When NHRA King John Force Is on a Roll, It's Best to Just Stand Back and Listen

There's one way to tell when NHRA's all-time winningest racer is on a roll.

You know he's rolling when after about a three-minute rant, he stops mid-sentence and politely asks, "What was the question, again?"

Force, who is six weeks out from his 73rd birthday, is just as fast as ever on the track. He's fifth in the NHRA Camping World Funny Car standings and hot in pursuit of his elusive 17th championship. While he hasn't won a championship since 2013, he's been in the mix just about every year since with no discernible drop off.

Check that. There was 2020.

That season, Force finished runner-up in the season opener at Pomona, only to pull his team off the track and call it a season just two races into the campaign. The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic put a fear into Force—a fear that proved John Force was human, after all.

"The pandemic about took me out, mentally and financially," Force said in a Zoom interview this week. "The sponsors stayed by us. In the process, I changed a lot on how I thought and how I looked at things. I knew I had to get my mind right."

Force came back last year and won three times to extend his all-time NHRA record total to 154. To put that in perspective, Greg Anderson is second all-time with 99 wins. Force's 16 championships is six more than the late Bob Glidden in second place. Third, and next on the active list, is Tony Schumacher with eight titles.

Nope, no one catching John Force on those lists anytime soon.

Force could be in for a big season. He sounds like he's ready to put the COVID era behind him. But the past two years helped put a lot of things in perspective for drag racing's GOAT.

Case in point was a recent trip he took with is wife Laurie to Barona Drags near San Diego to watch his grandsons put the pedal to the metal.

"I went down to Barona this week, my two grandsons Jacob and Noah— Jacob went to two finals," Force said. "Seeing the families, seeing the kids, seeing the future of the sport, it just made me mentally right. My wife said, 'On the road down here, you were terrible, and on the road back, you're a different person.'

"But it's our sport that gave me everything that I love. Now my granddaughter—Robert (Hight) is working with the Torrence family to build her a car. She's 17. Another year, she could go pro. We're looking at where the future is going to go. We've already had sponsors ask us, you've got a girl right there. But she's got school, she's got things. To watch her move up, and how much she loves it. That's what gets my mind right."

John Force Racing is a family. Past NHRA champion and daughter Brittany Force still drives one of the team's two Top Fuel cars. Three-time NHRA Funny Car champion, Funny Car pilot and team president Robert Hight is Force's son-in-law. Austin Prock, son of longtime JFR crew chief Jimmy Prock, drives the team's other Top Fuel car. Danny Hood, another son-in-law, is also a JFR crew chief.

There's apples from the Force family tree all over the paddock and hospitality tents on an NHRA race weekend.

The family atmosphere is one reason the rumors this past offseason that Hight was considering forming his own team, had a funny ring to it.

But then again, 2021 was the year of the shakeup in NHRA as several championship drivers changed teams or went out on their own, including new team owner/drivers and past champions Antron Brown and Ron Capps. Then there was Tony Stewart Racing's entry into the sport for 2022 that lured away Don Schumacher Racing drivers Matt Hagan, a three-time champion, and Leah Pruett.

Autoweek asked Hight about those rumors and if he had ever entertained the thought of striking out on his own.

"No," Hight said. "If I'm not driving here, I won't be driving anywhere else. John's done a lot for me. I'm very loyal. That was all just total BS. I don't know where it came from. But with (Don) Schumacher kind of stepping back, it's given some other guys some opportunities to go out on their own and become owners and that kind of shows the strength of the sport and the future."

Enter John Force, no question asked.

"I never heard that!" Force said. "Gee, I got that late. But why would he leave? He's an owner. He's part of my family. He's president of my company.

"I've offered to give Brittany her own team. I've offered Robert a few teams. I'm no spring chicken, but I'm going to ride this thing out. I love it. (Sponsors) Peak, Blue Def and Chevrolet have given me an opportunity. A race car at my age, it does the running for you. It's not like in NASCAR or IndyCar where you've got to be out there four or five hours. You're only in this thing for seconds. But, along the way I will turn it over. They're basically running it now and Robert leads that charge, the day-to-day stuff, he takes care of.

Classic John Force.

"What was the question, again?"