to the final round.

Brown, the defending NHRA Top Fuel champion and event winner, proved he had turned the corner from misfortunes of years past at this race. As the No. 1 seed headed into the playoffs, he provided an object lesson by beating the race's No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta in the final round.

"I'm dreaming right now, someone needs to come pinch me," Brown said. "This is the way you want to start the Countdown off. We missed out a little bit on Friday, and we just kept digging. We knew the track was going to be tricky and had some monster match-ups. This Countdown puts a lot of pressure on the teams, and a lot of teams stepped up today."

Brown, who qualified No. 7 this weekend, ran a 3.76 ET to eclipse the 3.811-second pass turned in by Kalitta.

Line, Pro Stock's No. 1 seed, proved the three-car KB Racing team it can be just as potent in the playoffs as it was in the regular season.

Line ran a 6.621 ET to beat teammate and the race's No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. The victory marked career win No. 45, and his eighth of 2016.

“It was a great day for us and just a great way to start the Countdown," said Line. "If you want to win the championship you have to come out smoking, and somehow we were able to do that. Racing Greg in the final is good and bad. It’s good, but then it’s bad when you look over there, and he’s like the last guy you want to race in the final round. He’s tough to beat, and he gets the best of me more often than not, but (Sunday) was my day.”

Ellis scored an emotional win in Pro Stock Motorcycle, scoring a victory for the first since June 2008. His team owner, J.R. Pippen, has been battling nasal cancer, and this was his first victory for him.

"The is the most important win of my career because he is such an awesome individual," Ellis said. "I'm really proud to be part of this team. He's an awesome team owner and it just makes you wonder why cancer hits such great people."

Ellis scored the unlikely victory by beating Andrew Hines in the final round, with a 6.879 ET to Hines’ 6.908.