Force Goes Quietly in Two Events

For the first time since 1989, Yorba Linda’s John Force was eliminated in the first round of consecutive NHRA Funny Car events.

Force, an eight-time Funny Car champion, lost in the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis to Frank Pedregon, and again last week at the Keystone Nationals in Reading, Pa., falling to Cory Lee of Rancho Santa Margarita. Lee reached the semifinals.

“The bottom line is that luck is very important in this business,” Force said. “It takes a great team, but it takes luck. We thought we were going to kill them [in Pennsylvania]. The car ran great. Then, boom! We dropped a cylinder.

“The trick is to win the championship. The reason we’re struggling is we’re trying different things because we have a big enough points lead. We made a mistake.”

Force still holds first place with 1,549 points, ahead of runner-up Tony Pedregon with 1,269.

“It was very painful,” Force said. “It was like, ‘Has John Force gone brain dead? Hell, I don’t tune the thing.”

STRONG FINISH

Arciero-Wells Racing of Rancho Santa Margarita enjoyed a 1-2 finish Sunday in the Toyota Atlantic Series finale in Houston. Series winner Anthony Lazzaro allowed teammate Andrew Bordin to pass on the last lap and finish third in the overall standings.

WINSTON WEST

Anaheim driver Butch Gilliland and his son, David Gilliland, competed in the Winston West Series Gold Coast 150 at the Las Vegas Speedway on Saturday. Butch started 17th and finished fourth; David started 20th and finished 26th, completing only 24 laps after experiencing a fuel pump problem.

Butch Gilliland is seventh in the standings, but only 15 points from third place with four races remaining.