It took more than 25 years but John Force added one more record to his illustrious list of personal achievements by qualifying No. 1 at the 24th annual FRAM/Autolite NHRA Nationals for the 139 No. 1 qualifier of his career. Force broke a tie with Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson when his Friday night pass of 4.060 seconds held up as the quickest time all day at Infineon Raceway. Force reflected on all the people who contributed to this record and singled out one person in particular for supporting him throughout his career.

“I gave credit at the top end to all the crew chiefs. Steve Plueger was there from the beginning. Of course, Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly, but Austin Coil led me down this road. Now, he is not with me, but he is on vacation somewhere. I wish he was with me,” said Force. “[Crew chiefs] Dean Antonelli, Ron Douglas, Jimmy Prock, Mike Neff, these kids are the future. When I see Dean look through the window. When you can be put in the record books with legends like Warren Johnson that is great. I am still chasing them. I am still chasing [Don] Prudhomme in my mind. He thinks I am always just telling stories, but it is what gets me up and keeps me going.”

“You know what is really cool? I always congratulate everybody, all my crew chiefs and my sponsors like Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, Mac Tools, and BrandSource, but there is only one person that has been with me for all my records, all the low qualifiers and wins. There was someone there before all of that, and it was my girl’s mother: Laurie. She has been here for every low qualifier.”

During his career Force has won from the No. 1 spot 55 times and been runner-up an additional 24 times. He has reached the semifinals 73 percent of the time he has been No. 1 qualifier, and this is the 22nd time he has qualified No. 1 in the state of California, which is the most No. 1s in one state.

In the pressroom, Force recounted a conversation he had with Laurie after he set the record.

“She asked me if I remember Baton Rouge [La.], and I barely remember last week I have so much going on. If there is any one individual next to Austin Coil with all the wins and everything, Laurie was the one person that was there but a little longer. Those two people I give credit to for my career otherwise it would not have been pretty.”