Courtney Force beats John Force in New England   There's nothing better than doing what you love - drag racing - and getting to do it with your family. Courtney Force and her dad John Force have it made! On Courtney's birthday weekend, she got the win, but it was revenge for their last final round win when John took the win on Father's Day. That's fair I guess! John Force Racing press release follows...   Photos courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography COURTNEY FORCE WINS INAUGURAL NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS   EPPING, NH ---- In a rematch of their Father’s Day first round battle in Bristol last weekend Courtney Force came out on the winning side today taking out father and 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force in the final round of the Inaugural Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals. The second year driver won for the second time this season and third time in her career outpacing her teammate 4.301 seconds to 4.361 seconds in front of a capacity crowd at New England Dragway.   “I told him I was definitely going to try to get revenge, but last time...

Looking Back on Hemi Cuda Funny Car Development   By Moore Good Ink Photos courtesy of Jim White Forty-eight years ago, toward the end of the 1965 drag racing season, Chrysler and their Southern Californian Plymouth Dealers Association underwrote the costs of constructing and operating a blown nitro 426cu in rear-engine Plymouth Hemi Barracuda Funny Car. The proposition that brought together the Chrysler Corporation and the Southern Californian Plymouth Dealers Association was conceived by the late Lou Baney. Lou, who was already running the Mongoose in the Yeakel Plymouth Center’s Fuel dragster, could see the potential for exploiting a new Hemi Barracuda Funny Car in exhibitions and match races. The moment was right and the deal was struck and B&M Automotive were contracted to construct the car, Dave Zeuschel to prepare the engine and Tom “Mongoose” McEwen to drive it.   The origins of the Funny Car The term Funny Car had derived from the appearance of Chrysler’s Ram Chargers a year earlier. The corporation’s competition department had moved the rear axle assembly forward on the chassis in an attempt to improve weight transfer under acceleration, thus increasing the...

Traxxas and  Courtney Force to Scale In case you've missed every NHRA race this year, you should know that Traxxas has stepped up big time to sponsor quite a few professional drag racing teams, especially the gorgeous (and hard working racer) Courtney Force, daughter or the legend John Force. MyRideisMe.com has been posting race updates from John Force Racing so we got this info about the 1/8 Scale Funny Cars that Traxxas is making now. Here's more info from the source. TRAXXAS HITS IGNITION ON 1/8 SCALE RC FUNNY CARS FOR JFR CHARLOTTE, NC (April 13, 2012) – NHRA Full Throttle Racing fans around the country have been awaiting a John Force Racing RC Funny Car model since the beginning of a new, unique and energetic partnership between Traxxas and John Force Racing was announced in early January of this year. Today fans at the 3rd annual Four-Wide NHRA Nationals got their first peek at the four JFR Traxxas Funny Cars during a photo shoot beside the Traxxas fan experience zone. Traxxas revealed last week a collection of fully assembled, Ready-To-Race®, Traxxas RC Ford Mustang Funny Cars. The new models run...

Courtney Force of John Force Racing Team     Hard work pays off...     It's working for MyRideisMe.com to get me access to the best, bar none, funny car and drag racing team there is: John Force Racing for this interview.   It's also working for Courtney Force. Sure, she's got a leg up as the daughter of 15x funny car champion John Force, but do you think he's the type of guy that'd throw his beautiful daughter into a 300 mph funny car without her wanting it? Earning it! No way.   So learn a little more about Courtney and driving 300 in this video. Thanks! [youtube]http://youtu.be/v6SPxrlpqhM[/youtube]   Behind every great driver is a great team. Here's Courtney's crew: Thanks for letting me poke around all day...

