The Force is with the father - #lakewoodnews

After their semifinal victories in the funny car semifinals, John Force gave his daughter Courtney a ride on the back of a motor scooter in front of the west grandstands at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison.John Force, 67, beat Del Worsham to advance to the finals for the 244th time in his career. Courtney, the 28-year-old No. 1 qualifier, notched a semifinal win over Robert Hight.So father raced against daughter in the funny car finals July 24 at the 37th annual Mopar Mile High Nationals, which was televised live nationally for the first time live on Fox.John Force caught Courtney at the finish line for his first victory of the season and a record-tying seventh in 10 finals rounds at the Morrison track.Other winners were Allen Johnson, who has been nicknamed the "King of the Mountain," in Pro Stock, Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel and Andrews Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle.John Force had what he termed an anxiety attack before the finals and threw up but notched his first win to became the oldest driver to win a funny car race in NHRA history"I needed this win," said the 16-time world champion. "I had to get my kid out of my mind... I told Courtney I loved her, but I am giving this everything I've got."No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier Alex Laughlin was eliminated in the second round when he red lighted going against Vincent Nobile.Johnson made the Pro Stock Mile High Nationals finals for the 10th consecutive season, and he has now won a record seven times at Bandimere after beating Nobile, who had earned a second consecutive red light advancement against Jason Line in the semifinals.Johnson seems to have a magic touch on Thunder Mountain."The magic is just here for some reason," Johnson said. "I wouldn't have given us a 1 percent chance to win all weekend. We might have got a break or two along the way but I guess that was that mountain magic. It was great to do it on national TV on the Fox network."Schumacher hadn't won since July 2015 in Chicago but captured a Wally Trophy for the 82nd time in his 21-season career when he defeated defending world champion Andrew Brown, who smoked his tires in the Top Fuel finals."I've enjoyed great moments in racing during my career but coming back from a huge deficit when people have counted you out like we have done this weekend is most satisfying to me," said Schumacher.Hines, 33, set a track record time of 7.134 seconds at 188.3 mph in his finals win over teammate Eddie Krawlec. He became the Pro Stock Motorcycle winningest rider with 45 career wins."It doesn't get much better racing up here on the mountain with the different air that requires a different setup," said Hines who notched his third Bandimere win to go along with two runner-up finishes since he made his professional debut in 2002 at the Mile High Nationals.

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/The-Force-is-with-the-father,231032