Force’s journey is truly the American dream rags to riches story. He was a truck driver before making the switch to drag racing in 1971, driving the ex-Jack Chrisman rear-engine Mustang Funny Car. In the beginning, he struggled financially and professionally. His belief that one day he would be champion was a view not shared by others in the sport at the time. This could have been due to the fact that in John’s first 10 seasons in drag racing competition, he did not have any wins, only made nine final-round appearances, and was on fire quite a bit. Force got his first victory at the age of 38 in 1987 at the Grandnational in Montreal with Austin Coil as his crew chief. That was the turning point in his career. From 1987-2006, he won 125 national events and 14 world championships. He won his next world championship in 2010, becoming the oldest driver in the sport to win a championship. He won his 16th championship in 2013. After several terrible accidents involving both himself and fellow drivers, Force worked with a team to develop safety improvements that earned him the 2008 MSEC Motorsports Achievement Award by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) for his work in improving race car safety. He also started John Force Racing, which is not just a racing team but also a machine shop for parts, fabrications and paint shop, chassis shop, decal shop, and a museum housing historic racecars. Force was the first drag racer to earn Driver of the Year recognition for all American Motor Racing (1996); being voted No. 2 racer behind only Don Garlits in the NHRA’s first 50 years; and being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Daytona Beach, Fla. (200, the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame in Fort Worth (2011), the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala., (2012), the California Sports Hall of Fame in Alta Loma (2017), and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (2019).