Seattle Wrap Up

Force and Gordon take Top Alcohol Wins in Seattle

Kent, Wash.- Courtney Force, the youngest daughter of NHRA Funny Car racer John Force, will always have soft spot in her heart for Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., as it is now the site of her first NHRA national event win. The 21-year-old Force wheeled her Jerry Darien-tuned Top Alcohol Dragster to the winner’s circle at the NHRA Northwest Nationals over the weekend. Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Doug Gordon shared the winner’s circle with Force, notching his first national event win of the year.

Courtney Force qualified in the No. 9 spot and faced off against some of the veterans of the class during eliminations. The Yorba Linda, Calif., racer beat Mark Niver in round-one, Dale Carlson in the second round and in the final it was Chris Demke of Sunland, Calif. Against Demke, Force laid down a 5.440-second, 257.83 mph pass to his 5.508-second, 218.87 mph effort. Carlson and Demke are both former division champions. In the semis Force squared off against her sister Brittney who red-lighted.

Gordon, a resident of Morro Bay, Calif., qualified in the No. 4 spot and made progressively quicker runs throughout eliminations. In the second round he beat four-time Northwest division champ Brian Hough and in the semifinals he faced off against former Pacific division champion Steve Gasparrelli. Gordon made his best run of the weekend in the final against Roger Bateman, Calgary, Alb. He laid down a 5.572-second, 258.91 mph pass in the final which was more than enough to cover Bateman who slowed to a 9.047-second run. Gordon was runner-up earlier this year at the Winternationals and Bateman was runner-up at the national event in Las Vegas.


Courtesy of NHRA Communications