Big O Tires, LLC. is North America's largest franchiser of tire retailers. It is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, and has more than 540 franchises in 21 U.S. states and Canada. It sells its own Big O private brand tires and other brands. In addition to selling and servicing tires, wheels, and alignments, Big O Tires provides basic maintenance and replacement services such as oil changes, battery replacement, struts installation, and brake service. Because Big O Tires is a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation, its franchisees are located in markets not served by the TBC-owned Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire chains.

History[link]

The company was founded in 1962, when it split from OK Tires. In 1996, it was acquired by TBC Corporation, which also owns Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire.^[1] In 2006, TBC was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of America.^[2] Big O Tires remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation.

In a landmark case in 1977, Big O Tires was awarded $19.6 million from Goodyear over Goodyear's use of the name "bigfoot" tires. The amount equaled 25% of Goodyear's advertising budget in the states where Big O operated. The amount was reduced on appeal and the case was later settled.^[3]

References[link]

1. ^ "TBC to Buy Outstanding Shares of Big O Tires" The New York Times. 1996-05-03. URL retrieved 2006-12-02
2. ^ "Sumitomo Corporation of America Completes Acquisition of TBC Corporation". Business Wire. 2005-11-17. URL retrieved 2006-12-02.
3. ^ Doan, Amy. "Xbox Name May Cost Microsoft". Forbes. 2001-02-05. URL last retrieved 2006-12-02.

External links[link]

• Company website

Big O or The Big O may refer to:

In fiction:

• The Big O, a Japanese animated series
  • Big O (mecha), the premier mecha of The Big O
• The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, a children's book by Shel Silverstein
• The Brotherhood of International Government and Order, the evil organisation from the Matt Helm films

People:

• Barack Obama (born 1961), 44th President of the United States
• Oliver Miller (born 1970), former professional basketball player
• Oscar Robertson (born 1938), former professional basketball player
• Roy Orbison (1936–1988), American singer-songwriter
• Bob Orton (1929–2006), professional wrestler
• Brian Oldfield (born 1945), former world record shot putter
• Glenn Ordway (born 1951), Boston-area sports radio host
• Oprah Winfrey (born 1954), American television host, producer and philanthropist
• Otis Redding (born 1941), American soul singer-songwriter and record producer

Other uses:

• The Greek letter Ω, or Omega, whose name translates literally as "big O" or "great O"
• Big O (Ferris wheel), the world's largest centerless Ferris wheel, located in Japan
• Big Omega function (disambiguation), various arithmetic functions in number theory
• Big O notation, asymptotic behavior in mathematics and computing
  • Time complexity in computer science, whose functions are commonly expressed in big O notation
• Big O Tires, a tire retailer in the United States and Canada
• Ohio, in slang
• Olympic Stadium (Montreal), the main venue of the 1976 Summer Olympics
• Orgasm, in slang
• Overstock.com, with marketing tag-line "The Big Big O"
• The Big O (album), by Roy Orbison
• The Big 'O', a structure on Skinner Butte in Eugene, Oregon, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

John Harold Force
Nationality	American
Born	(1949-05-04) May 4, 1949 (age 63) Bell Gardens, California
Related to	Ashley Force Hood (Daughter) Brittany Force (Daughter) Courtney Force (Daughter) Laurie Force (Wife) Adria Hight (Daughter) Robert Hight (Son-in-Law)
Funny Car
Years active	1978 - Present
Teams	John Force Racing
Starts	548
Wins	133
Best finish	1st (15 times) in 1990-1991 1993-2002 2004 2006 2010
Championship titles
1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004 2006 2010	15 NHRA Championships

John Harold Force (born May 4, 1949 in Bell Gardens, California) is an NHRA drag racer, a 15-time Funny Car champion driver, and a 17-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing. He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 133 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of John Force Racing [JFR].

Current drivers racing under him are son-in-law Robert Hight and daughter Courtney. Mike Neff, who was once the crew chief for rival driver Gary Scelzi, raced in a 4th Funny Car for Team Force from October 26, 2007, following the death of Eric Medlen, until the end of the 2009 season. However, in 2010, after a '09 season in which John did not win a single race, Force parked his 4th car, and named Neff as his new crew chief instead. This decision resulted in Force winning his 15th NHRA Championship.

1978-2004[link]

This section requires expansion.

Early in his career, Force drove a Corvette, a Monza and then in the 1980s switched to an Oldsmobile Cutlass through the end of the 1993 season. He drove a Chevrolet for 1994, quickly changing to a Pontiac in 1995 and 1996. Since 1997, Force has been a Ford driver and team owner.

