JOHN FORCE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
us – you, me, and everybody else. I think about this a lot. But I believe that if we adapt, if we make the changes and give the people what they want – we can win this thing. We can set it on the road to the future for our children. My granddaughter, Autumn, is 13, and just won her first race in a Jr. Dragster. Jacob, he’ s 5 years old, Ashley’ s son, just got his license in Jr. Dragster. I’ m amazed by that, and I’ m so proud to think they might love this sport the way that I love it. I see there’ s a future here.
We’ ve just got to go to work. What do we have to do? The sponsors in Corporate America, they don’ t want a sign on the side of a race car. They want more than that. They want the sign, and they’ ll pay for it, but it ain’ t just about the sign anymore, putting it on TV or getting it in the newspaper. It’ s about creating storylines, putting those brands in the places they want to be, and being somebody those brands want to be associated with.
WB: You’ ve always likened drag racing to the circus. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended its 146-year run in 2017. Did that weigh on you? The idea that something so significant, something that had been such a big part of Americana could just end?
JF: I think about it all the time: How do we survive? How do we become P. T. Barnum, or at least put on a show like he did, and stand the test of time? Instead of just putting a big sign on the side of a trailer, how do we create a sign – or a show – in Brittany Force, the 2017 NHRA Top Fuel world champion? How do we create something better? For me, it starts with what you put out on the road. That’ s a truck and trailer, and I put out 10 of‘ em. Then you put out the hospitality center, and the media center, and you have cookouts and you create the circus. People won’ t want to hear that. We don’ t want to be clowns, but we’ re here to put on a show. Plain and simple.
When I first got here this morning, I was pretty bummed out, and I was actually feeling depressed. Just the weight of it all. My whole deal is, how do I make things better? How do I win? Well, you win by having the right team around you. You win by having the right drivers. You win by having the right crew chiefs. How do you hire those people? By getting the money. Where do you get the money? From sponsors. So, I’ m sitting here, thinking, Man, we’ re in a new world. It’ s a lot.
The circus didn’ t fold up because it wasn’ t good.
There were other things – outside forces that made it difficult to continue. I loved the circus. I would go and watch the elephants and everything. I loved it all. That new movie about Barnum, I’ ve seen it five times. The guy at the theater would ask me,“ Force, you’ ve already seen this movie. Why do you keep coming back?” Because it motivates me. There’ s a lesson there, though.
WB: What’ s the lesson? What were the successful elements of P. T. Barnum and his circus that are still relevant today, or that we can at least learn from?
JF: There were so many things that tore the circus down, but it was the Greatest Show on Earth for children to go see for well over a century. That’ s why I compare it to drag racing. The circus tents go up, the trailers pull into town, they put up the big top – that’ s exactly what we do. But the circus is gone. Where did it go? What happened? Things change. Luckily, we don’ t have elephants and tigers. We’ ve got motors that roar, that’ s part of our show. From the lion claws digging into the ground to the tires grabbing the track – it’ s so much of the same thing. It might have been financial issues or keeping the animals caged up, but whatever it was – the reality is that they
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