Momentum on the side of Force Racing entering Norwalk

NORWALK — The view has changed. John Force and his racing teams left California at 4 a.m. Thursday, but didn't arrive to the airport and hotel in Columbus until 2 a.m. Friday. Then came the 90-plus minute trek to the Norwalk area for this weekend's NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. Force, 72, also had his wife, two of his daughters and several grandchildren making the same whirlwind, stressful travel with him to Ohio. "In the past, a day like that would get you so upset, and I would say 'I don't need this anymore,'" Force said Friday from his trailer inside Summit Motorsports Park. "This will give you a heart attack. But with all that going on, knowing I was going to a race was the most important. "It's a new perspective," he added. "When you sit out a year, you want to get here real bad, no matter the stress or what it takes. The appreciation of the job and how much you love it hits home." When the NHRA drag racing season was put on hold in 2020 after just two events, JFR didn't return to the track when the series resumed with a condensed schedule in June. So when the current 2021 season began in March, Force and his teammate, Robert Hight, didn't waste any time getting back to their winning ways. Force — the winningest driver in the history of the sport — returned to winner's circle at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte on May 16, then Hight won the SpringNationals in Houston on May 24. Force then got back in the winner's circle two weeks ago on June 13 at the New England Nationals in Epping, N.H. — which was against Hight for his 153rd career NHRA win. That gives the JFR funny car tandem the last three wins on the tour entering this Sunday's Summit nationals in Norwalk. Not bad for a team that missed nearly all of 2020. "I was able to keep all the people together, and all three cars are good and they work together," Force said. "And luck is a big part of the game. It can be the luck of the draw with who you race — so we're just excited to be back racing. I have been doing this for 45 years … I love wen we're doing it, and I hate it when I'm not. But we had no choice. The pandemic was rough, getting through it for everybody, not just us." Entering Norwalk, Force (480 points) closely trails Bob Tasca III (495) at the top of the standings. J.R. Todd (450) is third and Hight (423) isn't far behind in fourth. Force has one win in 13 previous tries at the Summit Nationals, though he's dominated the Night Under Fire exhibition in August for decades. He won in Norwalk in 2014 and opened this year's event by finishing fourth in qualifying on Friday. "This was the one place on tour I had never won. I had trouble here for a while, but finally closed that door," Force said. "I love the Bader family, the best promotors in the business," he added. "So just to come back in this surrounding … this is a special place to John Force Racing. Like any track, let's try and get No. 2. I want it bad, and I want another championship. I thought I had done everything I could do in my lifetime, but after I sat out that year I realized this is what I want to do — right to the very end. So I don't want to die in a rocking chair. I'm going to go down, let me go down on a race track. But I hope it's peaceful when I do." Hight badly wants Norwalk Wally The numbers say it all. Hight owns the speed record (334.65 mph) at Norwalk. He's won the Night Under Fire as well. But the two-time world champion is yet to step into the winner's circle in the Maple City — and no one needs to remind Hight of that fact, especially after a No. 2 qualifying time Friday night. "Oh no it does (frustrate me), I look at all that," Hight said prior to Friday's qualifying round. "I want to win every race on the tour. If you're going to continue to chase (John), you get every win you can. I haven't won this one, it's one of the few, but we've been to the finals and just haven't gotten the job done. "I want to make it my focus coming into this race to make two finals in a row and finally get it done in Norwalk." Hight said with JFR Racing based in Indianapolis, the Norwalk stop serves as a home race for much of the team. "It really feels like a home race, which adds to the hunger of wanting to win it," he said. Hight acknowledged the last three races have been very good, but he and his team are setting the bar higher and higher. "We still have a lot of work to do," he said. "Sitting out last year, everyone was anxious to get back, and everyone is focused in a little more. When you sit out for that long, I think it shows how you really missed it. We're trying to get the championship back. "It was a bummer that we didn't get to defend the championship in 2020 that we won in 2019, so we're back to defend in our eyes." Strong start for Brittany Force In Top Fuel, Brittany Force, John's youngest daughter, enters Norwalk in fifth place in the season standings, though she's just 50 points out of third. Growing up, the Norwalk stop was the unofficial start of summer for Force and her siblings. "When we were kids years ago, it was always the first race," Brittany said. "Summer break would hit, we'd be done with school, and we'd head to Norwalk. This was the first race and it brings back memories of summer for all of us." While she would also love to add a Norwalk Wally to her collection, Brittany Force said the main goal is a win — period. Her last win was on Nov. 3, 2019 in Las Vegas, which was the second-to-last race of the 2019 season. She opened Friday night's qualifying with the second-best time. "We're just looking for our first win of the season. We stepped out last season, so it's been a while since we've been in winner's circle," Brittany said. "So we're just looking for that first win. We're pushing hard, we have a different approach coming into this weekend. "We want to kill it every single run. We want to grab the No. 1 qualifier, get as many points as we can get and go rounds on race day," she added. "We're looking for a long, good weekend." After Norwalk, Force said she and her team are anxious for next month when there are three races in consecutive weeks. "I think momentum is a big part of it," she said. "I've always liked our back-to-back races. I hate when we have a week or two off between. It kind of pulls your mindset out of it, not just for me but the team, everybody." Brittany Force said it was difficult watching all the races on television last season. "It was hard not being there. This is what we do and what we love," she said. "To have to step out for a season was difficult, but it made me truly realize how much I love my job and my team. We're all ready to be back and happy and grateful to be here."