John Force once said he lied to Eric Medlen when he counseled him about the merits of a race car versus the female gender.

"A woman will hurt you, but this car -- she'll never hurt you," Force said.

Force could never shake the guilt of those words following Medlen's death during a test session. It affected everything about him. His personality,driving performance and inevitably his team.

Sunday's Bristol triumph finally allowed Force to let go.

A TRANSITION IS IN EFFECT

The change in demeanor for Force was different that some actually believed the body snatchers returned their Force. And he was just like the old guy the media grew to love and to quote – quite often.

What happened? Force got ticked off and in usual fashion – apologized. It must have been the spirit of Eric Medlen that got the old truck driver straightened out. This marked the first Force victory since Medlen’s death.

“It feels good because I really rode my guys hard this weekend,” Force said. “Everyone from all of our teams jumped in and made this hot rod good today. I was a jerk towards them yesterday and when we got together today for the driver’s meeting, I asked them to forgive me for being a jerk because that ain’t how a leader leads. It’s really easy to lead when you’re on top. When you’re in the trash, it is sometimes tough to find your way out.

“I think Eric reached down and slapped me upside the head and said go out there and be who you used to be. It might not win me any races, but it will make my guys love me again.”

One had to sense divine intervention when Force came to the line with a smokeless burnout in the first round. It was so ugly that Coil had to turn his back on him.

“We get a bone thrown our way every once in a while,” Force said. “It’s mass confusion up there and the glue box is extremely slippery. They need to take that tire machine up there. I heard they lost their driver and won’t be able to take it to Denver. I’ll be the first to volunteer to drive it.

John Force once said he lied to Eric Medlen when he counseled him about the merits of a race car versus the female gender.

"A woman will hurt you, but this car -- she'll never hurt you," Force said.

Force could never shake the guilt of those words following Medlen's death during a test session. It affected everything about him. His personality,driving performance and inevitably his team.

Sunday's Bristol triumph finally allowed Force to let go.

A TRANSITION IS IN EFFECT

The change in demeanor for Force was different that some actually believed the body snatchers returned their Force. And he was just like the old guy the media grew to love and to quote – quite often.

What happened? Force got ticked off and in usual fashion – apologized. It must have been the spirit of Eric Medlen that got the old truck driver straightened out. This marked the first Force victory since Medlen’s death.

“It feels good because I really rode my guys hard this weekend,” Force said. “Everyone from all of our teams jumped in and made this hot rod good today. I was a jerk towards them yesterday and when we got together today for the driver’s meeting, I asked them to forgive me for being a jerk because that ain’t how a leader leads. It’s really easy to lead when you’re on top. When you’re in the trash, it is sometimes tough to find your way out.

“I think Eric reached down and slapped me upside the head and said go out there and be who you used to be. It might not win me any races, but it will make my guys love me again.”

One had to sense divine intervention when Force came to the line with a smokeless burnout in the first round. It was so ugly that Coil had to turn his back on him.

“We get a bone thrown our way every once in a while,” Force said. “It’s mass confusion up there and the glue box is extremely slippery. They need to take that tire machine up there. I heard they lost their driver and won’t be able to take it to Denver. I’ll be the first to volunteer to drive it.

Actually the spirit of Force began its comeback in the quarterfinals after beating Mike Ashley by a mere .0021. Force’s post-run interview was interrupted as Capps turned the corner and nearly took out the champ.

In an instant, the old Force was back. He was jawing and pointing the finger at Capps.

“I’m just excited about being out here,” Force said. “Naturally I’m disappointed that Ashley didn’t qualify,” said Force.

Then Force paused as Capps came up and tapped him on the rear.

Those who have known Force over the decades sensed a change coming from the depressed champion as of late. His words confirmed their intuitions.

“Rub that other cheek for a little while,” Force said.

 

Okay, you have a choice. Gouge your right eye or left. It’s a good thing John Force put his team (and himself) through a strict analysis.

“We went from being one of the greatest teams in drag racing to hanging out in the cellar,” Force said. “We just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. After we left Pomona last year, I changed hot rods and came out swinging.”

Force said he had a communication problem. His old girl wouldn’t talk.

“This car is the most stubborn woman that I have ever met in my life,” Force said. “This car would not do anything. It would not go down the drag strip. I couldn’t even beat my own daughter. We finally just reached our breaking point.”

