16-time NHRA champion aiming for more milestones in Chevrolet Funny Car
DETROIT (March 3, 2021) — As John Force waits in the comfortable cab of his Chevrolet Silverado for his appointment to receive the second round of COVID-19 vaccination, the staging area at Gainesville Raceway comes into his mind’s eye.
“I can sit here, feel the throttle of a fuel car, feel the pressure on my body, ready to cut a quick light,” the 16-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car champion says. “That will be the easy part. I’ve done it for so many years it’s just built into me. I’m ready to go drag racing. I’m just ready to get back to work.”
Force will check in at the Florida dragstrip March 12-14, returning from a self-imposed 12-month furlough primarily driven by the economic effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, to compete in the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals.
Teammates Robert Hight, whose shot at defending his Funny Car championship was curtailed after two races in 2020, and Top Fuel driver Brittany Force will also represent John Force Racing at Gainesville Raceway.
“I’m excited because I’m ready; we’re all going to be ready,” says Force, driver of the familiar blue and white PEAK/BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro SS. “At the end of the day, drag racing is what we do. I need to get back. Like kids need to get back in school, I need to get back to work. I’m going to fight to win another championship; so is Robert and so is Brittany.”
Force, whose NHRA-record 151 Funny Car victories include 20 in a Chevrolet and 53 in other General Motors brands, will reach more career milestones this season. Qualifying for the 16-car Gatornationals field will mark his 200th race day appearance in a Chevrolet.
“I’ve come a long way with Chevy in my career and in my life,” says Force, 71. “My first road car was a ’54 Chevy sedan – six-cylinder and an automatic – and my parents both drove GM products as long as I can remember. My mother drove a Buick Bobcat and my father drove a ’55 Chevy and had Chevy pickup trucks when I was a kid. I’m what you could call a General Motors buff. I now own two of the new mid-engine Corvettes.”
The Bowtie Brand played an important role on the dragstrip, too, early on for the Southern California native. “My first race car was a Chevrolet; it was a Vega that I went to Australia in ’74,” he says.
Back in the U.S., the first 60 starts of Force’s career were behind the wheel of a Chevrolet. From 1978-80 he raced a Corvette before switching to a Citation (1981-82), Camaro (1983-84), Corvette (1985), and then a Cavalier (1986).
“My first (NHRA) start (1977, Pomona1), final (1979, losing to Kenny Bernstein), my first No. 1 (1986) were in a Chevy,” he says. “They stood beside me.”
Force qualified for 64 NHRA Funny Car races before earning his first victory on June 28, 1987, at Montreal in an Oldsmobile. His wins by model — Oldsmobile Cutlass (31), Pontiac Firebird (21), Chevrolet Lumina (10), Chevrolet Camaro (10), Oldsmobile Firenza (1).
Force captured his first win in a Chevrolet in 1994 when he raced a Lumina on the way to his fourth NHRA Funny Car championship with a 50-8 record, 10 wins in 11 finals and 12 No. 1 qualifiers.
After a long hiatus, John Force Racing returned to the Chevrolet fold in 2015. The renewed partnership has produced three championships – by Hight (Funny Car) in 2017 and 2019 and Brittany Force (Top Fuel) in 2017 – along with 43 victories.
Last season, Force was runner-up in the opener at Pomona, California, and was the No. 2 qualifier and semifinalist at Phoenix before the team sat out the final nine races.
“We had a good start to the season. The new Chevrolet Funny Car is so awesome. It will stick to the ground yet it’s slippery. And Brittany was the top qualifier in both races,” Force says. “I can’t wait to get back in my Chevrolet Funny Car.”
Other milestones in view:
- 800 career races (he is at 788).
- 1,400 round wins (he is at 1,356).
“I’ve lost 25 pounds and built muscle during the downtime. I worked out nearly every day. I’ve got all my (top personnel) in my machine and chassis shops, I’ve got my crew chiefs (Dan Hood and Tim Fabrisi) and we’re ready to go racing,” Force says.
