Funny Car icon John Force said, “I am the 16-time champ!” with pride Sunday following the National Hot Rod Association’s Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He wasn’t menacing, like Muhammad Ali declaring, ‘I am the greatest!’ But Force just might well be the greatest, with his unprecedented series crowns and record 138 victories.

Force entered this next-to-last race of the season ahead of No. 2 Matt Hagan by 65 points but behaved as though he trailed by 65.

Images courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

“I just want to keep my nose clean, keep working the gym, and stay focused,” Force, 64, said, recalling his 1992 season, when Cruz Pedregon interrupted his string of championships. “We had a lead, and we thought we couldn’t be caught. So we went into test mode. Cruz Pedregon had to win almost every race to catch us. Well, he won five in a row and he beat us. I thought my career was over right there, and I told myself I’d never make that mistake again.”

With this third consecutive victory and fourth overall this year, he has won at least three events in a record 21 different seasons.

Force already has been inducted into the two major U.S.-based motor racing halls of fame: the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Detroit (2008) and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala. (2012). But he’s no less motivated after sharing the spotlight Sunday with new Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith and other race winners Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Shane Gray (Pro Stock).

“I wanted to prove I could still race. (Wife) Laurie has been the best thing for me. She said. ‘If you would quit sitting on the end of the bed, whining about what is going on . . . If you get out there and just win, then winning fixes everything.’ That just got my head right. Go win — that is what you are paid to do. I am good. I am tough enough. I am young enough to race and nobody loves it more than me,” Force said.

Smith completed the drag racing’s first “father-son championship in the same year” deal, as he defeated Jerry Savoie in the final round. Dad Rickie Smith clinched the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series title a few weeks earlier.

The Viper Motorcycle Company / Matt Smith Racing Buell rider earned his second series title and 17th overall victory. He was the 2007 champion. Like Force, he has won the last three races and four this season. Since the June race at Epping, N.H., Smith has advanced to eight finals.

“This team has been awesome,” Smith said, noting that teammate John Hall also won at Epping and Indianapolis. “What else can you ask for? With me winning the championship and dad winning the Pro Mod championship, it’s been great. I don’t want to sound too confident, but we’ve almost been unstoppable.”

He defeated Savoie and his White Alligator Racing Suzuki with a 6.991-second elapsed time at 192.08 mph to Savoie’s 7.050, 190.19.

As the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series prepares to finish its 2013 season Nov. 7-10 at Pomona, Calif., here’s a look back at the Las Vegas tale of triumph and disappointment.

STILL SCRAPPING – Not ready to give up on a second straight Top Fuel championship, Antron Brown earned his fourth Wally trophy this year. He drove his Matco Tools Dragster past Clay Millican in the Parts Plus Dragster (3.782 seconds at 324.51 mph to 3.822, 322.50). He took over second place and is 102 points behind Shawn Langdon with only the finale left.

“We’re still in it. We’re hoping, we’re praying, and the Good Lord has been blessing us. We’ve had the jars out, and He sure is filling them right now. So anything is possible,” Brown said after reaching his third consecutive final round. He is the only DSR driver to win  in the first five of six playoff races.

“What I’m most proud of is just the way we kept our heads down and we never gave up,” he said. “When mishaps were happening in the middle of the season, we just put our heads down and we worked harder. We went testing every Monday. Let me tell you, we won the ‘Monday Nationals’ a lot of times this year, and it made us better and it made us learn a lot of new things.” Did he learn how to erase a 102-point deficit?

FIFTH TIME’S THE CHARM – Shane Gray broke a 60-race winless streak with his final-round holeshot dismissal of V Gaines (6.699 seconds, 206.89 mph in the Gray Motorsports Camaro to Gaines’ 6.698, 207.46 in the Kendall Oil Dodge Avenger). “The team needed a day like this so bad – and sheesh, so did I,” Gray said. “I’ve let the guys down a couple times this year in the final round, so this was a big boost of confidence. It’s amazing what winning will do. It certainly lets you know that you’re still capable of doing it. Anytime you can win even just a round in Pro Stock, you’ve done pretty well.”

It was Gray’s fifth final-round appearance this year. He’s fourth in the standings, just 84 points out of first place and 13 points behind No. 2 Jason Line. Jeg Coughlin continues to lead, and Mike Edwards is third.

ALL IN THE FAMILY – John Force defeated daughter Courtney Force (4.062 seconds, 310.63 mph to 4.085, 319.22) to claim championships with every major NHRA series sponsor: Winston, POWERade, Full Throttle, and Mello Yello. “I read an article this morning about being humble but after a day like today I would like to say it was me,” he joked Sunday.

“[Crew chief] Jimmy Prock is unbelievable.The team he has around him is awesome. I used to race against his dad, Tom, who ran the Tom and Jerry Funny Car and the Detroit Tiger. He and [assistant] Danny DeGennaro got the job done. Look at how those cars run side by side. If there is anything I have done right it’s putting together this team effort. We pulled together when it looked like we were falling apart. I have great companies with me, and they allow me do this. We won them a championship. We got a Mello Yello championship, but next year I am going to try and win again. We are strong with Auto Club with Robert (Hight) and Traxxas with Courtney. My luck just turned around in a year when I needed it to sell corporate America. I remember Dale Earnhardt used to say ‘I’ll do the winning and you marketing guys sell me.’ I never had the nerve to say that, but that guy was a winner so he could do it. I have had luck on my side the last three races.”

CELEBRATING THE 100TH – Troy Coughlin’s Pro Modified victory over Danny Rowe in that class’ season-ender marked the 100th victory for the Coughlin family. He dedicated the Wally statue to younger brother Jeg Coughlin Jr., the Pro Stock points leader, who has 72 of those 100 victories.

“We’ve all raced about the same amount of years, and every now and then, someone asks, ‘Which one of you guys is the better driver?’ ” Troy said. “I said, ‘You’ll have to let the trophies speak for themselves, because Jeg’s got a ton of them. The rest of us have a good amount, but he’s got quite a bit.’ “

Troy signed the base of the trophy with, “To Jeg: You’ve paved the way to the 100th. This one’s for you. Love, Troy.” Said Troy, “I handed it to him down at the finish line. It’s pretty neat. It’s a proud moment for the family.” Said Jeg, “That’s pretty special. Not many teams in any form of motorsports can say they won 100 major titles. To my entire family: Congratulations. It’s been a lot of fun getting to those 100.”

SPORTSMAN WINNERS – Frank Manzo won his 103rd national Top Alcohol Funny Car event (104th in all) to lead the list of sportsman winners at Las Vegas. Peter Biondo got his 47 national-event win and 15th in the Stock class, and Dan Fletcher earned his 16th in Competition Eliminator and 87th overall. Joining them in the winners circle were  Jim Whiteley (Top Alcohol Dragster), Cody Lane (Super Stock), Brad Plourd (Super Comp), and Terry Keddington (Super Gas).

BUMMED – Matt Hagan’s Funny Car season had looked so stout — and it was. But for the fourth straight race, the longtime points leader failed to advance past the second round. Sunday’s performance was a devastating blow for the Rocky Boots/Mopar driver, as that second  championship got away from him and his team.

“The Countdown hasn’t gone the way we wanted,” Hagan said. “We had a very, very strong regular season and just couldn’t seem to finish strong towards the end. I think it’s easy to get greedy in the aspect of you don’t always appreciate what you’ve done sometimes, but you have to stop and look back. A lot of folks would trade their season for ours. We’ve had a good season, but John [Force] got hot here in the end. I congratulate him on his accomplishment, but I’m ready to go after him next year.”