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THE RETURN 2024
DEC 6
After a four-year hiatus, our Northern Force Race Team returned to the track in 2024.
Sadly, we'll continue without Gloria, the matriarch and "number one cheerleader" for our team, who passed in March of 2024.
The year started with me driving John and Sharon Fletcher's 2014 Mustang Cobra Jet factory drag race car. We actually started last year, but a driving error on my part put the car into the retaining wall causing considerable damage and limiting our schedule. John and Sharon sure are forgiving.
At the May 2024, NHRA National Open at Toronto Motorsport Park, we went five rounds on our way to the quarter-finals. Jory was there to cheer me on, keep me focused and offer his technical support.
John and Sharon's nephew, Bill Fletcher Jr., witnessed Jory's understanding of the mechanics and psychology of drag racing, and asked Jory to coach him during a test session following the event. Bill is a competent driver, with a good feel for the car, but was having trouble being consistent on the starting line in his factory-built 2012 Super Cobra Jet Mustang that runs 8.50 seconds at nearly 160 miles per hour in the quarter mile.
After a couple of days of interaction, Bill decided that he would like Jory to join his team and asked him to step into the driver’s seat of his Super Stock Mustang. Jory said he would if I was on board as the Crew Chief, and I was, so away we went to tracks in Quebec, Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Jory received a significant concussion as a result of the 2019 crash, and still suffers from mild symptoms, which made returning to driving something he wasn’t sure he would ever do. But he returned to the seat and performed as well as he ever has, "putting-on-a-clinic" after being out of the sport for four years. We went multiple rounds in the Can Am Stock/Super Stock Series, and in the NHRA Lucas Oil Divisional Series. Jory drove to a win early on in the season with the whole family in attendance, which was quite emotional. He also earned a runner-up finish and a quarter-final round finish in the 11 races we competed at.
We accumulated enough grade points in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series to allow for a run at NHRA Divisional and National Championships in 2025 and we're going to do it in a brand new, tricked-out, 50th Anniversary Mustang Cobra Jet that Bill had built in his home state of Texas. This will be a low 8 second, 170 mile per hour Super Stocker.
Testing will take place over the winter with the intention to start the season in Florida at the NHRA divisional and national events at Gainesville Raceway in late February.
To stay up-to-date with our adventure, you can follow Jory on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and to get in touch with me, use the contact option on this site.
In closing, a word of gratitude for family, friends, our wonderful racing community, and the Fletcher family for their kind-hearted support.
Bob.
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