Force Closes Gap at Maple Grove
September 19 - John Force started a late season run toward what could be a record 14th NHRA Funny Car Championship Sunday by reaching the final round for the twelfth time in twenty-one appearances in the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Despite a loss of traction that slowed his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford to 8.339 seconds in the final, Force managed to move to within two rounds of points leader Gary Scelzi with only four races remaining in the 2005 campaign.
Tony Pedregon, who left Force Racing after driving the Castrol SYNTEC Ford to the 2003 championship, was the beneficiary of Force’s final round woes, winning for the first time since forming his own team.
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For Force, it was a continuation of an all-or-nothing-at-all season in which he has gone to the finals six times and lost in the first round nine times. Nevertheless, he moved from fourth to third in points, just 31 behind Scelzi, who lost to Pedregon in the semifinals.
Rookie sensation Robert Hight remained second in points although he lost some ground to Scelzi when the veteran outdueled him to the finish in a second round showdown, 4.818 to 4.910. Hight now is 26 points off the lead in the Team Castrol/Automobile Club of Southern California Ford.
The third of the Team Castrol drivers, second year pro Eric Medlen, moved up to fourth in points despite a second round loss to Whit Bazemore.
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