There was never really a question as to whether 12-time Funny Car champion John Force was going to win another national event trophy before long. Anyone who even casually follows the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series knows that Force's recent 12-race slump was on the verge of being snapped.

After all, heading into the 24th Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway outside Denver this past weekend, he had qualified No. 1 or No. 2 at six of the last seven races, had already set a new NHRA national elapsed time record in Joliet (Ill.), and then advanced to the final round at the next two events. All the signs were there that a win was just waiting to happen -- and it did on Sunday in Denver, as Force won for the 107th time in his career and his locked up his first victory since the final race of the 2002 season.

But now, what does it all mean?

Force has methodically moved from 12th in the points following his first-round loss in Gainesville (Fla.) in March to a season-high fourth thanks to his Denver win. Although his teammate Tony Pedregon still holds a commanding 326-point lead over Force for the category's top spot, Force trails third-place driver Del Worsham by a mere 15 points and second place Whit Bazemore by 202.

It has been Force's stated goal for 2003 to, if not win the championship outright, to have his three-car operation finish 1-2-3 in the standings. With his third driver Gary Densham now slipping to fifth, it's still a long shot for Team Castrol to pull off the sweep. But Force isn't ready to abandon his goal just yet.

"When you've been out here as long as I have, two things happen," Force said following his final-round victory over Cruz Pedregon in the Denver finale. "You get old like me and you realize that things can look a lot different after only a few races. Tony's had the points lead all year and even though he lost in the first round this weekend, we were able to stop (Whit) Bazemore in the second round and keep the damage in the points to a minimum.

"I've said all along we still want to catch Tony and if we can't do that, we'll be a team and help him win it all. Densham's had some bad luck lately but Jimmy (Prock, Densham's tuner) has a handle on their tuneup and they'll come around. If we can get through the Swing without hurting ourselves and getting these ol' Mustangs down the track, we'll still be able to get it done."

If it were any other driver in the Funny Car class being discussed, the prospects of making up a 300-plus point deficit and winning the championship with only 10 races left in the season would be ludicrous. But this is John Force, the winningest drag racer in history and still the man to beat on any Sunday.

Things could get pretty wild between now and November.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.