BRISTOL, Tenn. — On Saturday at Bristol Dragway, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force looked like a beaten man.
He stalked around the pit area, the staging lanes and the starting line like a man with no clue as to what was going on around him.
Force and his team had been in a daze since the death of teammate Eric Medlen following a crash while testing earlier this year.
While drivers Ashley Force (John’s daughter) and Robert Hight (John’s son-in-law) had performed admirably, The Boss had won only two rounds of competition all year, had his multi-race, multi-season qualifying streak snapped, and appeared on the verge of failing to qualify for the inaugural Countdown to the Championship.
Despite a test session earlier in the week and a new car, things didn’t look to be improving on the Force front. He did qualify a solid fifth at Thunder Valley, but his focus seemed to be everywhere but on the Castrol Funny Car that he drives.
When Hight and Ashley Force were preparing for runs, he could be seen pacing back in forth in front of their cars, leading many to wonder how difficult it must be for a driver to look out the front of a car prior to making a run and see the winningest drag racer in NHRA history staring a blank, nervous stare. It couldn’t be comforting.
By contrast, Don Prudhomme, another of drag racing’s greatest drivers, stood in the shadows and watched his cars run. The always-elegant Snake was in control of the situation.
John Force was not.
While Force scurried from Ashley’s car to Hight’s, watching the next generation’s every move, his “heap” sat in the staging lanes. Force’s longtime friend and crew chief Austin Coil and the crew made the final preparations to the car, but the driver, who has always kept a watchful eye, was nowhere around.
Finally, he came riding up on a scooter and scrambled to get his safety gear on and strap into his cockpit. He wasn’t a driver that looked focused, or prepared for that matter; he looked like a driver that was more worried about things slipping away than he was about winning races.
While there’s no question Force has had a trying season, his level of readiness seems to have less to do with Medlen’s tragic death and more to do with the presence of Ashley as a teammate and a rookie Funny Car driver.
As the season progressed, The King of Rings has clearly spent more time worrying about her transition to Funny Cars than he has his own performance. While not spectacular, her driving had been solid all season, as she had qualified for every race she had attempted, missing only the Dallas event after Medlen’s death.
She ranked eight spots ahead of her dad in the standings entering Bristol, but Saturday afternoon Ashley Force failed to qualify for the first time in her career.
And Sunday, John Force was back.
Back at the top of his game. Back, focused on his own Ford Mustang. Back, dominating the competition. And back in victory lane.
Force said after the race he had apologized to his team earlier in the day for being a “jerk.” He said he would lead by example. He was good to his word.
But on Sunday, John Force was in his familiar role as the greatest drag racer of all time, not playing the part of worried father.