John Force, the most accomplished and decorated drag racer in history, a man who cheated death a year ago and came back to race again at age 59, and a person who tells you exactly what he thinks in the most colorful terms imaginable, has a little secret.
His life is dominated by women.
They tell him what to do, how to do it and when to do it. They tease him, they provoke him, they anger him, they scold him and, most importantly, they love him.
They are wife Laurie; daughters Adria, Ashley, Brittney and Courtney; and one spoiled granddaughter, Autumn.
Ashley, 25, is a drag racing star in her own right, becoming the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event earlier this season.
Ashley’s sisters Brittney, 22, and Courtney, 20, are also racing now, learning the ropes in an Alcohol dragster.
Adria, 38, is Force’s daughter with his first wife, Lana. Adria is the chief financial officer of John Force Racing, overseeing the books for more than 100 employees and four race teams.
She is also the wife of JFR driver Robert Hight (another playoff contender) and the mother of their 4-year-old daughter, Autumn, the only girl her grandpa has who won’t talk back to him. Not yet, anyway.
The leader of this pack is Laurie, Force’s wife of 27 years and the woman who tries to keep some sense of normalcy amid this unusual mix of family ties and racing desires.
Laurie has watched John go from a struggling pedal pusher hoping to make ends meet to a 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion with a drag racing empire. She also has watched him become a much better father in recent years.
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