Mon, 13 Nov 2006, 11:45 AM Force Wins 14th Championship

Courtesy of Dave Densmore Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

POMONA, Calif. --

Ben Reily, John Force and Tom Compton

John Force clinched his record-setting 14th POWERade Funny Car championship with a second round victory over nemesis Ron Capps in front of a capacity crowd at his home track, Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., and then won two more rounds to earn his third win of the season to cap an eventful day for Team Castrol.

"You can win a lot of championships and you give credit to your team -- Austin Coil, Bernie Fedderly, the kids Jimmy Prock, John Medlen -- we all do it as a team," Force said. "The fans are what give you heart. NHRA gives us a great playing field (and) POWERade puts up those checks but, for us, in our hearts, it's about beating the competition. It's about hearing the cheers of the crowd. That is what it is all about."

Force took the final with a hole shot victory (.058 to a .103 reaction time) over Beckman who made the quickest run in NHRA Funny Car history in a losing effort. Force's winning ET of 4.697 seconds combined with his better reaction time bested Beckman's record run of 4.662 seconds.

Force who qualified in the No. 3 spot behind teammate Robert Hight, drove his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang past Jim Head, Ron Capps, Hight, and Beckman.