When you’re 43 years old, a bucket list is about the last thing on your mind, unless your name happens to be Mike Neff.

“That was a huge bucket list item,” said Neff, of his experience in driving and winning with a Funny Car. “If I hadn’t won and then we had to park it; that would have bothered me. That would have haunted me. Getting that win checked that item off of the list. I could say to myself, ‘I’m good with this now. No matter what happens I’m fine with this now.”

“If I never drive again, I can always say that the last race I raced – I won. That would be the perfect ending for me.”

But as Neff sees it, he doesn’t believe his driving days are finished. If they are, he can live with that reality. And in an off-season of uncertainty, the assurance of job security went a long way towards confidence in 2010, regardless of the role he would play.

When you’re 43 years old, a bucket list is about the last thing on your mind, unless your name happens to be Mike Neff.

“That was a huge bucket list item,” said Neff, of his experience in driving and winning with a Funny Car. “If I hadn’t won and then we had to park it; that would have bothered me. That would have haunted me. Getting that win checked that item off of the list. I could say to myself, ‘I’m good with this now. No matter what happens I’m fine with this now.”

“If I never drive again, I can always say that the last race I raced – I won. That would be the perfect ending for me.”

But as Neff sees it, he doesn’t believe his driving days are finished. If they are, he can live with that reality. And in an off-season of uncertainty, the assurance of job security went a long way towards confidence in 2010, regardless of the role he would play.

“I knew headed into this season that things were tight and we had deals working,” Neff explained. “I knew we needed a sponsor to keep that car going. I knew Force wanted to keep that car going and he was going to do everything in his power to make it happen. The one assurance I always had in talking with John was my job security. He always re-enforced that point, adding that I could always help tune one of the cars if push came to shove. That was comforting and from that point, I just figured if it was meant to be – it would happen, if not, I’d do what was asked of me.”

When Force finally made the decision to park Neff's car, Neff's future with the team was already planned out. Neff would become instrumental in returning Force, not just a Force-owned car, to victory lane. Neff was assigned the co-crew chief role, along with Austin Coil, on the Force driven Castrol Ford Mustang.

The end result was Neff, along with key Force brain-trust members Coil and Bernie Fedderly, were able to put their emotionally downtrodden boss on the fast track to regaining his championship swagger.

Neff isn't sure just how long the brain-trust will hold together, because Force, he knows, is true to his convictions.

“John Force is a man of his word. He could have parked my car any time if he wanted to. John’s not the type of guy to make changes in mid-season. He’s going to ride a situation out to the bitter end. He wasn’t going to do that to us. But I will tell you that it wouldn’t surprise me if he calls after a race or two and says ‘get the car ready, we’re going to start running again.”

“I am still not convinced that I am done driving. He is still working on stuff and loves having that fourth car out there. I haven’t given up on driving. I just think circumstances forced John to do what he did.”

In the meantime, Neff confirmed that John Force Racing merely morphed the fourth team with Force’s car to make one potentially potent team. Plus the same car that Force drove on Sunday to the winner’s circle was the one that Neff drove to the NHRA AAA Finals title last season, save for a few key changes to the engine and the chassis.

“We have a really good group of guys that have come in and made this thing really click,” said Neff. “They can service the car as quick as anyone and they know each other. The know the routine. That’s why we got up to speed as quickly as we did. There’s usually an adjustment process with the new teams.”

One of the adjustment processes which Neff believes has been misunderstood is his role with the team. Many have speculated that Neff was there to replace the legendary Coil, while it has been speculated the Neff did all of the tuning in the win.

Those assumptions, Neff believes, are both unfounded and unfair towards Coil. He’s adamant that Coil played a crucial role in Sunday’s victory.

“It’s very disappointing, and it’s not a fair assumption … and it’s not the truth,” said Neff, discussing those who downplay Coil’s role in the win. “A lot of people speculate without knowing all of the facts. The fact is that we ARE working together. That goes without saying that the rest of us are working together from Jimmy Prock to Guido to Ron to Medlen to Fedderly … everybody is working together.

“He [Coil] is still taking care of the compression ratios, the formulas, the gaskets and the nitro … blowers … and he’s figuring all of the air stuff …while I am overseeing the car and the crew and the set-up. When it comes time to go up and make a run, I share my thoughts and opinions. We make a call and go run.”

As for the future, Neff knows his place and only when the time is right will it change.

“Coil and I are very much working together,” he added. “Five years down the road … Am I there to take his place? Let’s face it. I don’t know how much longer Coil is going to want to do this. I would say that when he decides he’s going to retire [that] I would probably take his place at that time.”

Until that time comes, Neff believes the racing community should offer Coil the respect he’s earned in the industry with sixteen world championships and tuner for drag racing’s most successful professional drag racer.

“He’s won more championships than Force,” said Neff, adding emphasis to his statement. “A lot of people don’t realize that. What I really don’t think is fair is that because they had a few off seasons that everyone was so quick to write them off. I was a tuner with Gary Scelzi … we had a good year and a couple of off seasons and I don’t think people were writing us off that quick. Unfortunately there are a lot of fair-weather friends. When you’re doing good, people want to be around you. When you’re not they’re second guessing you. That’s not the kind of thing I particularly like.”

Together with the JFR brain-trust, Neff believes the Force team made a statement that needed to be heard. Was that win huge?

“It definitely was huge,” Neff confirmed. “I had a lot of pressure in knowing the pressure that was on John to win. My goal was to give him a competitive car with a legitimate shot at winning. We had a consistent and quick car. We just needed to see that we had a good car and good tune-up. Plus John drove good.”

And if Neff’s driving career is over?

“It won’t hurt my feelings,” Neff said. “I drove in testing and I know that if I want to jump in and drive I can. I honestly believe at some point or another I’ll be back driving. I’m not convinced I’m done. If I am, at least I won. I started as a tuner and never really expected to be able to drive. To get the opportunity to drive as John provided, that was the icing on the cake.

“After the decision was made to park the car, I had quite a few people coming up to me telling me they were sorry I lost the driving deal. But what a lot of them didn’t know is that I really enjoyed being a part of the tuning, I enjoyed that part probably as much as tuning.”

Now, what is next on the bucket list?