Team Force Wins Gatornationals TEAM JFR RACE REPORT 2nd of 22 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Series 42nd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals Gainesville Raceway Gainesville, Florida March 13, 2011 * * * * Final round results from Sunday’s 42nd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, second race in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series: FUNNY CAR – Mike Neff, Fishers, Ind., Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 4.092, 310.48 mph, def. Cruz Pedregon, Brownsburg, Ind., Snap-On Toyota Camry, 7.819, 99.32 mph. TOP FUEL –Del Worsham, Chino Hills, Calif., Al-Anabi dragster, 3.858, 318.00 mph def. Tony Schumacher, Brownsburg, Ind., US Army  dragster, 3.866, 318.39 mph PRO STOCK – Jason Line, Mooresville, NC, Summit Pontiac GXP, 6.554, 211.96 mph def. Greg Greg Anderson, Mooresville, NC, Summit Pontiac GXP, 6.545, 212.43 mph PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Eddie Krawiec, Brownsburg, Ind., Harley Davidson V-Rod, 6.847, 197.08 mph def. Karen Stoffer, Gardnerville, NY, Geico Suzuki, Red-light DQ, 6.949,193.27 mph. * * * * CASTROL GTX’S NEFF WINS GATOR NATS GAINESVILLE, FL --- Mike Neff and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang were hot on Saturday and they got hotter on Sunday...

Force Selected As Newest Inductee Into Texas Motorsports Hall Of Fame FORT WORTH, Texas (March 8, 2011) – John Force, one of drag racing’s most legendary figures, will add yet another racing accomplishment to his illustrious career resume when he becomes just the fourth NHRA racer inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame. Force, a 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion (1990-‘91, ‘93-2002, ’04, ’06, ’10), will be honored Thursday, April 7, at the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame Gala held in the Speedway Club’s Grand Ballroom at Texas Motor Speedway during the Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR doubleheader race weekend. Force’s induction will highlight an evening that recognizes the accomplishments of some of the biggest names in motorsports, all while benefitting Speedway Children’s Charities at Texas Motor Speedway. Others being recognized are seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Richard Petty; defending race winner of Texas Motor Speedway’s Samsung Mobile 500 and AAA Texas 500 Denny Hamlin; five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson; four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon; and veteran motorsports reporter Terry Blount. “Being inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame is a great honor,” Force said....

2011 Winternationals Winner Robert Hight HIGHT MIXES LUCKY CHARM WITH FORD ONE APPROACH TO START SEASON 1-0 YORBA LINDA, CA (March 1, 2011) ---Minutes after Robert Hight and his Jimmy Prock tuned Auto Club Ford Mustang raced to a season opening win at the 51st annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals Hight was giving some of the credit to a lucky charm he picked up from a fellow Ford teammate last season. In honor of the Wood Brothers dominating performance at the Daytona 500 Hight raced all day with a commemorative coin Eddie and Len Wood gave him at Charlotte’s zMax Dragway in 2010. “I had a little good luck charm (Sunday) besides my daughter Autumn. The Wood Brothers gave me this (commemorative coin) last year,” said Hight a three-time Winternationals winner.  “It was a celebration of their 60 years of racing. They went out and won Daytona in the No. 21 car this year and they didn’t get lucky. They dominated kind of like John Force Racing did (on Sunday). This year is NHRA’s 60th anniversary.  It was cool as the day went on to look at that coin and to...

2011 Winternationals "Hole Shot" win for Hight TEAM JFR RACE REPORT 1st of 22 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Series 51st annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Pomona, Calif. Feb. 24-27, 2011 * * * * Final round results from Sunday’s 51st annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, first race in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series: FUNNY CAR – Robert Hight, Yorba Linda, Calif., Auto Club Ford Mustang, 4.056, 312.71 mph, def. Matt Hagan, Christiansburg, Va., DieHard Dodge Charger, 4.023, 310.20 mph. TOP FUEL – Morgan Lucas, Brownsburg, Ind., GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster3.835, 316.38 mph def. Shawn Langdon, Brownsburg, Ind., Lucas Oil dragster, 4.047, 313.73 mph PRO STOCK – Jason Line, Mooresville, NC, Summit Pontiac GXP, 6.529, 211.89 mph def. Greg Stanfield, Bossier city, La., Safety Sentry Inc. Pontiac GXP, 6.595, 210.70 mph * * * * HIGHT WINS WINTERNATIONALS FOR THIRD TIME POMONA --- Robert Hight had to endure a long cold winter. Beginning with his last round win in Brainerd at the Lucas Oil Nationals in August the 41-year old former crewman’s season ground to a...

