LOCAL NOTES : Force Wins Sonoma Funny Car Race

John Force of Yorba Linda won the Funny Car division of the Autolite Nationals Sunday at Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Force ran 269.86 m.p.h. (5.326 seconds) in the final and beat Cruz Pedregon of Moorpark. Pedregon went 203.29 (5.483).

It was the fourth victory of the season for Force, who won the Sonoma event for the third consecutive year.

The $894,350 event was the 11th stop in the 18-race, $18 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

Cory McClenathan of Anaheim reached the semifinals but lost to Ed McCulloch of Hemet in the top-fuel class. McCulloch lost to Don Prudhomme of Granada Hills in the final.

Scott Geoffrion of Huntington Beach was defeated in the one semifinal of the Pro Stock division.

David Warady of Huntington Beach remained in the lead of the Runner’s World Trans America Footrace despite finishing seventh in the 44th stage.

Peter Hodson of England won the 53-mile run from Pittsfield to New Berlin, Ill., in 8 hours 27 minutes 25 seconds. Warady’s time was 10:15:56. With 20 days left, he is 3:25:28 ahead of the field.

Robert Duesler and Jim Nelson, both of Newport Beach, won the 55 doubles title at the U.S. 50 & 55 Hardcourt Championships played at the Lindborg Racquet Club in Huntington Beach.

Duesler and Nelson beat Len Lindborg of Laguna Niguel and Mike Carpenter of Baton Rouge, La., 6-3, 6-4, for the title.

Huntington Beach’s Kelly Slater finished third, and Newport Beach’s Richie Collins was ninth at the Yoplait Reunion Pro surfing championships at St. Lue, Reunion Island, off the southeast coast of Africa.

Australia’s Richard Marsh won his first Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ event, defeating Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia, 23.53-22.91, in the finals.

Australia’s Shane Herring leads the overall standings with 3,000 points. Slater is in fourth and Collins is seventh.

Rick Leach of Laguna Beach defeated Glenn Michibata, 6-3, 6-4, to earn a spot in the main draw of the Volvo/Los Angeles tennis tournament at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Leach, ranked 512th in the world, will face 72nd-ranked Richey Reneberg in a first-round match Tuesday.

Three members of the Mission Viejo Nadadores qualified for the nationals at the Zone D senior outdoor diving meet at USC. Tyce Routson was second on the men’s platform. In the women’s platform competition, Sandy Zubin was third and Summer Brown fourth. All three qualify for the U.S. outdoor national championships, Aug. 12-16 in Woodland, Tex.

Seana Hogan of San Jose is closing in on winning the women’s division of the Race Across America. Hogan passed through Union Springs, Ala., 2,575 miles into the race, at 4:53 p.m. Sunday. She has 331 miles left to the finish line in Savannah, Ga.

Rob Kish of Port Orange, Fla., won his first RAAM title Saturday by winning the men’s division in 8 days 3 hours 11 minutes.