Force gets Glick Award

John Force, the winningest driver in the National Hot Rod Assn., was selected winner of the Justice Brothers Shav Glick Award on Sunday before the Auto Club 500.

The Yorba Linda-based driver was in Phoenix, where his four John Force Racing teams competed in the Powerade Drag Racing Series. He lost in the first round to Scott Kalitta, and his daughter Ashley failed to qualify, but Robert Hight reached the final.

Force’s other three daughters accepted the award named after the late motor racing writer for The Times, a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame. The award recognizes Californians who have made distinguished contributions to motor sports.

“Being nominated for an award with Shav’s name on it is an honor by itself,” Force said in a statement, “but to be with people like Robert Petersen, Chris Pook and Jimmie Johnson, the NASCAR champ, makes it even more special. I wish I could have been there myself. . . . It’ll go right in my museum.

“Shav was the first real writer to ever do a story on me.”

Petersen, who died last year, founded a number of auto-related magazines as well as the Petersen Automotive Museum; Pook founded the Grand Prix of Long Beach and Johnson won the last two NASCAR Nextel Cup championships.

-- Martin Henderson