Force Qualifies Full Team in the Countdown

After a successful debut in 2007, the Countdown to 1 is back featuring a revised format as the National Hot Rod Association prepares to crown its champions in its four Pro categories.

The new six-race championship playoff format, which kicks off this weekend in suburban Charlotte, NC, is modeled after the successful NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The top-10 drivers from the regular season (first 18 races) advance to the Countdown to 1 and each is credited with a staggered point total based on their regular season finish.

Advertisement:

In Funny Car, all eyes are on the sports' most successful franchise and the Ford Racing factory team, John Force Racing (JFR) and its stable of stars. All four JFR entrants qualified for the Countdown to 1, marking the first time a team has landed four drivers in the NHRA playoff system.

Robert Hight, driver of the Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car, enters the postseason as the third seed and with a rush of momentum after capturing the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis on Labor Day for his third win of ’08. A two-time runner-up in the Funny Car championship (2006 & 2007), Hight, as JFR’s highest seeded driver, has his sights set on his first Funny Car championship.

Ashley Force, the 2007 NHRA Funny Car Rookie of the Year and driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car (above), missed the ’07 playoffs. This season Ashley captured her inaugural victory and she enters the Countdown to 1 as the fifth seed overall.

John Force, the 14-time Funny Car champion and driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car, qualified eighth for the postseason and begins a personal quest to reclaim the championship one year after a dramatic accident left him injured and unable to defend his 2006 championship.

Rookie Mike Neff, driver of the Old Spice Ford Mustang Funny Car, captured the final slot in the ’08 playoffs and due to the staggered points system will start 110 points behind the leader. Neff, the former championship winning crew chief, is searching for his first win as a driver. Armed with the new Ford BOSS 500 engine, Neff made three final rounds in the first 18 events of 2008.

CP