Force is still with us: drag racing legend John Force has no immediate plans to retire, but the NHRA is already wondering how it will replace its star attraction - National Hot Rod Association

Auto Racing Digest, Oct-Nov, 2003 by Chris Dolack

EARLY IN THE 2003 NHRA SEASON, there was a rumbling in the pits. After barely hanging on to win his 10th consecutive Funny Car championship and 12th overall, John Force seemed to start the year in the wrong gear.

It was mid-June before Force reached the final round of a national event. Even then--with points-leader Tony Pedregon beaten--Force smoked the tires, veered left into his teammate's lane, and was disqualified. Not since 1989--the year before his first season title--had Force gone longer without a final-round victory.

The whispers began.

"Is this it?"

"Has Force lost it?"

"Is one of the most remarkable runs in the history of motorsports going to end with a fizzle rather than a bang?"

Not a chance--and Force's competitors know it, too. To reach that final round against Pedregon, the 54-year-old Force had to knock off familiar rivals Whit Bazemore and Ron Capps. No one--especially his fiercest competition--expects Force to retire in one year, two years, or even five years.

"Force has 'High Mileage' printed on his firesuit," says Bazemore, pointing to the slogan stitched onto his long-time nemesis' race wear. "He might not be out of the way in five years--although, we're working to make him older in a hurry."

The early-season disappointment merely pushed Force and his long-time crew chief, Austin Coil, to work harder. When Pedregon, who drives a Mustang owned by Force, nearly caught his boss at the end of 2002, Force and Coil decided to install a similar setup into their car in '03. After making some early runs with the new setup, Force was losing cylinders, struggling to finish runs. The team discovered that Force--ever the showman--did longer burnouts than Pedregon, thereby putting more stress on the motor. By cutting down the length of his burnouts, Force's

motor-problems began to fade. That, more than anything, was the reason for his early struggles.

"It's always frustrating because the kids that work on these cars are here seven days a week, they're living it," says Force, who entered the 2003 season with 106 career victories. "Then to go out there and fail with the car dropping cylinders and, even worse, to go out and red-light [at Englishtown, N.J.] was frustrating because my guys really dedicate themselves. They just want to do their jobs, the car wants to do its job, and I need to do mine."

With the rest of the field finally reeling in Force, winning elimination rounds is imperative if he is going to capture his 13th championship. But Pedregon, Capps, and Bazemore--who is racing a new Dodge Stratus--see an opening, and they're not about to let Force blast back to the top.

"The more you've won, the more embarrassing it is to lose," says Coil. "You are expected to win, you have the resources to win, and if you stop winning, people are going to say that you are too old to care anymore. But right now, the handwriting is not on the wall.

"There will be a day, no doubt, when Force gets up in the morning and he decides he doesn't want to drive anymore. It happened to [Kenny] Bernstein. He got up and said it was going to be his last year. [Don] Prudhomme did that, too. But you know what, when we are out here it is very obvious to me that Force gets more fun out of driving that car than anything else he does in his life. I don't think he is anywhere near thinking about quitting yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he was driving 10 years from now."

At some point, though, the end will come. Force will wake up and decide he's done waiting for the green light. And that will be a problem for the sport. The NHRA has weathered other star drivers coming and going, but Force is the main attraction, especially for fringe fans.

Certainly, Larry Dixon is making a name for himself in Prudhomme's Miller Lite dragster. And even though the circumstances aren't what he hoped for, Bernstein is back in the cockpit of the Bud Fang dragster after retiring in 2002. But Force is whom most fans pay to see. Force is the guy who draws the largest crowds in the pits. Force is the guy people tune in to watch on ESPN.

"It will be a great loss when John steps out of the seat," says Bernstein, who won four Funny Car and two Top Fuel titles. "You're not going to replace John Force fight away. You look at our sport and there are a lot of young drivers coming up, but they haven't won enough yet and haven't established themselves day in and day out, year after year. That's what you have to do in this game. It will happen, it just takes time. It doesn't happen overnight."

Force believes NHRA drag racing has never been better. "I think it's going to get stronger," he says. "The whole sport is going to grow. We need new young stars, so it's exciting have Pedregon and Bazemore out here. I don't intend on quitting as long as I can do a good job, but we need new kids in the sport. That's important."

Tom Compton--only the third president since the NHRA was founded in 1951--also believes fans are seeing the best racing in the series' history. "I love it when someone says, 'Isn't the NHRA getting old?'" he says. "Because the answer is, 'Not at all.' If you look at our demographics, we are younger than ever before--and getting younger every day. We probably have a stronger group of young drivers right now than at anytime in modern history. NHRA's fan base is also getting younger, which is another very attractive part of the sport. When sponsors see the demographics of our fans and drivers, they see an unparalleled mix of gender, ethnicity, and age. This sport is as healthy as it has ever been and continues to be discovered."