ESPN NHRA

KENT, Wash. -- John Force didn't win Sunday, losing in the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals finals when his car blew up and caught fire at half track. He also had to watch his daughter go through the worst crash of her career.

But in the midst of the most painful season of his stellar career, on and off the track, Force is back where he belongs.

The 14-time Funny Car champion is inside the cutoff point for the first-ever NHRA playoff, which begins in September. It's the first time this season he has ranked in the top eight in the standings.

Also on a rainy day at Pacific Raceways, Jack Beckman won his second consecutive race in Funny Car, Tony Schumacher won in Top Fuel and Dave Connolly was a winner in Pro Stock.

But the story of the weekend is the remarkable comeback Force has made over the past month.

Winning another title just didn't matter to Force after Eric Medlen, who drove for Force's team, died of injuries suffered in a testing accident at Gainesville, Fla., in March.

Force was devastated. He referred to Medlen as the son he never had. After the tragedy, Force and his team skipped one event while working with the NHRA to improve the cockpit safety of Funny Cars.

Some of those improvements came into play Sunday in a frightening moment for John when he watched daughter Ashley experience a nasty crash.

The roller-coaster emotions of the season played out in a matter of seconds. John won his second-round match, but moments later saw Ashley's accident.

Ashley, a rookie in Funny Car, slammed her car into the retaining wall head-on. She suffered only a sprained thumb, but the scary crash had John hurrying down the track to make sure his daughter was OK.

"I was fine," Ashley said. "But dad definitely needed to see the doctor. He was pretty shook up, but it's understandable considering what he's been through this year."

The g-forces on Ashley's head were reduced because of additional padding John Force Racing has added to the roll cage of its cars.

"I don't even have a headache," Ashley said. "We have a new earpiece device now that registers the g-forces on our head in an impact. It showed the padding did its job."

Once Force realized Ashley was OK, he went back to the business at hand, beating Mike Ashley in the semifinals before losing to Beckman when Force's engine exploded.

But Force jumped out of his flaming machine, as he has done a hundred times in his career, and had a smile on his face.

At age 58, a 15th title now is a realistic possibility. He was 20th after six races this year and 15th after 11 events. But he has a win, a semifinals appearance and a final-round loss in the past three races to move up to the eighth spot.

"My old hot rod is back," Force said. "She's running again, and I'm really excited. We tore up a lot of stuff to get back in the chase. But my kids are well, I'm alive and well, and everything's great."

Schumacher felt the same after edging Brandon Bernstein to win Sunday.

The speed of an eyeblink is about four-tenths of a second. The difference between winning and losing in the Top Fuel final was 100 times faster than one blink.

Schumacher edged Bernstein by .004 of a second at the finish line. The difference of a few inches showed up at the end, but the race was won at the starting line. Schumacher won a rare Top Fuel holeshot.

Schumacher had a slower elapsed time than Bernstein (4.607 seconds to 4.558 seconds), and Bernstein was 21 mph faster (328 to 307). But Schumacher left the starting line .053 of a second faster than Bernstein.

"I don't think I've ever won a final on a holeshot in my life," Schumacher said. "It just doesn't happen. And I think I've only lost on a holeshot two or three times in 10 years, but never in a final."

Schumacher, who has won the past three Top Fuel championships, has won three of the past four events on the suburban Seattle track.

He didn't think he would get a chance to win Sunday. The weather forecast was for rain all day. The event was delayed close to three hours because of light rain late in the day.

Connolly has to wait like everyone else, but his victory made him one of three drivers who clinched a playoff spot. Rod Fuller in Top Fuel and Ron Capps in Funny Car also clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

Three races remain to get in the Countdown. For Force, it's counting down to make something special out of a season of heartbreak.

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.