Force gets 155th Funny Car win at 72 years old
John Force won the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on Sunday at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., for his 155th Funny Car victory.
The 72-year-old Force beat Robert Hight, Ron Capps and Mike McIntire Jr. in the final with a 3.914-second run at 328.66 mph in a Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Force qualified No. 1 with a track-record run and set the track speed record at 335.07 mph in the first round of eliminations.
“Things just seem to happen where you’re destined to win,” the 16-time season champion said. “It was amazing. On some days, magical things just happen. Things went right and we were able to win the race. It was like it was destiny and it was a great weekend for my team. To finally get a win this year gives me a lot of confidence.”
Mike Salinas won in Top Fuel and Steve Johnson in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Salinas raced to his second victory of the season and fifth overall, running a 3.708 at 330.47 in the final. Johnson won the first second straight event, taking the final with a 6.740 at 200.65 on as Suzuki.
IndyCar
Pato O’Ward made a conscious decision to stop worrying about his IndyCar contract and Formula One aspirations and focus on his current job.
The effort first earned him a pending contract extension, and on Sunday, O’Ward picked up his first win of the IndyCar season.
The popular Mexican used a strong outside pass of pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay after both pitted for fresh tires to take the lead then drive away for the victory at Barber Motorsports Park. It is the third win of O’Ward’s career and broke a Team Penske stranglehold on the IndyCar results.
Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden swept the first three races of the season, all while O’Ward was pouting over his team-friendly contract with Arrow McLaren SP. O’Ward wanted more money, wanted more assurances McLaren has him in its F1 pipeline, and his frustration spilled over onto the track.
But on the eve of the Long Beach Grand Prix two weeks ago, the 22-year-old decided he didn’t want to throw his season away over hurt feelings. He dug deep for a fifth-place finish at Long Beach, huddled with McLaren head Zak Brown on the terms of extension, then showed up in Barber ready to win some races.
His shot came after a pit stop with 28 laps remaining when VeeKay and O’Ward pitted at the same time. VeeKay came out ahead but O’Ward hunted him through the first four turns then used a brave move — and his pushto-pass — around the Dutchman to seize control of the race.
The win kept Chevrolet a perfect 4 for 4 as IndyCar heads next to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Man, it sucks to be at war within your own team, right? So I’m glad there’s been more positive talks for the future,” said O’Ward, who has agreed with McLaren on principle on an extension.
“And I wanted to do it for these guys, for Arrow McLaren SP, for Chevy — they’ve swept this year so far, so great for them. But yeah, man, I was tired of being 10th and 11th and fifth and I said ‘Let’s get a win under our belts so we can climb back into this championship race.’”
Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion and defending race winner at Barber, finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and reclaimed the points lead.
VeeKay faded to third for Ed Carpenter Racing.
NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. can win for the third time at the Monster Mile on today after rain stopped the action only 78 laps into the 400-mile race Sunday. Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win June 4, 2007, at Dover and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019.
It’s the fourth time out of 104 career Dover races it will run on a Monday.
With a green flag start just after 3 p.m., and no lights at the concrete mile track, NASCAR faced a tight window to reach the halfway mark needed for an official race. So they’ll fire the engines again at noon Monday with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott starting 1-2. Ryan Blaney is third, Truex is fourth and William Byron fifth.