I
JOHN FORCE
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
t ’s b een a m inu te sin c e m y la s t s it-d o w n
interview with John Force – almost eight years – and
it’s hard to overstate how much has changed since then.
About 36 months removed from a harrowing crash at the
Texas Motorplex outside Dallas that nearly took his life,
our first interview for the cover of Drag Illustrated
was primarily a story of redemption and a dream realized for one of drag
racing’s most beloved stars and living legends. Having recently sealed the
deal on his 15 th NHRA Funny Car world championship, which he had earned
in dominating fashion with six wins in 11 final round appearances, the
then 61-year-old Force was living his best life. Working out daily, swearing
off alcohol, the California-born wheelman and self-made mill ionaire had
rededicated himself to his family and looked to the future with bright eyes.
Admittedly removed from the dominating days
of 10-straight titles (yes, 10 in a row, with only
Cruz and Tony Pedregon keeping him from 15
back-to-back championships) and likely operat-
ing in as competitive of an on-track environment
as he’d ever known, Force, at the time, insisted
he’d have only five years left behind the wheel
of a race car. He believed his life would soon
revolve around growing the business of John
Force Racing out from behind a supercharged,
nitro-burning engine and under a carbon fiber
race car body. “Some older people want their final
days to kick back and relax, and God bless them,”
he said. “Me? I will die at the drag strip. I know it’s
already in the books, and as far as I’m concerned
it’s a good way to end my movie.”
Obviously, the sport of drag racing wasn’t as
committed to Force’s timeline. Nearly halfway
through a third season beyond the aforemen-
tioned end date and with a 16th championship
under his belt, John Force remains as big a part of
the drag racing conversation as ever before. The
storylines, however, are undoubtedly different.
The last time we’d spoke at length for this
magazine, in 2011, our conversation centered
around longstanding relationships, family, and
the success that can be had when you “live it”
(chase the dream day in, day out) for over 30
years. This time? The effort required to sustain
that success, and how one goes about surviving
and prospering in an ever-changing sports and
media landscape.
Drag Illustrated has enjoyed a long, strong
relationship with John Force Racing over the
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years. I first met him about 30 days before the
first issue of this magazine had been sent to print
in Pomona, California, at the NHRA Winter-
nationals in 2006. Unable to arrange a media
credential and without any connections in the
fuel ranks, I approached him at the ropes at the
back of his pit area like any other race fan. Our
conversation was brief – perhaps the shortest
we’ve had since – but after expressing my belief
that this magazine could become the independent
voice of drag racing, the sport we both love, he
was overtly candid and generous with his time.
I’m exceptionally grateful that has been the case
ever since.
When our 51 st issue was published with Force
on the cover, his first appearance, our entire
team rejoiced. We split at the seams with pride,
well-knowing that if we wanted to go to the
big dance, we needed a big-dance partner. The
“I admit drag racing is
the love of my life. It’s
like a child of mine.
I truly care about it,
and something I truly
want to see succeed.”
high-tide created by his picture on our cover page
helped introduce this publication to a world of
new people and inspired and elevated the status of
the many thousands of grassroots, outlaw racers
and weekend warriors we have always catered to.
My goal in that first long-form interview was
to tell the story of John Force, and to find out
exactly who this man was – talk about something
other than trophies and corporate sponsors. I
wanted to go beyond the schtick of a high-energy,
fast-talking self-promoter and, honestly, I think
I mostly wanted a firsthand telling of his many
famous stories about growing up in the bed of a
dump truck, booking match races on truck stop
payphones, offering to make three runs for “a
couple hotel rooms, food for the guys and half
of whatever you’d pay Prudhomme”.
For our second deep-dive, I wanted to take
a look around, as compared to our initial look
within. A previously forecasted retirement gone
by, new partnerships with Chevrolet and Peak
Antifreeze, amongst many others, an NHRA Top
Fuel world title for his daughter Brittany in 2017,
and a start to 2018 that would rattle the cage
of even the savviest veterans, it seemed as if no
one would be better suited to take the proverbial
temperature of the sport of drag racing at this
point in time than John Harold Force.
Force agreed to meet me early on a Saturday
morning during the NHRA’s annual visit to Nor-
walk, Ohio. Running through the pouring rain,
skipping to avoid puddles, I arrived in the ev-
er-sprawling John Force Racing pit area a little
after 8 a.m. Eastern. Force swung the door open
to his hauler and ushered me up into his personal
lounge. I could tell he was tired. He skipped a lot
of the usual small talk, sat down on the plush,
black leather couch and said, “Let’s do this.” He
may have been a little slow at the start, but it
wasn’t even five minutes before he started to hit
his stride. “You got extra batteries for that thing?”
he asked, pointing to my voice recorder.
Yep.
Wes Buck: Let’s be creative here, fly up to
about 30,000-feet and take a look at the sport
of drag racing. What’s your take? Where are we
at? Where are we going? How does it correlate
to you and your business?
John Force: Number one, whenever I’ve been
asked about the sport of NHRA championship
drag racing, I’ve always been positive. I admit it’s
the love of my life. It’s like a child of mine. It’s
something I truly care about, and something I
truly want to see succeed.
When you look at the economy today, people
have a lot of choices – more than ever – and a lot
of things going on just in everyday life. When you
look at our sport and you compare it to NASCAR
and IndyCar – and don’t get me wrong, my son-
Issue 135