John Force Racing’s massive Brownsburg, Ind., headquarters is locked and deserted. The parking lot is empty. And an untrimmed evergreen tree is encroaching on the memorial statue for beloved Funny Car racer Eric Medlen. It was a place where folks – whole families – once came on a summer’s evening and brought their ice cream cones and sat and remembered the outgoing, happy-go-lucky Funny Car driver who promised that “you can’t be unhappy when you’re eating ice cream.” No one does that much anymore.

This sprawling shop, which not all that long ago buzzed with purpose and energy, is silent. And so is John Force.

One of the most delightfully talkative personalities in all of motorsports – in all of sports – hasn’t been talking about why he isn’t participating in this race that’s unfolding about two miles from his race-team building.

The last time the entire John Force Racing contingent didn’t participate in an event was in April 2007, at Houston, immediately following the death of team driver Eric Medlen (after a testing accident at Gainesville Fla.)

(Fellow Funny Car racer Ron Capps recalled that “they weren’t comfortable, safety-wise, with what was going on. They were going to revamp their cars. We raced that race. I won that race in Funny Car. It was emotional for me, because I was close with Eric.”)

So what is Force’s plan?

At age 71, is Force contemplating coming back in 2021 to extend his records? The assumption is that his team is parked not only for this Indianapolis race or this doubleheader that includes next weekend’s Lucas Oil Summernationals but for the remainder of the year. But he didn’t say that. His team didn’t hint at anything, not even when asked point-blank on several occasions by more than one media outlet.

Is he ready to walk away and be satisfied with 21 nitro-class championships as a team owner, 16 by himself in Funny Car?

He isn’t saying, but Capps, his longtime on-track rival as well as friend, said no.

“No. Nope. I’m sure,” Capps said. “He has talked about it a lot. And he will, probably, soon rather than later.” However, he indicated sooner is not now.

Force’s triumph here last September, his NHRA-record-extending 151st, rings in the distance. With all the changes in the sport and the world since then, it’s a fainter echo these days. It was less than a year ago, but it seems like ages ago. At that time, his tearful tug-o-war within himself spilled out uncontrollably. Now, 10 months later, has he decided whether he’s going to listen to the angel on his shoulder who whispers that the sport still needs him or listen to the devil on his other shoulder who’s prodding him to retire, maybe to throw in the towel, and let an economic upheaval and global health crisis diminish all he has worked hard to build? Nothing ever seemed to stop John Force, not even losing his two major sponsors in swift succession, not devastating injuries from a wicked crash at Dallas and months of painful rehab. Is he in a downward spiral or one that just has his mind spinning in no particular direction right now?

This weekend gives the drag-racing world a peek at what the future of the sport might look like.

“Yeah,” Capps said, “and it sucks. He’s our guy. There’s going to be a lot of people tuning in to the FOX network and wondering about that.

“Eighty percent of what you see from me I learned from John Force early on. I stop and think sometimes, ‘What would John do?’ in certain situations. He’s the best we’ve ever seen. It’s going to be weird not to have him here,” Capps said. “Of course, Robert, they’re the team to beat. We’ve got great teammates and great cars [at Don Schumacher Racing], but that team has shown time and time again that they will push you to the limit. I’m going to miss that this weekend.

He said he told Hight Thursday night via text message that “it’s going to be hard. There’s lots of good competition, but what you guys bring to make us work harder. And Jimmy [Hight crew-chief Prock] pushes any crew chief out here.”

The way Capps sees it, “There’s going to be a small asterisk beside [the name of] whoever wins here. It’s not going to be put next to any records. From my standpoint, there’s already and asterisk. When you don’t have John Force out here, it’s because he’s not physically out here, for whatever reason.

“One thing I know about Force is he’s not as dumb as he plays out to be. People get this idea that he’s a guy who does stuff off the cuff, old truck driver, and all that. When he says, ‘I need to do something,’ it’s usually for somebody else in his family – and when he says ‘family’ . . . I’ve been considered his ‘family’ at times - and I’m a competitor. I’ve seen him do stuff for the sake of a competitor, to help the competitor and help the sport. I’ve seen him do stuff that’s so unbelievable – like, somebody wouldn’t do that unless their heart was so huge,” Capps said. “So I know that when he does come out and say what’s going on, it’s going to be something that’s unselfish on his part, and I guarantee that it’s going to be for the better for his family or for whoever he’s trying to help, for whatever reason.”

Capps said, “Everybody hears rumors. I’ve talked to him a couple of times. I talked to Robert. We kind of hear what we think is going on.”

NHRA President Glen Cromwell said he doesn’t think it’s appropriate for him or the sanctioning body to announce Force’s private concerns: “I think it’s important for John to answer for himself,” Cromwell said.

“We all love John Force. We know what he means to this sport. Those are his decisions, and we support his decision,” he said. “We did put out a statement that ‘The John Force Racing team is not registered for the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals. We look forward to their return in the future,’” Cromwell said.

Capps said Force “will talk when he’s ready.”

What will Force say?

He surely is considering more than his own future. Three other racers are depending on his leadership. Funny Car teammate Robert Hight, the president of John Force Racing and the three-time and current class champ, has a stake in what happens. Top Fuel drivers Brittany Force and Austin Prock also are in holding patterns.

Naturally, sponsorship dollars are vital, and right now, it appears his marketing partners are hanging onto their investment funds. But Force didn’t address that, either.

“He’s not going to throw somebody under the bus,” Capps said.

By the same token, he said, “He’s not going to come out here and lose money. Bottom line, if he was to come out in these next two races, he would be spending his own money. And thankfully, he’s smart enough not to spend his own money.”

So what is his plan? Will he return later in the season? (Will the NHRA be allowed to think about conducting those remaining 14 races in as many weekends through 12 different states until mid-November?) If John Force saw his rainy-day savings wash away like water through a sieve, it’s somewhat surprising that he wouldn’t take advantage somehow of this live broadcast on FOX to stay relevant. After all, it could be drag racing’s lone chance in 2020 to scream to the world how extremely cool and coolly extreme it is.

For most, the world seems to be turned upside down and nothing is normal. What could be more characteristic of that than John Force staying silent?