{"id":96,"date":"2015-07-30T18:09:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/healthy-aging-magazine\/?p=96"},"modified":"2015-09-14T12:34:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T12:34:43","slug":"unstoppable-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/fall-2015\/fall-2015-features\/unstoppable-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Unstoppable Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

U<\/span>nless you\u2019ve hung around the ear-splitting pits at a NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) drag race or followed the Funny Car circuit since 1974, you\u2019ve probably never heard of John Force, drag racing\u2019s tough old man and winningest driver ever who, by his own reckoning, has \u201cbeen on fire from here to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literally.<\/p>\n

For the first thirteen years of his drag racing career, he was known as a crazy driver who stepped away from burning wrecks that spewed parts all over the track. In the early days, he and his wife, Laurie, \u201cstarved to race,\u201d going from drag strip to drag strip across the country. Laurie learned how to mix the fuel and pack the drag shoots while John was building a reputation as a disaster on four wheels.\n[awesome-gallery id=1423]

(Left) John Force. Photo: NHRA National Dragster (Right) John, Brittany, Courtney Force & Robert Hight. Photo: John Force Racing<\/p>\nThen, on June 28, 1987 at the Sanair Dragstrip in Montreal, all that changed. Finally, after sixty-six starts and thirteen years as an also-ran, Force won the Molson Grand National and launched a winning career that, in other more recognizable sports, would have him sitting at the banquet table with legendary icons like Mickey Mantle, Michael Jordan and Joe Namath.<\/p>\n

With one big difference–long after those legends retired from competition, John Force is still at it. And in his four decades at the top, Force has compiled a record of firsts and accolades that would be the envy of any superstar: Sixteen World Championship wins, 142 Funny Car wins (an all-time record), first driver to hit 100 wins, first driver to beat five seconds in the quarter mile (1993), 16-time NHRA champion driver, 18-time champion owner, Driver of the Year, holder of every record in the NHRA . . . and on and on.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say drag racing is in John Force\u2019s DNA. Nothing makes that more obvious than the fact that all three of his daughters, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney are all accomplished NHRA drivers. They are also actively involved in John Force Racing, Inc. (Ashley was recently named Vice President), Force\u2019s multimillion dollar racing business that runs NHRA teams, sells racing swag and promotes a lineup of car products, tools and accessories that would fulfill the fantasies of any gear head.<\/p>\n

[awesome-gallery id=1434]

(Left) Force in Las Vegas winner’s circle. Photo: John Force Racing. (Right) Force chatting with Courtney. Photo: John Force Racing<\/p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in the game, seven days a week, four eighteen wheelers traveling all the time . . .it\u2019s what we live for,\u201d says Force.<\/p>\n

One would expect that a man who lives for the rush of a four second 300+ mile per hour acceleration with g-force greater than a space shuttle launch is a guy who lives on the edge. For forty years, he was. \u201cMan, I fancied myself as Superman in a fire suit. I thought I was James Dean, Elvis and Superman all rolled into one. I lived on cheeseburgers, milkshakes and beer like a man who wants to kill himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, in 2007, he almost did. First came the gruesome death of thirty-three year old, Eric Medlen, an up and coming driver in the John Force stable. Then, a few months later, during round two of the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Fall Nationals in Texas, John himself nearly ate it when Kenny Bernstein\u2019s dragster crossed into his lane at warp speed. While a hushed crowd watched, Force was extracted from his mangled car and airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center. The resulting six-hour operation, nearly two months in bed and lengthy rehab changed the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat crash was my wakeup call, the good Lord took a hammer and crushed me. That\u2019s when I realized there\u2019s a bigger purpose for me, not just to win races but to be here for my family, to make racing safer and to make sure I was still around to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For him, that meant the gym instead of the bar, salads instead of French fries and throwing himself, his company and his racing colleagues into making race cars safer through the Eric Medlen Project.<\/p>\n

[awesome-gallery id=1437]

(Left) Force drivers with fans. Photo: John Force Racing (Right) Force family photo. Photo: John Force Racing<\/p><\/p>\n

And now, John Force is back in the game. He\u2019s healthier and he\u2019s happier. His company has rebounded from crashes and business setbacks. His wife and children surround him, drawing from renewed energy that he says comes from a lifelong work ethic that took some new directions but never diminished. He still wins races. And his need for speed is still very much alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut me in a bathing suit . . . I\u2019m not pretty. But that race car is still my office and I still get a thrill out of hitting over 300 miles per hour in under five seconds. When I\u2019m in that cockpit, I have my youth again.\u201d<\/p>\n

2015 is his forty-first racing season.<\/p>\n

\n

John Force\u2019s personal secrets for living better and longer:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Eat right and exercise. Spend an hour in the gym instead of the bar.<\/li>\n
  2. Fix your eyes. If you can\u2019t see, get glasses!<\/li>\n
  3. Do your own checkbook, it keeps your mind sharp and it\u2019s an honor to have one.<\/li>\n
  4. Love your family and love what you do.<\/li>\n
  5. Never give up, never take the easy path and never use age as an excuse.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    David Chauner is a journalist and author who has written for Sports Illustrated, the New York Times and many other publications. He recently completed his first novel, High Road, Chasing the Yellow Jersey<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    John Force, the unstoppable race car driver who keeps on burning up the tracks at age 66.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":98,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-fall-2015-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2333,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/2333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}