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There’s no disputing that John Force will always be drag racing’s GOAT: Greatest of All Time. Maybe Don Garlits revolutionized more race cars, Shirley Muldowney helped change the diversity of both the fanbase and the drivers, and Kenny Bernstein taught everyone about sponsor relations, but from pretty much every other dimension — accomplishments, team and fan dynamics, and a succession of talented race- and championship-winning drivers — John Force has no equal.

Seventeen months after a near-fatal crash in Virginia, Force announced his retirement from driving last November, alongside his daughter Brittany, who was retiring to start a family. For the first time since the 1970s, there won’t be a Force family member competing in the nitro ranks, but Force is not slowing down. For the first time since youngest daughter Courtney retired in 2018, John Force Racing will field three Funny Cars this year — Jack Backman and new teammates Jordan Vandergriff and Alexis DeJoria — alongside the team’s new Top Fuel driver, Josh Hart, and Force shows no sign of slowing down.

NHRA has announced that the 2027 season will honor the sport’s winningest star with a yearlong “50 Years of Force” celebration at each stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour.

In this exclusive NHRA National Dragster interview, his longest and widest ranging since his accident, Force talks about everything that has happened over the last year and a half, from the defection of the Prock family to his new hires, and what motivates him to stay in the sport.

How are you doing? How’s your health?

I’m getting through it. I broke all my arms and legs, and I’m still kicking, but my head can only take so much. What I have worst is short-term memory loss, like someone will tell me, “Hey, let’s go get a Coke,” and I’ll go, “Where were we going?” My long-term memory is great. I remember everything. I’ve got some good stories this year. We’ll have some fun.

Let’s talk about your decision last November to announce your retirement from driving.

Well, No. 1, was the head injuries. I thought it was all going away, but it hasn’t completely. It’s nothing really serious, but we’re still doing a lot of tests. It’s all too complicated for me, but the doctors tell me I’m good to go back to work, but I’m not going to drive. I can’t take any more blows to the head. And the truth is, I’m 76, so I don’t need to get whacked in the head no more.

The doctor said, “If you get hit in the wrong spot, that could be bad.” I love driving, and I’ll always dream about driving again, but it’s time to let somebody else go out there and win. I’ve got four teams now, and I’ve got to get them winning again.

It seemed like there was no advance notice; you just decided during a press conference about Brittany’s retirement.

Everybody wanted to know my decision, and I ain’t got no secrets, but there’s some things that came up. We had a new grandbaby — Courtney and [Graham] Rahal had another little girl — and I just looked at it, and I said, “You ain’t got a lot of time left.” I want to spend some time with them. When I saw the baby, I thought, “There’s a lot of things I’ve missed,” because racing has been my way of life, and it was just time to make the call.

I think people were worried that when you did make that decision to stop driving and with Brittany not racing, that you would lose interest in the sport. But now you’ve got four cars.

I can’t explain it, but every day, that’s what I think about. I work at my shop every day in California. I’m back at work, hard as ever. I was at the shop in Indy, and we got four teams and eight or 10 cars that we’re painting, and we had to do all the trailers. We’ve got a lot of work on, but we’re getting it done. I’m excited about the season. Everybody’s working, and it looks like we’re back on track.

So, what’s going to be your role?

I run the company like I always did. Robert [Hight] is gone, but I’ve Bob McAleer [director, business operations] helping me, and he works with sponsors to keep me caught up. There’s a lot I just took for granted, but all of my sponsors stayed with me. Brittany is still working with Monster on a [personal services agreement], so she’s excited about that. She’s going to Florida with us in a few weeks.

I’m in pretty good hands with Josh Hart, and then I got Alexis DeJoria. I put [Austin] Prock in [a Funny Car] and the kid was really good right out of the box, and now I’ve got some young drivers coming up that really want a chance. I’ve got a lot of teaching to do. I don’t think DeJoria needs much help, but I can help the young kid, Vandergriff. Maybe for a while, there’s some things I can do to help a driver.

You mentioned Austin, and obviously, he and his dad and brother left your team suddenly at the end of last year. What happened there, and what are your feelings about them ending up with Bob Tasca?

I knew it was coming. Jimmy [Prock] had talked to me because he had dreams for his children and what he was going to do. No hard feelings. I just want to wish him well. He won a couple championships and even bought me a trophy. Tasca is a good friend of mine, and they’ll do well, they’ll be fine.

What went into the decision to name Jordan Vandergriff as the replacement driver?

I really like the Vandergriff kid. I like how he’s motivated, how he didn’t just get out of racing, he got into TV, and all of the stuff that would help him as a driver. He’s got a lot of motivation that I haven’t seen in other people, and he wants to drive that race car. I could have put him in a dragster or in a Funny Car — I had a choice — but I wanted him in a Funny Car.