When you’ve reached the breaking point, a team meeting is always the best medicine.

“I asked the point blank some questions,” said Force. “Anyone change their medication? I asked. I asked if anyone was sabotaging our efforts. We went through it from one end to the other throughout the course of a month. We couldn’t fin a thing. Finally, there were two things left – the chassis or Austin Coil.

“I knew I couldn’t fire Coil because he would just write a book about me and make a lot of money. Don’t think he doesn’t tell me that either.”

The Force tradition for the race weekend – smoke on Sunday and win on Monday – in testing that is.

“The car runs perfect on Monday, that’s why we couldn’t wait to get to Indy,” Force said. “I don’t know what happened, but I know in my heart that I’ve been riding my guys awful hard lately. It’s always easy to be the good boss when you are on top. When you are on the bottom then you find out who you are.”

That’s when Force diagnosed his problem – he had been a jerk.

Force said the weight of the world was lifted with the apology. That’s something he said he’s done a lot lately.

“I’ve always believed in God, I didn’t just get religion this weekend,” Force said. “I asked Eric Medlen to forgive me. There are a lot of things, personal things, you just won’t understand until you’ve lived it. There must be a heaven and a God because I pray to Him all the time. I have prayed when my kids were sick.

“I said, ‘I know you’re up there Eric. The only thing that’s changed down here is that you went up there. Maybe you’re mad at me, but I’m sorry.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not seeing aliens or hearing voices. I am feeling better because I have gotten this off of my chest. I told my guys let’s go race. We might get beat up, but at least we felt better.”

Just like that – the veil was lifted – even in a 140-degree Funny Car.

Then Force praised what he called the “rubber machine,” a device that applies rubber to the racing surface evenly. He even offered to drag the machine to Denver when the NHRA’s tow truck broke down.

“What I really want to believe in and I am a guy that believes in miracles – although I never believed my car needed a miracle – it needed an exorcist. I was looking for a priest. I got rid of it and it went from one end to the other.

““I hated being an embarrassment to my sponsors and my team.”

Then Force took up golf, but quickly abandoned the game when he “almost knocked Wally Parks in the head with a golf ball.” But, that didn’t stop Force, an avid movie buff, from watching Bagger Vance – a story about a seasoned golfer who lost his swing.

Force cried when he watched it. He said it was a carbon copy of his life.

That’s why when he won today and proclaimed in an ESPN interview that he’d gotten his swing back, the ESPN2 guys looked puzzled.

Force had hit his hole-in-one-today.

 

Force wasted no time returning to the starting line to embrace John Medlen.

“John Medlen has lived through the pain,” Force said. “We gained a lot of pictures this weekend. I had a man that brought over a picture that his son had taken with Eric last year. He came back with that picture and his son had been killed here a few weeks ago in a car wreck. There was a police office that gave John Medlen his badge with a picture of his son that had died 8 months ago.

“It’s amazing that there’s so much pain in this world that when people bond together, we can fix things. That’s what my team did today. There was a lot of anger at how I had pushed them. We work them until they are tired.”

The team had to work all day on July 4th when most of the others were not there.

“Our team worked from early in the morning until late at night,” Force said. “We might not make the Chase but at least we have heart. John Medlen is the one that has suffered the most. That was his son.

“I lost my Mom and dad, but you expect that to happen. You don’t expect to lose your kids. It is the toughest thing in the world, they say.”

Force was determined to get to Medlen.

“The POWERade guys told me that I couldn’t leave,” Force said. “I said, ‘Wanna bet?”

“I’m still the champion and pulled that rank. I didn’t have the trophy but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get to John. I wanted to win a race for him. In my eleven years of racing with Coil, I have won a race every year. I wondered if this would be the year that it all quit. I needed to win for Eric. I wanted to show that through it all, we would make it.”

Smiling through the pain is what does it for Force.

“Everything was painful for me, but not because I was losing,” Force said. “I understand losing. It was over losing Eric. I couldn’t get rid of that. I wanted to get rid of it. I wanted to just get that feeling out and go enjoy my days with my daughters. I wanted to just get away – qualifying or not – tell my team I love them and keep fighting.

“That’s the biggest thing we lose in this world – love. If you can find that when you’re losing - you are still happy. That’s why you go home and hug your wife and your babies because you never know what tomorrow will bring. I have become a believer in that.”

WATCH THE VIDEO, COURTESY OF 1320 TV.com