John Harold Force (born May 4, 1949 in Bell Gardens, California) is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 21-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 154 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.
Current drivers racing for his team are son-in-law Robert Hight, and daughter Brittany. Mike Neff was crew chief for John two separate times. Effective July 2013 Jimmy Prock replaced Mike Neff as crew chief, and Mike Neff became crew chief for Robert Hight. Neff, who was once the crew chief for rival driver Gary Scelzi, raced in a 4th Funny Car for JFR from October 26, 2007, following the death of Eric Medlen, until the end of the 2009 season. However, in 2010, after a 2009 season in which Force did not win a single race, Force parked his 4th car, and named Neff as his new crew chief instead. This decision resulted in Force winning his 15th NHRA Championship. His nickname among several of the drivers, as well as several announcers within the sport of drag racing is "Brute Force", a nickname he earned by his dominating wins during his run of ten straight NHRA championships. Force, his daughters, Courtney, Ashley, and Brittany, and son-in-law Robert Hight are collectively known as "The First Family of Drag Racing".
