7/02/07

This year is turning out to be one rocky ride.

The team went 0-3 in Norwalk this weekend and watched Mike Ashley pick up his second career national event win. What happened at JFR? Well, not a whole lot and most of it wasn’t good.

Qualifying looked promising with Robert picking up the low qualifier money in his first visit to Norwalk Raceway Park as a driver. John has match raced at Bill Bader’s showcase facility many times over the years, but this was the first time Robert was racing there behind the wheel in a NHRA National Event, rather than with a wrench in his hand.

Ashley qualified No. 2, but John was waaaaaayyyyy down the sheet at No. 12. When eliminations began on Sunday, they were over for John, Ashley, and Robert almost before they started. By the end of the second round, all three were sitting in the loss column.

I know I share the same sentiments with the many, many fans of the JFR trio who feel the pain when the team is struggling the way it has lately. I’m not really the kind of person who is a slavish believer in drag racing statistics but you can’t help but notice that the recent numbers being generated by the JFR outfit as a whole are so out of character for Team Castrol.

Here are a few. Let’s start with Ashley.

The Funny Car rookie has a 7-9 round record and has advanced to the semi-finals in Atlanta and Madison, IL representing her two best weekends. On the bright side, she’s avoided any DNQ’s and is currently seventh in the points.

Robert has had much better success this year, but lately has not been a factor. Overall, his round record is 18-6, Robert has won twice and has been No. 1 qualifier four times. Robert hasn’t won since Atlanta and in the last four races he has only three round wins and a DNQ.

John has had as bad a year as he ever suffered through, going as far back as when he was towing his early racecars with his pickup truck, sleeping on the seat, and traveling everywhere to match race with the hopes of earning enough money for food.  Right now, John has two round wins in the nine races he’s attended, posted a DNQ, and is mired in 15th in the points.

I don’t think anyone at JFR is thrilled with their report card.

But having the points lead doesn’t mean what it used to thanks to the Countdown. The easiest path to the 2007 championship is consistency, no dominance. If John can possibly get his round-winning apparatus up on its tires as soon as next weekend in Bristol, TN, he can make a convincing run for one of the Countdown to Eight spots he’ll need to be in when we hit Indy on Labor Day weekend. Of course, nothing which happened in Norwalk this past weekend would indicate that his program is back where it belongs so the answers continue to elude the team.

The fact remains that we’ve now completed two of the six consecutive national events scheduled between Englishtown and the end of the Western Swing in Sonoma, CA. You can only race one event at a time, but if—and this is a big “if”—John can avoid any more first round losses (He now has seven!) between now and Sonoma, can advance to at least the semi-finals at most of those races and maybe even win one or two, he will appreciably increase his chances of making the Countdown and put himself into solid position to make that Countdown.

I like Robert and Ashley’s Countdown likelihood and I know the plan is for all three drivers to be in the running for this year’s POWERade championship. But John and the guys can’t afford another Norwalk from now until we head for Indy or else championship No. 15 will have to wait for 2008.

The O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals are next up at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, TN this coming weekend. If you live anywhere in the greater Tri-Cities area, I hope you’ll come out to the races and enjoy the show. If you can’t be there, check your local listings for ESPN2’s comprehensive coverage of both qualifying and eliminations, and log back in at the official website of John Force Racing next week for the next installment of In the Groove.

Meantime, have a happy and safe 4th of July and drive safely.