John Force made a startling revelation. Well, not really.

Sometimes, Force pipes up, and by his own admission, his words get him in trouble.

The aspect of recent words delivered to Joe Castello in a webinar that was part of the Race Industry Week lineup is that just because he has a plan [for retirement] doesn't mean he's ready to execute it. Force might be able to drive a Funny Car like nobody's business, but sometimes, providing clarity off the cuff in an interview will always be his weakness.

"You always got to have a plan," Force said. "You don't know what could happen tomorrow. You try to orchestrate it to take care of the people in your company. Financially, I could retire, but that doesn't help my family. That doesn't help my employees. I've got close to a hundred employees and I just try to keep it afloat. So there ain't no plans. Sponsors are signing me up and I keep moving ahead and so do my other drivers."

The bottom line is this. Force might have sounded like he was preparing to retire, but the 16-time champion isn't ready to hang it up.

"Drag racing still gets it done for me," Force declared. "The world of drag racing has changed, but I think it's a great product. When I see the young kids racing and their families with buses and motorcoaches and 18 wheelers at some little track and just lined up to play and it ain't because they're there to make money. There ain't even a big crowd, mostly relatives. I see the love for it, and I just don't see how it can fail. Everyone's trying to build it stronger. I'm always positive. Even when things are negative, I don't go down that road. I stick with being positive, and that's what I'm doing now."

And, positively, Force is convinced there's nothing out there he's found to replace the adrenaline rush of driving an 11,000-horsepower Funny Car. Not even jumping out of an airplane would compare, but he quickly points out he's unwilling to do a case study.

Force quickly dispelled that notion, "Not gonna happen."

Let the record reflect he won't ride a rodeo bull, either. Not even 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu, like the Tim McGraw song Live Like You Were Dying glorifies.

"Yeah, I had my John Travolta Urban Cowboy moment already [on a mechanical bull]," Force added. "That didn't work out good for me."

Nor does a Top Fuel Motorcycle intrigue him.

"It's gotta be four wheels for me," Force added.

But there may be one avenue if Force ever decides to cash in his chips.

With granddaughter Autumn Hight having graduated from Junior Dragster to Super Comp, he sees a day when the third-generation of the John Force Racing tree graduates into an A/Fuel Dragster. Grandpa might give his rare foray into a dragster a shot.

"If I get out of a Funny Car seat, I got to do something," Force admitted. "I'll get in an A/Fueler just to have some fun and be with my grandkids."

Lord help them, those around him today might say.

There's a whole score of things Force plans to do with his extra time. He's not shy about getting in touch with his spiritual side, either.

While he declines to talk about religion or politics [understanding both will get him in trouble], Force believes getting in touch with himself in church is a good thing.

"When I'm in church, I get well," Force said. "Everything seems to make sense and I've never been a real religious person, but things that I can find in the Bible and things I can find... And everybody does that when they get older. So it ain't nothing new, okay? Just that maybe you slow down a little bit in your life and you look at reality and what really matters. And the Bible is great reading. It's very educational if you read it that way to learn. I'm not going to get into preaching the gospel; I apologize."

The Reverend Force might bring on a new challenge. Jumping out of the airplane might present a better course.

"Yeah, a lightning bolt would strike me," Force said. "No, I don't mess with the Almighty."

When Force gets ready to start his 45th full-time drag racing season, he will do so with the same approach that has fueled him since his coming out party in 1979. Force admits he needs a challenge daily to get him going.

"The first thing I do is create a problem in my head, and that gives me the drive to get moving, get to the shop," Force explained. "I'm old school, so the way that I do it is probably the wrong way. But I keep trying to learn and educate myself, but I got to get up, get motivated to go to work. That's what it's all about. And keeping this thing afloat, that gives you plenty of motivation. And that's my dream. That's what I do. So when people say, 'Man, you never get tired?"

This scenario begs the question, 'How will Force ever get motivated if he can't create a problem?"

"That could be a problem," Force laughed.

" And, I ain't retiring either."