NHRA Champs John, Brittany Force to Meet Fans Thursday

by Erin Gallagher

The racing dynasty family of John Force and his daughter, Brittany Force, will make a fan appearance at the Joliet Advance Auto Parts store Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

The 16-time Funny Car Champion John Force, 70, hopes to clinch his 150th NHRA tour title at Route 66 Raceway this week. With 16 series championships, a win this week would be yet another milestone in his legendary career with more all-time records than any driver in NHRA history.

The 2017 Top Fuel World Champion, Brittany Force, is only the second woman to hold that title, and the first in 35 years. She’s ranked second in the NHRA Mellow Yellow points standings. She went from rookie to champ in just five seasons.

Driving a Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car, he is ranked fifth, with 190 points behind leader Robert Hight, another member of the John Force Racing Team.

“It’s a family affair for us,” John Force said. “It’s what we do, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon."

Four days of action-packed racing, every ticket is a pit pass, allowing fans all-access entry to the pit areas and NHRA Nitro Alley to interact with drivers and teams. Tickets can be purchased at www.Route66Raceway.com.

Four-day general admission is $135 for adults, and $33 for kids. Adult tickets start at $15 for Thursday, $51 Friday, $56 Saturday and $60 Sunday. Kids are free Thursday and $14 the rest of the weekend.

In his 43rd season, John Force said he’s been racing since the 1960s street car days. His successes did not come quickly.

“John Force was so bad in the early years that Larry Sutton, the official starter at Irwindale Raceway, once banned him from the track as a safety risk to both himself and everyone else,” says the bio on his website, www.JohnForceRacing.com.

“There were 12 to 15 years of being a loser,” he said, calling himself the bridesmaid but never the bride.

He learns from each loss, improving on each set back, he said.

"After a season filled with fire and crashes in 1992, Force came back to win ten straight NHRA titles and beyond, dominating like no other driver or athlete in history,” according to his website.

“Not even the New York Yankees won ten straight,” he said.

Similarly, The Eric Medlen Project arose to improve safety after the tragic loss of its namesake teammate who did in a testing accident in 2007.

Then a month later, he crashed, landing him six weeks in a Texas hospital, he said, calling the experience his last vacation.

John Force encourages kids to an education.

“I got behind because of the computer age,” he said.

He advises people to do what they love and do it every day.

“Don’t do any job for the money,” he said. Don’t do it for fame . . . do it because you love it.”

John and Brittany Force will be at the Advance Auto Parts, 2510 W. Jefferson Street, Joliet to sign autographs and photo opportunities, he said.

For a complete racing schedule, click here.

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