NHRA Drag Racing's John Force Racing Team News WITH FAMILY AT THE FOREFRONT, ASHLEY TAKES HIATUS FROM RACING YORBA LINDA, CA (January 25, 2011) – Two-time reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Champion Ashley Force Hood, a top three finisher in the NHRA Full Throttle driver standings each of the last two seasons, announced Tuesday that she and husband Dan are expecting their first child. Moments after informing members of her Castrol GTX team of the news via satellite hook-up with John Force Racing East in Brownsburg, Ind., Force Hood told those assembled for a press conference at JFR corporate headquarters that she will take a temporary hiatus and will not compete this year for the Full Throttle Championship. The 28-year-old graduate of Cal State-Fullerton instead will focus on motherhood and her new responsibilities as president of John Force Entertainment, a JFR subsidiary that has been charged with responsibility for building the JFR brand on a variety of new and existing platforms. The NHRA national record holder for Funny Car speed (316.38 miles per hour), Force Hood admitted that she is excited about both her pregnancy and about finally being...

NHRA Drag Racing Crew Competition How can you not like Ashley Force Hood? I just found out that Ashley Force Hood and her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang funny car crew have been nominated as one of the four finalists for the 2010 Full Throttle Hard Working Crew Award. You can vote from now until the end of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season (Nov. 15). Ashley's crew was nominated for their fantastic effort the weekend of the 56th annual Mac Tools US Nationals where they won their second consecutive US Nationals Funny Car title. Please vote for Ashley and also help us spread the word. Here's a video of Ashley Force and her crew having a little fun... [youtube width="575" height="425"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQaQrk4IsVA [/youtube] Here is the link to video all the nominees and to vote for Ashley Force Hood's Castrol GTX Mustang crew for the 2010 Full Throttle Hard Working Crew Award http://www.nhra.com/hardworkingcrew/ FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING AT...

Drag Racing Legends Maybe before cats and dogs started their bitter rivalry, there was Snake vs Mongoose. I'm not talking about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, I mean two of the best known drag racers ever to lay it all on the starting line: Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen. Back before corporate sponsorship made some racers professionals, drag racers were innovators and possibly daredevils who no doubt, did it for love and a heaping dose of quarter mile glory. Why else would Snake and Mongoose travel the country for "grudge matches" that paid not much more than gas and beer money? It wasn't until McEwen convinced Mattel (the first non-automotive drag racing sponsor) that "Wildlife Racing" and this "bitter" rivalry (actually between friends) would sell scores of Hot Wheels that drag racing became both lucrative and a common household discussion. But that's just part of the story!  Head down to the Peterson Automotive Museum for their NHRA: Sixty Years of Thunder where Don "The Snake" Prudhomme will be joined by Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, Roland Leong (Hawaiian funny car fame), "TV" Tommy Ivo (Actor and racer of some nasty multi-engined hot rods), Carroll...

It's been too long since I've posted a "Hot Rod Ramblings" feature.  For this post, I'm gonna go Nostalgia Drag and Funny Cars on you guys.  But, these "hot rod ramblings" come from my Uncle, "RickyRod" Hechtspeed.  These are my Uncle's memories of the "Pit" from the late 60's.  The "Pit" was the nickname for the first Irwindale Dragstrip. A quick background... the "Calera Kids" were my dad (Rodger "Calera Ave burnout king" and Ford/Merc' lover and his little bro, the "Chevy Puke" (as my dad would call him) and their buddies Rick Patterson, Scott Henry, John DeGraff (sporto), Lalo Gabriel, Rob Shultz, Pat Murphy and a few kids not directly in the "hood" Scott Taylor and Steve Presley were drag fans.  They lived on Calera Avenue in Azusa, California, the next city over from Irwindale. Anyway, these ramblings are taken from some emails from my Uncle.  They mean a lot to me, because it is a piece of the Hechtspeed history.  I thought you guys would really dig 'em too, so here goes, let the Ramblings begin! "It is possible that the four kids shrouded by the supercharger are the “Calera Kids”.  That was one of...