NHRA: John Force Showing No Signs of Slowing Down

By:
On:
In: Racing News

16-time Funny Car (FC) champion John Force fell to Bob Tasca III in the first round of the NHRA Nationals on Sunday.  It didn’t stop his enthusiasm for the rest of the day at Maple Grove Raceway.

John Force Racing (JFR) had three Funny Cars, including Force, eliminated early on, but the FC veteran had the utmost confidence in his team following the event.

“It’s all about attitude,” Force said.  “It’s all about believing in your teams and then believing in you.  You gotta look at the positives and the negatives.”

Championship talk is nothing new for JFR, with John winning 16 titles as a driver and 18 as an owner.  Robert Hight won the 2009 FC Championship and eldest daughter Ashley Force Hood came in second for a 1-2 finish for the team.  When speaking of Ashley, John talked about battling with her daughter towards the end of that season.

“Ashley finished second in the points to Hight one year and I took her out,” John said.  “Her mom’s still mad about it, but you have to earn that right to win.”

Regarding championship talks this season, Force and his other daughter, Courtney, left Reading second and third in FC points, respectively. His other daughter, Brittany, made it to the Top Fuel final against Tony Schumacher.

“We’ve been talking about me, her (Courtney) and Robert (Hight). We need to focus on the big picture,” Force said about the FC points chase. “That’s what the media wanted to focus on, but we focus on the whole group.  Take ‘em all out.”

All-out racing and interesting story lines dominated the weekend at Maple Grove Raceway during the 30th annual NHRA Nationals.  The Reading, PA track had a good turnout all three days of the weekend, as the fans packed the stands.

“John Force does head counts,” he said. “I always take it personal. Anytime a crowd’s light, I blame it on myself.  That makes me work harder.”

Force has three daughters who are currently racing or have gotten their feet wet on the NHRA circuit. Ashley Force Hood ran Funny Car from 2008 to 2010, until taking an absence from the track and starting a family with her husband Daniel Hood, who currently runs Courtney Force’s TRAXXAS Funny Car.  Force Hood still runs John Force Entertainment and has a NHRA license.  Albeit she hasn’t raced in a while, she is insured to drive if someone gets hurt and can’t fulfill the contracts.  Courtney is still locked up in the FC points battle with her father, and John doesn’t feel any pressure with the family battling for the championship.

“Yeah, we have fun with it at the restaurants and at home, but the truth is – we have to race a whole bunch of other guys that are out here,” John said of his relationship with Courtney.  “It ain’t just me and her.  If you start looking at each other, someone goes past ya.”

Brittany is in her second year of NHRA running the Top Fuel division.  The middle Force daughter fell to Tony Schumacher in the final.  No matter what the outcome was on Sunday, John was still proud of her.

“My baby girl is still in here,” he said. “Everyone said I was out.  I’m not out.  My dragster’s in and she’s gonna go out there and do her best and I’ll love her as much, whether she wins or loses, if she gives it 150 percent.”

The last seven years have been life-changing for Force after a vicious crash in a NHRA event in Dallas, Texas.  Force’s car blew a tire and swerved dead right into Kenny Bernstein after the finish line and resulted in a number of injuries for the Castrol GTX sponsored driver.  Force has created a better mindset since that day in Dallas.

“Better than I was,” Force said.  “Attitude’s better.  The party days are over.  Mindset on focus to be as good as the kids, and that’s what we gotta do.”

Currently, the 65-year-old sits 36 points behind Don Schumacher Racing’s Matt Hagan heading into the series’ next event as Las Vegas at the end of the month, as two races remain in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Magda
Latest posts by Kyle Magda (see all)
Post Views: 45