John Force Inducted Into Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame in Toronto
John Force's NHRA Funny Car record in Canada didn't start out impressively. He was 1-4 in his first four starts at Saint-Pie, Quebec's Le Grandnational Molson, the only international race that ever was part of the NHRA series.
But the 16-time Funny Car champion turned his fortune around there at Sanair Speedway, with a 20-4 record in his next seven appearances that included his first of 157 victories June 28, 1987, and two more in 1990 and 1992.
Although he is a Southern California native, Force on Feb. 15 became one of the newest members of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Still recovering from injuries he sustained last June in Virginia, Force, 75, was unable to attend the ceremony in Toronto but appeared via video taken at his Yorba Linda, Calif., race shop.
'I'm very proud to accept this honor along with the other 2024 inductees. It's been a rough year, and I'm sorry I couldn't be there in Canada for the ceremonies,' Force aid. 'But this is special to me, because I won my first NHRA race in Canada. It may have been a long time ago, but I still remember.'
Force defeated Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch in the final round for that first triumph, and he beat Mark Oswald in 1990 and Al Hofmann in 1992. He scored a pair of runner-up finishes (to Kenny Bernstein in 1986 and to Jim White in 1991), as well, before the NHRA discontinued the event in 1993.
As the first drag racer selected for induction in the International category that was established in 2009, Force joins other motorsports legends Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Sir Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Dario Franchitti, Carroll Shelby, and Bobby Rahal.
Bernie Fedderly, co-crew chief during 12 of Force's NHRA-record 16 Funny Car championship seasons, was one of the first Canadian drag racing inductees in 1995). Other prominent Canadian drag-racing honorees include the late Dale Armstrong (1994), Top Fuel driver and former NHRA vice president of Competition Graham Light (1996), two-time Top Fuel champion Gary Beck (1998), and former U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner Terry Capp.
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