Drag racing great John Force announced his retirement Thursday after an unmatched 46-year career. Force, a 16-time Funny Car champion who holds the record for all-time NHRA wins with 157, shared the news in a video posted on social media.
At 76, Force hadn’t raced in 17 months after surviving an engine explosion at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in June 2024. Force’s car careened across his opponent’s lane and into a concrete wall at nearly 300 mph while engulfed in flames. He left the track in an ambulance and spent a week in intensive care.
Force suffered a traumatic brain injury and a fractured sternum in the wreck, and it was unclear whether he would eventually return to racing. In the video he posted, Force said his time to retire had come.
“I’ve been under doctors’ care and I still am, so if I say anything wrong, please excuse me. It’s time for me to retire,” Force said. “It all made sense to me, even though I have medical stuff that I had to address. Do I want to get back in the car and get hit in the head? And I don’t.”
John Force Announces Retirement pic.twitter.com/4MOzgVdgxC
— John Force Racing (@JFR_Racing) November 13, 2025
The impact Force leaves on drag racing and NHRA’s history cannot be overstated. He not only broke records, he set new ones at seemingly unreachable heights.
Force was the first Funny Car driver to reach 100 wins, then tacked on another 57 to extend his legacy. His 16 NHRA championships are the most in any of the league’s divisions and include a record 10 consecutive titles from 1993 to 2002.
His first championship came in 1990 and his last in 2013. Two of the eight he didn’t win during that stretch went to drivers racing for his namesake team. As of 2025, John Force Racing holds a total of 21 championships.
“I’ve said so many times, ‘Until this race car kills me, they’re going to have to drag me out of the seat,’” Force said in his announcement video. “But the truth is, I was dragged out of the seat at Richmond. They thought it killed me then. I’m lucky I’m back walking.”
Force made history when he and his daughter Ashley Force became the first father/daughter pair to face off in 2008. Ashley, in her second NHRA season, won and raced until her retirement in 2010.
Two other Force daughters, Courtney and Brittany, also had successful racing careers. Courtney Force competed from 2012 to 2018, while Brittany Force retired Thursday, moments before her father, after a 12-year career, citing her desire to have children of her own.
Repeatedly mentioning his excitement to keep spending time with his grandchildren, Force said his focus is on his growing family and team.
“I won’t say I won’t ever get in the car and warm it up, or maybe even make a burnout. Don’t know,” Force said, smirking. “I guess it’ll be the response from the fans. You cheer loud enough, I’ll hear you.”
Force was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008. In a short social media post following his announcement, the NHRA labeled Force the greatest of all time.
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