Force Clinches Countdown Spot With 125th Funny Car Victory

BRAINERD, Minn. — John Force recorded his 125th Funny Car victory Sunday and secured a spot in the Countdown to the Championship by beating fellow legend Kenny Bernstein in the closest drag race of the 26th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int’l Raceway.
Force nipped Bernstein by .0048 seconds, or about two feet, with a 4.794-second pass at 316.60 miles per hour to Bernstein’s 4.801 at 320.43 mph.
Bernstein’s son Brandon quickly brightened his father’s mood by beating friendly rival Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel final, 4.525 to 4.586. In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin became just the 11th racer in 56 years of NHRA competition to score 50 national event wins when he beat Greg Anderson. An all-Harley Pro Stock Motorcycle final between teammates Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec favored Hines.
Force and Bernstein last faced each other in 1989 at the SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J., an event that Bernstein went on to win for his last Funny Car victory. Bernstein now holds a 13-8 mark against Force, including a 6-2 record in final rounds. Force’s career record improves to 125-74, while Bernstein’s falls to 69-51.
“Austin Coil [crew chief] has run this track a lot more than me from the old days of match racing and he really knows this place, whether it’s hot or cool here,” said Force, who now has 11 victories at Brainerd. “This season has been something. Early on I couldn’t beat anyone, including that girl named Force, and I remember awhile back telling Coil we were pathetic. Something just had us snake-bit and we never did find what it was.
“Heading into Bristol, John Medlen got into me and said I needed to start being the leader of this team. Eric [Medlen’s] gone and it was time to get up and do our job. It was hard to get up for the fight, but then the car came around and we got on a roll.

TURNING 50: Jeg Coughlin captured his 50th victory by defeating 50-time winner Greg Anderson Sunday at Brainerd Int'l Raceway. (NHRA Photo)

“This race took me back to 1978 when Kenny Bernstein was the king and he beat me and I told myself that one day I’d beat him. But then he left the class and I never got my chance.”
Force has raced to the final round in four of the last five races and has moved all the way up to fourth in the POWERade points.
Dixon gave Brandon a run for the Top Fuel trophy with a quick launch that gave him an early lead of .029 seconds. The two were even at half-track before Brandon managed to sneak in front and take the win with a 4.525 at 329.91 mph in his Budweiser dragster to Dixon’s 4.586 at 323.35 mph in the SkyTel rail. Brandon’s elapsed time was the quickest of the weekend.
It was Brandon’s fifth victory of the season — a career high — and the 17th of his career. He improved his head-to-head mark over Dixon to 14-5 overall, including a 2-0 record in final rounds. Dixon falls to 2-2 on the year and 40-35 in career final rounds.
“That’s a great team over there and they were running 4.50s all day just like us, so we knew the final would be a tough race,” said Bernstein, who also won this race last year. “It’s wonderful to see the Budweiser car running so consistently because Indy will be here before you know it and we really want to be as close to perfect as possible when the Countdown starts.
“It was tough watching Dad lose right in front of us. I could see the big screen and I saw how close he was at the finish line. I know he wanted that one really bad and for as much jubilation as we’re feeling on our side of the pit, we’re bummed out for them. I really wanted to get done with our race and give him a hug because I could see he was down. It’ll happen one of these days, hopefully for both of us at the same time.”
Bob Vandergriff became the sixth Top Fuel racer to lock up a spot in the Countdown to the Championship field, leaving just two slots left. There are seven drivers vying for the final two positions now held by Whit Bazemore and Dave Grubnic.
One race after Greg Anderson scored his 50th national event win, Coughlin collected his 50th victory by beating Anderson in the Pro Stock final. Coughlin left nothing to doubt, leaving with a strong .018- to .047-second reaction time advantage and then creeping away to win with a 6.667 at 205.94 mph in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to Anderson’s 6.669 at 207.24 mph in the Summit Racing Pontiac GTO.
Coughlin’s 50 career wins have come in both the Pro and Sportsman categories. He has 37 Pro Stock wins and is just the 11th racer in history to win 50 national events.
“Getting to 50 wins was one of my goals when I returned to Pro Stock. It’s special to think that only 10 other people have achieved that mark in 50-plus years of drag racing,” Coughlin said. “Fortunately, I’ve had a great hot rod with [team owner] Victor Cagnazzi and his entire team of technicians and mechanics and they’ve given me a car capable of winning races.”
Three-time and reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Hines got bragging rights over teammate Krawiec with his wire-to-wire job here.