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FORCE IS MUSTANG HALL OF
FAME INDUCTEE
In Aug. 31 ceremonies held in conjunction
with the grand opening of his new 40,000 square
foot Brownsburg, Indiana shop facility, John
Force became the 21st inductee into the Mustang
Hall of Fame joining such luminaries as Carroll
Shelby, Jack Roush, Bob Tasca Sr., Lee Iaccoca
and William Clay Ford II.
Force was inducted by Chuck Micele, vice-president
of the Mustang Club of America. The Mustang
Hall of Fame was created to preserve the heritage
and spirit of the Ford Mustang, to honor those
who by achievement have made lasting contributions
to the Ford Mustang and its culture and to
inspire all involved with the Ford Mustang
to strive to reach their highest potential,
Micele said.
Force, whose first personal car was a Ford
Fairlane and who in the 1970s briefly drove
a Mach 1 Mustang Funny Car, has driven Mustangs
exclusively since 1997. He and his teammates
have won seven consecutive NHRA POWERade Funny
Car Championships in Mustangs and have earned
84 tour victories, an average of 11 per season.
Many of those already in the Hall of Fame
got their start in drag racing including Shelby,
Roush (who once drove a Mustang in the Pro
Stock class), John Coletti, Larry Shinoda,
Jim Osborn and Tasca Sr., who sold thousands
of Mustangs and sponsored several Mustang-based
teams in the 1960s and 1970s and who was instrumental
in bringing Force into the Ford fold.
“It’s a great honor,” Force
said. “The day Bob Tasca introduced me
to the Ford people was a turning point in my
career. There’s no better sponsor in
racing and to be included in the Mustang Hall
of Fame with people like Grandpa (Tasca Sr.),
Carroll Shelby and Jack Roush is something
I never imagined.”
During this year’s U.S. Nationals, Force
will drive a specially painted Ford commemorating
the 40th anniversary of the Mustang. [9-2-2004]
PROJECT 4-LINK IS TOP DRAGSTER
DRO Bracket Racing Editor and part time driver,
Jok Nicholson, proved that there is a little
fight left in the old dog as he took DRO’s “Project
4-link” Mopar-powered dragster (recently
converted from Super Comp to Top Dragster status)
to a Quick-16 win at Iowa’s Earlville
dragstrip. The race featured eight doorslammers
and eight rails. The Jokster and the Mopar
wedge-powered rail fed the competition a steady
diet of 7.57/170+ laps for the win.
The next stop for the Project 4-Link Top Dragster
is the Monster Mopar Weekend Sept. 10-12 at
St. Louis’ Gateway International Raceway
where the team will run the Quick-16 race using
a new nitrous kit from Mike Thermos’s
Nitrous Supply in California. [8-31-2004]
PAY PER PARKING?
There was a pretty big stink going around
about the lack of pavement parking for professional
class cars at the postponed IHRA World Nationals
at Norwalk, Ohio. According to several Top
Fuel teams who called the Agent, it is the
only track on the IHRA tour where the Top Fuel
cars have to park in the grass and dirt.
Top Fuel owner Peter Lehman found a solution.
He paid to have a spot at the track paved with
concrete. After he ordered his slab, Lehman
says track owner/manager Bill Bader Jr asked
him, “Do you think any of the other teams
would be interested?”
Let’s see, IHRA charges the Top Fuel
teams to race and (at least at Norwalk) if
they want to park on asphalt they have to pay
for that too. The Agent asks, “What’s
next, pay toilets in the pro pits?” [8-31-2004]
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