John's points finishes were 23rd, 8th, 26th, 16th, 20th, 4th, 13th, and 5th from 1978-1985. John then had Castrol Motor Oil jump on as his main sponsor, and was even more successful. From 1986-1995, he finished 4th, 4th, 6th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 1st. He then had fellow driver and arch rival Cruz Pedregon's younger brother, Tony, come aboard to drive John's 2nd car. From 1996-2000, John finished 1st all 5 years. In 2001, John had longtime friend and fellow drag racer Gary Densham drive a third car. In that same year, John once again finished as the champion, which he followed up with an astronomical 10th straight world title in 2002. In 2003, for the 1st time since 1992, John didn't win the title. It was not all lost however, because teammate Tony Pedregon won his 1st world title. At the end of the season, Tony Pedregon went on to join brother Cruz in their own racing organization, and Gary Densham went on to race independently. John found quick and personal talent in 2 young-guns. Eric Medlen, son of long-time JFR crewmember John Medlen, came on to race. John's other driver, Robert Hight, was his son-in-law and crewmember. Both had a lot of success in their season, but John topped both in 2004 with a 13th world title.

Since 2000, Force has been sponsored by BP's Castrol brand, continuing the relationship between Force and Castrol that began in 1986. After winning his fourth Funny Car title in 1994, Force earned the nickname of "Brute Force" from drivers, and even announcers such as Steve Evans. This nickname hearkens back to his early days on the track, when he drove his own unsponsored car, named "Brute Force". Force had a cameo in a 2004 episode of King of the Hill ("Dale Be Not Proud"), in which Dale Gribble donates a kidney to Force, after which it appears he does not need it.

2005[link]

In 2005, Force won 5 events, but only finished third in the championship standings, 32 points behind champion Gary Scelzi, and 24 points behind Ron Capps, both of Don Schumacher Racing [DSR].

2006[link]

In 2006, John Force won his 14th NHRA World Funny Car Championship, defeating Ron Capps in the quarter-finals of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals which mathematically eliminated Ron Capps and teammate Robert Hight from the championship. Force went on to win the event, his third of the season and 122nd of his career.

2007[link]

John Force Racing shop

2007 was a very tough, tragic season for the Force team, beginning early in the year with the death of team driver Eric Medlen, followed later by Force's own crash in Ennis, Texas at the 2007 O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals. Force started the year poorly, suffering a DNQ ending a 20+ year consecutive qualifying streak. He rebounded, winning the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, then proceeded on to three more final rounds, winning another race in Sonoma, California, putting him fourth in points and allowing him to make the first cut in NHRA's new point system, the Countdown to the Championship aka the "Countdown to Eight". He stumbled again in the next two races but, again, rebounded until his crash.

On September 23, 2007, Force was injured in a crash at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas as he crossed the finish line against Kenny Bernstein. Bernstein's Funny Car drifted into Force's lane, clipping the final timing cone and a foam block which shot into Force's lane. Initially, it was thought that the block ruptured Force's left rear tire, causing it to come apart, violently shaking the chassis until it broke apart. However, it was determined by NHRA after thorough review, that the block went behind Force's tire and was not the cause of the wreck.^[1] Injuries sustained were a broken ankle, abrasion of his right knee, a dislocated left wrist, and badly mangled fingers and toes. Phil Burkart Jr. was added as Force's replacement for the remainder of the 2007 season, starting at Las Vegas.

2008[link]

2008 was not a very good season for Force, finishing out of the top five for the first time since early in his career. He ultimately finished 7th . However, after the death of driver Scott Kalitta, he was instrumental in the development of some of the safety precautions that were implemented throughout the rest of the season, and also, along with retired 6 time world champion Kenny Bernstein [4 Funny Car titles, 2 Top Fuel titles], and seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, with backing from NHRA's Track Safety Committee, assisted in developing a sensor that monitors the engines of Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars. Should the engine backfire at any time during a race, the fuel pump is automatically shut down, and the parachutes are deployed. The idea was to either minimize or eliminate the circumstances that led to Kalitta's death. This safety device became mandatory, and was put into place at the start of the 2009 season. Also made an optional setting for the Funny Car division, was a brake handle that, instead of needing to be pulled back, toward the driver, was set up to be pushed away from the driver. This came about because when the 2008 season began, Force's right arm was still in a cast, due to broken fingers, and he needed a different way of using the brakes on the car, rather than the traditional handbrake that needed to be brought back toward the driver; also, in the 2007 accident in Texas, Force had lost some grip in his right hand, and had some problems putting enough pressure on the handbrake to unlock it from position to apply the brakes. This led to the development of the forward application handbrake, which has given several drivers in the Funny Car class quicker access to the brakes. Though Force only finished seventh in the points in 2008, he became influential within the NHRA for innovations in driver safety.

