With just two races remaining in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Series, Force is winless for the first time in 23 years. Not only that, he is final-less for the first time since 1984. If you do the math, that's a quarter century.

Six trips to the semifinals this year in his 8,000 horsepower hybrid Mustang have yielded no final round appearances for the 60-year old drag racing icon.

A 126-time tour winner, Force already has raced himself out of contention for a 15th career title. He presently is ninth in points and, barring a miracle, is on the way to his worst finish since the aforementioned 1984.

Nevertheless, it's been anything but a throwaway season for the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection.

For one thing, he owns the cars that are 1-2 in Full Throttle points (those driven by Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood) and that has placed his team, John Force Racing, Inc., in position to win the NHRA Funny Car championship for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons.

For another, despite his struggles, Force already has assured himself of another Top 10 finish, his 25th in succession, and he is on pace to again post a winning record although he presently is one down in the win column (21-22). The last time the 1996 Driver of the Year didn't have a winning record was, you guessed it, 1984, one year before he hired Austin Coil as crew chief.

But, most of all, this has been a year of validation for the Hall of Fame driver's safety initiatives as manifiested in The Eric Medlen Project.

Especially gratifying was rookie Daniel Wilkerson's emergence from a frightening accident at Memphis, Tenn., without so much as a bruise.

"Winning is priority," Force said, "but now it goes hand-in-hand with safety. Vince Lombardi said winning is everything, but I don't think he ever lost a man on the playing field (and) we owe Eric Medlen to make the sport safer for the next generation."

As for his performance struggles this year, Force is a little confused.

"A lot of people are saying, you want Robert to win or you want Ashley to win,'" he said, "well, what about me? I'm still trying to keep my winning streaks alive. I'd like to do that. We've struggled so bad over here, Austin, Bernie (Fedderly) and myself (that) we brought John Medlen over to see if we could shake things up. I've still got faith that we can turn it around. It's all about destiny."

Did You Know?
- Last year, John was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
- This is the furthest John ever has gone into a season without at least reaching one final round.
- John hasn't qualified No. 1 since Sept. 1, 2006. That's a span of 72 races, the longest such streak of his pro career.
- John's appearance in the inaugural NHRA Las Vegas Nationals in 2001 produced one of the most bizarre incidents in history. John's first round opponent, Bob Bode, left the starting line before the electronic timing system was armed. Reacting to the situation, Force then accelerated away from the line. Unfortunately, by rule, both were disqualified for leaving the starting line before the electronic system was activated even though it was clear that Bode had done so first. NHRA subsequently amended the rule to penalize ONLY the driver guilty of the initial violation.

For the Record:
- John is trying to extend to a record-setting 23 the number of consecutive seasons in which he has won at least one NHRA tour event and to 25 the number of successive years in which he's appeared in a final.
- John has won just one time at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His 2002 win in the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals provided the momentum that propelled him to a 10th consecutive NHRA Funny Car championship.
- In 25 seasons together, John and crew chief Austin Coil have contested 494 NHRA tour events, DNQed at only seven and compiled a record of 1001-361 en route to a record 126 victories.
- The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the only track in the Full Throttle Series on which John has qualified No. 1 less often than he has DNQed. In 17 appearances, his only No. 1 start came at the spring race 2002, the same race for which he DNQed in 2007 (ending a record streak of 395 consecutive starts) and again in 2008.

http://www.johnforceracing.com For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US

Courtesy of Dave Densmore