This will be the first year since the 1970s that there won’t be a Force family member in a nitro car. Any thoughts about that, and do you think that [grandsons] Noah or Jacob might end up in a car in the future?

They’ve already got Jr. Funny Cars, but right now, they’re into hockey big; you can’t predict where they’re going to go. Autumn [Hight, Force’s grandchild with daughter Adria and Robert Hight] is still working her way up in Top Dragster. I don’t know if she’ll move up, but if she does, I’d have to go through her dad and mom, but Jacob and Noah, that’s aways down the road, but whatever they want me to do, I’ll consider doing. Me, I’m gonna go till I drop; I’ve always said that.

Adding Alexis DeJoria to your team really surprised us all …

[Mike] Neff told me nobody loves it like she does, so I have hope that with my experience I can help her and turn that car around. She’s a sweetheart, and her dad [John Paul DeJoria] is the nicest guy, and his [business] partner, Jonathan Kendrick, they’re all good people. They all try to help me. I negotiate with everybody, but I can’t even negotiate with her dad because he’s so nice. He wanted to put his business, Paul Mitchell, on the car, and I never questioned it. I sell every sign that’s on my cars, but he bought a whole car, so if he wants Paul Mitchell on it, I’m just really proud of that. If it means something to him, it does to me, and I’m going to carry his colors.

Obviously, you would love to drive, but what is it that you still enjoy about being outside the car?

I just like to help other drivers. I like DeJoria because I taught my daughters, and we went through a lot over the years, and then the young guys who are out there and I want to try to teach them all. We’ll just see where it goes, but I’m going to try to pass on what I’ve learned over the years from Austin Coil and everybody else and carry it on.

For a while, I didn’t have a place. I’d go to the races, and I’d watch cars, and I taught my kids the best I could. Brittany did well, Courtney and Ashley, too, and now they’ve got their own kids that they’re moving on. Nope, I got no complaints.

2026 is a big year for NHRA with the 75th anniversary, and you’ve been such a big part of that. What do you think about this year and the legacy of NHRA?

It’s going to be a big year, and I’ll be working with NHRA. They’re doing things to get people to the races, and if they can utilize me, I’ve utilized them all these years, let them utilize me. I ain’t going nowhere.

I’m very fortunate. I’ve got more trophies than I can count. I can’t even keep them all in the same room, let alone the same building. I’m gonna show them where I came from and anything that I can pass on. The cars have changed, but they’ve been good to me, and the sport’s been good to me, so I want to help the sport. If I can bring some new drivers in, or help drivers to get better, move them up in the Top 10, that’s what I’m gonna try to do.

Would you change anything about the way everything turned out?

I wish I hadn’t hurt my head because God gave me this body, and I want to keep it healthy, and I’d still be driving. I ain’t saying I won’t ever get back into a car, maybe do a burnout like Billy Meyer did last year [at the NHRA FallNationals]. But it’s part of my life, and it’ll be part of my storyline, and let’s see how it goes. But right now, when I get with my race cars, and I get with my people, they’re giving me the motivation to fight and get back in this game.

John Medlen, we lost his boy [Eric], and yet he still continues. He’s still smart, still doing it, and I love the guy. I talk to his boy almost every day because you can’t forget, you can’t forget why you’re here. I met a lot of good people who are gone now: Bernie Fedderly, [Steve] Plueger, people along the way that were just the best, and they all taught me. Hell, I didn’t know nothing when I started.

But look where you ended up. There won’t be anybody better ever. 

I ain’t done yet. I want to be part of the new family that I got with Beckman and DeJoria, the Vandergriff kid, and Josh Hart.

You’re a big part of the history of this sport, and the records you set will never be touched. Your legacy is secure. Do you ever look back on that?

I don’t look back. It doesn’t turn me on. It doesn’t do anything for me. I like where I’m going to go. And if I can be on the starting line and hear that noise from the headers and watch the burnouts and watch some young kid excel, then my life has more meaning, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I love NHRA, and it’s time to get back in the game.

Your fans are going to love you whether you drive or not. What would you like to tell them?

I want to tell them thank you. I didn’t just do it for them; I did, but I also did it for myself, for the love of NHRA and the love of the sport. The fans have been very supportive of me, when I was on top, when I was on the bottom, when I crashed. They’ve always been there for me, and they never give up on you. That’s the thing that strikes me the most. They never get tired. They never get tired of hearing the stories. They want you to win, but if you lose, they love you more. It took me years to figure that out. When you win, you’re everybody’s hero. When you lose, you’re the fans’ hero that love you. I’m amazed the people I see, and now it’s their children’s children. They come to see me and say, “My grandpa loved you.”

The sport’s been good to me because of the things you guys write, because of TV; I’m a very lucky guy, and then to have a fan following like I’ve got and still love and still want to keep it. That’s why I work the crowd when I’m at the races, and I’m gonna keep doing that until the end.