JOHN FORCE
heavy on your shoulders. Do you feel that?
Have you not stepped away from the driver’s
seat because of a responsibility you feel to
see this deal through?
JF: I’m not going to be around forever. We
know that. But I don’t lead this charge. I lead
it as a race team owner and a driver, but it’s not
just my circus. I think my drivers all do a good
job, and they’re all different personalities, but I
believe Robert, Brittany and Courtney, as well as
Ashley, they knew the ritual because they watched
me for so many years. The other personalities are
forming. I’m watching them grow and I’m loving
it. I’m excited because one of these days when
they do get me strapped to that rocking chair,
I’m going to be able to turn on that TV and I’m
going to be able to watch drag racing.
And if nothing else, I want my granddaughter
and grandsons – if they decide to race – to have
the best opportunities. We were down at Barona
Drag Strip in California with the grandkids
racing their Jr. Dragsters. What was amazing
was when Danny Hood opened Jacob’s visor so
Jacob could hear him – he was trying to explain
the Christmas tree – little Noah, who’s a year
younger than Jacob, runs around in front of
the car. And I was so upset. I was thinking, he
can’t be up on the starting line like that. But
he looked at me and he said, “Grandpa, I’m
the crew chief. I have to be up there.” The little
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guy ran in front of the car – I swear to God,
Ashley has pictures of it – and hit the hood of
the car and put his thumb up to Jacob in the
car. I said, “Noah, you can’t run out there. He’s
listening to his dad.” Noah goes, “I have to be
with him, Grandpa. I’m his crew chief.” This
kid can hardly talk and he said this.
I sat in the stands all day that day. I wanted
the kids to have their own experience, and I knew
they wanted me in the stands because, truthfully,
I’m a pain in the butt. But I watched that day,
and I was thankful. I was thankful to have this
sport, and for what it’s given me and continues
“My job is to put on a
show and my job is to
win. That’s why I drive
on the edge. That’s
why people think,
‘Does he have a death
wish?’ No, I don’t.”
to give me.
When I stand there, I can take all the beatings,
all the people getting mad for all the stuff I do
wrong, and I love ‘em for it. I want them to know
that. I never told McEwen that I loved him, and
I wished I had before he passed. So, I’ll tell ‘em
all. I don’t care if it’s Schumacher, Capps, Tommy
Johnson, Jim Head, Chad Head or the list goes
on and on, because they’re all I’ve got. I don’t
have no friends. The guy down at the doughnut
shop and the lady at the laundromat are the only
friends I’ve got outside of this place. Those are
the only other places I go, and then I go to the
race track. Those guys made me what I am today,
and I owe them a big thanks.
They make me better because every morning
when I get up and I roll over on my shoulder –
and, boy, do I wake up, because it’s painful – but
I go, “Why do I need to get up, and go do this
again?” Because I owe it to them. They made
me what I am today and I owe them. The old
ones: the Raymond Beadles, the Mongooses,
Prudhomme, Garlits, Shirley. And I owe the
new ones: Cruz, Head, Tommy Johnson, Capps,
Hagan. I love ‘em. I love to watch ‘em go by in
their fire suits and put on their helmets and
do their thing – “I’m gonna go break your back,
Force!” I can almost hear them say it. I love it.
And they h ave almost broke my back. Or, well,
I almost have.
Issue 135
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