2009[link]

2009 once again saw Force finish outside of the top five. John finished 9th, daughter Ashley finished 2nd, and Mike Neff placing 10th. However, he would win his 16th overall championship as a car owner, with teammate Robert Hight's championship, placing Force as the winningest car owner in NHRA history.

2010[link]

The start of the 2010 season saw Force celebrate 25 years with the same sponsor, as well as 34 years in the NHRA. On February 14, Force won the season opener at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in the 50th Winternationals in California defeating Ron Capps. After 13 events, Force has 4 wins, and lead the Funny Car points standings with 933, 58 ahead of teammate Robert Hight.

Going into the Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, CA on November 14, 2010, Force needed some help to win the championship. He started the day 38 points behind 28-year-old Matt Hagan, who ran for team rival Don Shumacher and his team. In order to capture the championship he needed to finish two rounds ahead of Hagan. With Bob Tasca III taking Hagan out in the first round, Force won his first round over Gary Densham and second round win over Bob Bode, securing the championship. He then went on to victory beating Melanie Troxel in the semi-finals and in the final, defeated Jeff Arend. John Force now has the distinction of being the oldest NHRA champion in history at the age of 61. Long time crew chief Austin Coil resigned from John Force Racing on Nov. 16, 2010.

2011[link]

As of February 7, 2011, JFR has already flip-flopped cars between John, Robert, Ashley, and Mike. Ashley Force Hood announced that she was expecting her 1st child, and would sit out the 2011 Full Throttle Drag Racing Season. John Force would drive Force Hood's new Ford Mustang with Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas tuning, sponsored by Castrol Motor Oil. Robert Hight will remain in the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang. Mike Neff, after co-crew chiefing John Force's car with Austin Coil, will drive Force's car from John's 2010 championship season. Neff's Ford Mustang will be sponsored by Castrol Oil. As of February 7, 2011, JFR started testing for the 2011 season. Out of the 11 testers so far, Force is 1st, Hight was 5th, and Neff was 6th. As of July 31, Force is 7th in the points standings, while teammate Mike Neff is leading, and Robert Hight is in second.

2012[link]

2012 saw John welcome a fourth driver to his stable, former Top Alcohol Dragster champion, and daughter Courtney, who is in the running for the Auto Club Rookie of the Year Award, she will be driving the Traxxas Ford Mustang in her rookie season, and she has done something that only sister Ashley has done, beat her father in the first meeting between the two, taking John out of the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix in just the first round.

Achievements and awards[link]

Championships[link]

  1990 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1991 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1993 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1994 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1995 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1996 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1997 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1998 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  1999 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2000 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2001 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2002 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2003 NHRA Champion Owner (Tony Pedregon, Funny Car) 
  2004 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2006 NHRA Funny Car Champion 
  2009 NHRA Champion Owner (Robert Hight, Funny Car) 
  2010 NHRA Funny Car Champion 

Achievements[link]

• Selected as DRIVER of the YEAR for all of American motor racing in 1996 by a national panel of motorsports journalists, the first drag racer ever so honored.
• 134 wins Wallys in 217 final rounds
• First Funny Car drag racer to achieve 1,000 career elimination round wins (1,000th win: first round, 2008 NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int'l Raceway in St. Louis, Missouri), where he defeated Ron Capps for the 1,000th round win.
• 15-time NHRA champion driver, and 17-time champion owner
• Ranked #2 on the NHRA Top 50 Drivers, 1951–2000, behind Don Garlits
• With daughter Ashley, first father/daughter pair to compete against each other, during the first round of the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta in 2007, which Ashley won.
• Only driver to have won more than ten championships in his division, beating the record once held by retired NHRA Pro Stock Champion Bob Glidden, who had 10 championships.
• Has won almost at every current track with the only one exception of (Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, which began hosting events in 2007)
• Most event #1 qualifications in NHRA history, with 139 (as of July 30, 2011)

Driving Force[link]

John is featured on A&E's reality show Driving Force with his wife (Laurie) and three of his daughters (Ashley, Courtney, and Brittany).

See also[link]

• Ford Racing

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Interview with John Force
• The Truth about Force's crash and heat-treated funny car chassis
• Thinking Back To An Eye-Opening Day With John Force
• Pro file on NHRA.com
• Driving Force website
• Driving Force profile
• John Force on IMDb