Torrence, Force and Enders get wins in 25th Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Covington

Published 4:46 pm Tuesday, August 7, 2012

John Force, the legendary funny car driver who has won 15 championships in the class, was running around hugging and high fiving anyone who was willing at the starting line after his youngest daughter Courtney won her first national event Sunday at Pacific Raceways.

Courtney Force, a rookie in the National Hot Rod Association’s funny car class, drove her Traxxas Ford Mustang to the winner’s circle by beating her father in the semi-final and former funny car champion Matt Hagan in the final at the 25th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals.

This isn’t her first time hoisting a Wally, the nickname for NHRA trophies, at the track which is just a short drive from downtown Covington, Kent and Auburn. She got her first national event win in top alcohol dragster in 2009 at Pacific Raceways.

It wasn’t something Force thought would happen this season, especially in this event after she qualified 14th in a field of 16 cars.

“I remember coming out here and getting my Top Alcohol Dragster win,” Force said in an NHRA statement. “I looked at that Wally and remember thinking how much I couldn’t wait for the day I could get one that said Funny Car on the side. Being that it’s my rookie season, I didn’t expect it to happen this year at all. This is my learning season. I’m doing everything I can to be the best at what I’m trying to do.”

It wasn’t easy to win as weather conditions made it tricky for the nitro-fueled cars, which typically do better in cooler conditions such as what teams experienced a week ago in Sonoma, Calif. This time, the heat was on at Pacific Raceways, with temperatures in the 90s and track temperatures hitting 130 degrees Sunday.

Joining the younger Force in the winner’s circle was Erica Enders, who took her second win of her career beating Jason Line to the finish line in the pro stock final.

“I’m so proud of my guys because they won this race today,” Enders said in an NHRA statement. “They gave me a great car for me to drive, and we drove it right to the winner’s circle. I’m honored to be their driver, and hopefully we can get a few more wins before the season is over. If we can position ourselves well before the Countdown begins, this is a good time to be starting to gain momentum.”

Finally, Steve Torrence, who like Enders and Force got his first event wins this season, picked up his third Wally in five final rounds and picked up some valuable points to cap off the three-event Western Swing which started three weeks ago in Denver, Colo., before heading to Sonoma, Calif., two weeks ago with the event at Pacific Raceways the final race in the swing.

With a 4.168 elapsed time at 261.98 MPH, Torrence beat Shawn Langdon, who is still looking for his first Wally, and is driving for Al-Anabi Racing.

“Shawn had me nervous in the final,” Torrence said. “He’s a great leaver and a great race car driver. Alan Johnson has had that Al-Anabi car runnin’ all day. I counted on (crew chief) Richard Hogan and had a lot of confidence and did my job. I felt it start to knock the tire off in the final round and went as quick as I could to get it back going. Today, we were just on the right side. We’re living lucky.”

Torrence put his team together at the end of the 2011 season and has said repeatedly in recent weeks how pleased he is with its performance this year.

At the NHRA’s press conference before the Northwest Nationals, Torrence told the media at the Space Needle how he felt about what his team had accomplished at that point, which was two event wins in four final rounds.

“I’ve think we’ve surpassed any expectations I had a long time ago,” Torrence said. “It’s really pretty cool. I’m honored and privileged to come out and race in the NHRA.”

With just a month to go before the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, which culminates with the final race of the 23-event Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Pomona, Calif., drivers have spent the Western Swing trying to crack the top 10 in order to have a shot at the championship while others have been working to move closer to the top.

After the race in Indianapolis, Ind., Labor Day weekend, the top 10 racers in each pro class will be eligible to compete for their respective championships when the points are revised to narrow the lead significantly for the driver — or rider in pro stock motorcycle, which doesn’t race in Seattle — at the top of the standings.

Force’s defeat of Hagan, for example, made it all the harder for him to get into the top 10. Through the Western Swing he was in 11th place, just 62 points outside of the No. 10 spot which is held by Bob Tasca III. Meanwhile, Force is in sixth place in the funny car standings, three spots ahead of her dad and 292 points behind the leader, her brother-in-law and John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight.

Torrence remains in fourth place, 128 points behind Spencer Massey, with Tony Schumacher in the U.S. Army top fuel dragster just a point ahead of him and Antron Brown in second place just five points behind Massey.

With the win, Torrence clinched a spot in the Countdown.

Enders is in sixth place with 941 points in the pro stock points, which is led by Allen Johnson who won in Denver and Sonoma to take the top spot with 1,324 points, while Line is in second place and is 78 points behind Johnson.