John Force had just qualified No. 1 in Houston with the second quickest 1,000-foot pass in NHRA Drag Racing history. Any other time, the 14-time champion would have made a beeline for the press center to discuss his accomplishment.

This time he rode his scooter to the starting line, parked and watched a few pairs of Top Fuel make qualifying runs.

“People ask me why I am out there on the starting line when Top Fuel runs, and I tell them jokingly that I am trying to unprogram myself of the blue lights,” Force joked.

John Force had just qualified No. 1 in Houston with the second quickest 1,000-foot pass in NHRA Drag Racing history. Any other time, the 14-time champion would have made a beeline for the press center to discuss his accomplishment.

This time he rode his scooter to the starting line, parked and watched a few pairs of Top Fuel make qualifying runs.

“People ask me why I am out there on the starting line when Top Fuel runs, and I tell them jokingly that I am trying to unprogram myself of the blue lights,” Force joked.

Force clearly knows the average drag racing reporter can read through his charade and comes clean.

“Well my baby girl wants a dragster and I’ve always been Funny Car people,” Force explained. “If my kid wants to do, I want to be there to help her. I’m not saying I will ever drive one for a championship, but I bet you’ll see me drive one in the next year.”

Force, a dyed-in-the-wool Funny Car driver for his near four decade career, understands the inherent difference in the two nitro burners.
A dragster is a finesse vehicle, while his Funny Car is a manhandling experience.

“I want to drive one because I want to know what she’s thinking out there,” Force said. “I’m really curious. I might crash the first time out. I’ll have to put the motor out front to see where I am going. You know, you do drive between the flames. I have driven between the flames and right into the wall before.”

He’s not taking any chances with Courtney in preparing her for racing a nitro car. For now, he’s preparing her for a Funny Car.

“We’ve been training her in a Funny Car,” Force said. “We had her for 13 days, behind the wheel, towing her around the parking lot at the shop. We’ve been pulling her around in the rolling chassis, no body, until her hands are sore. She kept asking for gloves and I tell her that she’s going to learn to drive with her hands.

“I want her to know the feel and see all the views. Then after five, six or seven days of without the body – we get ready to put the body on it. It was like the first time I played high school football, I could see out of the helmet when everyone else couldn’t. I was ahead of the game because I was used to the helmet. Going out and driving it around the parking lot was like wearing the helmet in Pop Warner football. You’re learning how to see.”

Force said Courtney was excited with her progress after three days. Her older sister Ashley Force-Hood, a multiple national event winning Funny Car driver, offered her candid opinion when asked.

Force said Ashley was brutally honest, “Nope, but you’re ready to tow.”

“I really feel like right now she is learning the basics of steering and braking,” Force said. “I want her to learn. I was taking her through a course and then I’d make a hard right or left. I was trying to catch her not paying attention … waving to the crowd. She’s going to learn the basics before we start the motor.”

Force confirmed he has a car at the shop already prepared for Courtney.