John Force’s 1,000 Victories Not Unbreakable
Written by David Lamm · May 6, 2008
The incomparable John Force notched his 1,000th round win en route to beating Ron Capps in the opening round of eliminations Sunday. Many would say that winning 1,000 rounds of competition in NHRA drag racing is just about unbreakable in today’s climate. I would disagree. Not because the task is easy but because the way today’s drag racing has evolved.
NHRA.com: Force reaches milestone 1,000th round-win in Madison
In sports there are some records that are unbreakable because the sport has changed since the re4cord was established. In Major League Baseball, Cal Ripkin Jr’s streak of 2,632 consecutive games will probably never be broken. In today’s day and age of specialists making the everyday baseball player scarcer, that record should stand forever. The game changed to make it nearly impossible to break that record. In respect to Force’s record of 1,000 wins, the state of drag racing has changed to the point where it would be easier for someone to reach that milestone in today’s racing climate. When John Force recorded his first round win against Tom McEwen in 1979 at Baton Rouge, La, there were only 10 races on the schedule. Within a ten year span from 1979 to 1989, the NHRA nearly doubled the schedule, hosting 19 National Events in 1989. This year with the addition of the drag strip at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the schedule has ballooned to 24 races on the NHRA POWERade schedule. More races mean more opportunities to win rounds. With that said, the lack of races early in Force’s career is a testament to his commitment and utter dominance of a sport where consistency is a rarity.
Could someone break the 1,000 round win milestone soon? Not likely. Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson is more than 150 round wins behind Force with 846 wins to his credit. WJ would have to rattle off 39 consecutive wins, not round wins, but race wins of four rounds each, just to reach 1,000. I don’t see Johnson doing that anytime soon and it will take years for him to reach 1,000. Take into consideration that WJ has already retired once and he is no spring chicken. The next closest driver still actively driving is Warren’s son Kurt Johnson with 473 round wins. KJ would have to win every race (assuming the NHRA keeps the current number of races at 24 per year) for the next six years to reach the 1,000 round win mark. Not likely either.
In retrospect, maybe 1,000 round wins could be the insurmountable milestone nobody can break. I highly doubt that any of the drivers currently driving on the NHRA POWERade Series has a shot at it. It will have to be someone that is very young, someone like Dave Connolly who is very talented, has the proper funding and sponsorships and has a lot of years ahead of him. With that said it will take years of dominance and a whole lot of luck to even come close. Ashley Force could very well be the one to break it since she meets all of those criteria.
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There is always someone who is Bigger, Bader, Stronger and faster but like you said it will take some time to see it happen. Until then Big Bad John is in his own zip code on this one.