An All-American Hero Returns to His Roots

John Force and his racing organization launch into this season with a startling new look. Swoopy Chevrolet Camaro SS bodies now cloak the JFR in-house-built chassis.

Chevy’s new venture into drag racing was announced at a recently held press conference attended by Force, Robert Hight, NHRA’s Tom Compton and most importantly Jim Campbell, Chevrolet vice president for performance vehicles and motorsports.

Campbell spoke at length regarding Chevy’s new relationship with John Force Racing. He noted that the five-year agreement includes all three John Force Racing Chevrolet SS Camaro Funny Cars that Force, Hight and Courtney Force drive, as well as the team’s Top Fuel Dragster featuring Brittany Force. Campbell continued, “John Force is a champion and a legend both on and off the track, as a driver and as a team owner. He is a racer’s racer and a fierce competitor, and we are excited to welcome John and his team back to Chevrolet.”

John Force is no new-comer to the Bow Tie’s illustrious racing brigade. The first 60 starts of his storied career were behind the wheel of a Chevrolet product. From 1978-80 he raced a Corvette before switching to a Citation (1981-82), Camaro (1983-84), Corvette (1985), and then a Cavalier (1986). Force won the 1994 NHRA Funny Car Championship racing a Chevy Lumina to a 50-8 record, 11 finals, 10 wins and 12 No. 1 qualifiers. Early on in his career Force campaigned a Vega-bodied Funny Car in Australia and several Monza iterations before going to the Corvette. “When I started with John Force Racing, we were with Chevrolet, winning championships. I’m proud and honored to say I hope I can get out there and put Chevrolet back in the winner’s circle with Funny Car. They picked the right group, John Force Racing. We know how to win, and with Chevrolet we’re going to be winning in the years to come.” Force proclaimed.

Speaking of the new connection to GM, Force went on, “The key was we’ve got an exclusive [with Chevy]. Robert Hight negotiated that. Robert has really worked with Mark Kent [GM director of racing] and Terry Dolan [manager, Chevrolet Racing] and Roger Allen [General Motors drag racing program manager] and Jim [Campbell]. Robert’s president, he’s learned from me, and he’s very good, the way he puts things together.”

With regards to new sponsors beyond his ties to Lucas, Force promises announcements from Pomona through the Gators.

In other news, Team Force announced major realignments and additions to the teams. The organization will continue to be led by Mike Neff, crew chief for Robert Hight’s Auto Club Camaro SS Funny Car. Long-time crewman Tim Fabrisi will be stepping up to assist Neff on Hight’s ride.

Jon Schaffer, previously assistant crew chief to Neff, will be crew chief of John Force’s Funny Car. Car chief Nick Casertano will move to John Force’s PEAK Camaro SS Funny Car team.

Courtney Force’s Traxxas Camaro SS Funny Car will continue to be led by Ron Douglas and Force’s other son-in-law, Dan Hood.

Due to the Al-Anabi racing operation implosion, Ronnie Thompson, who wrenched on Khalid al Balooshi’s Dragster, found himself unemployed. He was snatched up to assist crew chief Todd Smith on Brittany Force’s Top Fuel Dragster.

Long-time Force Racing stalwart Dean “Guido” Antonelli has been promoted to general manager of the organization’s Brownsburg, Indiana facilities. He will continue to be a major player in the JFR crew chief consortium and will see his responsibilities expand to oversee the parts manufacturing operation near Indy.

“We’re going into sales,” Force explained. “JFR had to reinvent themselves. We’ve never really sold to the competition. We sold Jim Head a new chassis from ’82, but basically because of safety, I’ve never really sold my engine program or anything like that to anybody; maybe only a couple. But right now, for financial reasons, we don’t want to have to race what we make, especially with GM technology anywhere in our program, when it comes to make this faster and quicker and win.

“But at the end of the day, financially, we’re going in that direction. That’s why Dean Antonelli was so important. Dean understands the race car. I talked to some of the manufacturers, and they said the biggest problem you have [is] you get a salesman, the greatest salesman in the world, if he doesn’t know an NHRA race car, he’d sell the wrong parts to the wrong guy, the guys at the race track. So, Dean Antonelli will be at every race. He’ll be out there with our cars, naturally as back up; but any parts we sell to any team, he’ll be sure that they have…. He’s very key to keep at John Force Racing.”

The seismic shift in the Force camp seems to have paid off. With the new Camaro bodies approved by NHRA, JFR embarked on a private three-day test session at Phoenix’s Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park (formerly Firebird Raceway) prior to the NHRA Winternationals. By the test’s completion, all three Floppers were solidly in the threes, and the Dragster also performed flawlessly. What the future ultimately holds for Team Force will play out in the coming months.

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