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MADISON, Ill. -- John Force cemented his position as the most prolific Funny Car driver in NHRA history, becoming the first to reach 1,000 round victories with a first-round victory over Ron Capps in the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals.
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Sunday wasn't a complete success for the veteran, however. Force was beaten in the next round by teammate Robert Hight. Not much of a way to finish off your 59th birthday.
"You can't win without a good crew, sponsors ... and crew chiefs like Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly," Force said. "Five hundred races (a milestone he achieved last week in Atlanta) just means you showed up a lot. But winning 1,000 rounds, that means that at a point in time, we were pretty good."
Force has won 125 titles overall.
Tim Wilkerson denied one of John Force Racing's other drivers, Mike Neff, his first career win. On his hometown track, Wilkerson earned his second victory of the season and seventh of his career. He drove his Chevy Impala SS to a 4.874-second finish at 317.27 mph to Neff's 4.886 at 321.58 in his Ford Mustang.
"The emotions are out of control," Wilkerson said. "It was all I could do at the other end of the track just to get out of the car. ... It'll get the monkey off our back. We ended up qualifying No. 1 a couple of times this year and couldn't even get out of first round. We're pretty proud. My guys are just doing a terrific job working on my car, and the track was good all day."
Wilkerson enters the next event in Bristol, Tenn., leading the points race for the first time in his 11-year career.
Rod Fuller has his own reason to celebrate. Fuller drove his Top Fuel dragster to a 4.525 time at 328.70 mph and beat Tony Schumacher's 4.583 at 325.45.
"I kind of had a chip on my shoulder from what happened to me last year, leading the points all year long and losing to (Schumacher, the reigning world champion)," Fuller said. "It's gratifying when you beat him."
Kurt Johnson earned his first win since Phoenix last year when he drove his Chevy Cobalt to a 6.631 at 209.30 mph for a victory against Dave Connolly's 6.651 at 208.78 in Pro Stock. It was his 37th career victory and third at Gateway International Raceway.
Andrew Hines turned in his 16th consecutive run in the six-second range to earn his second successive and 15th career title in Pro Stock Motorcyle, beating Matt Smith.
