BEHIND-
THE-SCENES
FORCE
meant leaving a possible career in teaching,
but Force hasn’t doubted her decision for a
second. She was dynamite in the Countdown
to the Championship last year, winning three
races, and her trajectory behind the wheel has
been impressive. But as Force sees it, last year’s
championship has only created the desire for
bigger goals, including sharing the winner’s
circle with her dad and sister for the first time.
But looking back on the magical season that
was in 2017, one thing she will always treasure is
what happened after the post-race celebrations,
which included a trip with her entire team to
Alan Johnson’s home. A week after the race, she
was finally able to sit down with her family and
watch the full television broadcast of the cham-
pionship weekend, from qualifying all the way
through eliminations.
Getting to relive the rollercoaster of the week-
end was a thrill, but seeing her father’s emo-
tional celebration on the starting line after she
clinched the world championship following her
second-round win struck a chord. It caused her
to reflect on all that has transpired and, in true
Force fashion, kept her hungry for what 2018
and beyond holds.
“To see how emotional he was, it was really
heartwarming,” Force admits. “He brought me
into this sport and taught me everything, so to see
him up there supporting our team, it’s pretty cool.
“(But) there’s still so many things to accomplish.
It’s just motivation and pushes you to get better.”
- JOSH HACHAT
DI DI
Sara Slaughter
DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
A
Top Fuel champion, a
two-time Funny Car cham-
pion, one half of profes-
sional motorsports’ most
accomplished power cou-
ple, and arguably, NHRA’s
greatest racer. John Force
Racing is the peak of the mountain when
it comes to drag racing. They’ve been there,
done that and have the t-shirt, which is mod-
erately priced at the merch trailer.
Back in the day, team PR was handled by
David Densmore and Elon Werner, two of the
most accomplished publicists in the history
of the sport. And now? JFR PR is run by a
person who had never been to a drag race until
March 2018
she began working for NHRA. Two years ago.
No worries; they’re in good hands.
Sara Slaughter spent two years in the media
relations department with the folks at Glendora
after searching for what she thought was the
perfect job. As it turns out, the perfect job was
the one she never suspected.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know I wanted to be
in motorsports until I got into it,” she says from
her office at John Force Racing in Yorba Linda,
California. “When I graduated from college, I
had several different jobs and a couple different
things (I was interested in). I really thought
I wanted to be in college sports as an SID or
media relations in college sports for a university.
“That was in 2015 and 2016 came around and
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