John Force Camaro Funny Cars, Top Fuel Cars to Skip 2020

Camaro funny cars and the team’s top fuel dragsters will return in 2021, after the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returned to action in Indianapolis on the weekend of July 11, neither the John Force Racing Camaro funny cars nor the JFR top fuel dragsters were in attendance. The team hadn’t even registered for the event and when reached for comment, a team spokesperson declined. It was unclear why the team hadn’t registered and the fact that no information was being provided seemed like an ominous sign for Chevy drag racing fans.

Today, John Force Racing issued a statement on his website with the news that many people had feared. None of his team cars will compete in the rest of the 2020 NHRA season, instead focusing their resources on a big run for the 2021 season. This is a crushing blow to Chevy and Camaro racing fans who had hoped to see Robert Hight back up his 2019 championship. As a result, the funny car field will be comprised of mainly Dodge, Toyota and Ford race cars. Dale Creasy runs a Camaro funny car, but he has only attended two of the four races, qualifying 12 and 14 in those two events. Creasy lost in the first round in both of those events.

Statement from John Force

The following was shared on the John Force Racing website this morning, with this lengthy message coming from the team owner and 16-time NHRA champion himself.

“When I first got into racing, I always had a love for cars, I loved the comradery of the team, I loved the competition. As I evolved, I realized what it took to become a winner. It took money and that’s when I started chasing corporate America. I had no personal wealth, I had to find sponsors to get me the crew chiefs I needed to win. As the winning happened, I found a new love. The fans. The fans are what kept me motivated and made me never ever think anything would come to an end. Even in the hardest of times, I call them crossroads, I got through it with the help of the fans and my sponsors. I went from a one car team to a multi-car team, to having machine shops, chassis shops and paint shops and the technology to win.

Suddenly, the virus hit, and it changed the world. Robert Hight, President of the company, and I got back from Gainesville and we started working on a plan, we had to reset John Force Racing. Everyone was having to adapt. We had to make cuts everywhere. We ran numbers over and over. In our contracts with sponsors we have guarantees. They get social media, certain number of races, certain number of race days, activation at races and other commitments. No matter how I looked at it I couldn’t deliver on those commitments. It just wasn’t fair to them. The impact of not being able to deliver on these commitments makes sitting out the rest of the 2020 season the right thing to do. No matter how I looked at it, no matter how much I personally invested, I couldn’t make it.

At that point, I made the decision to ‘live to fight another day.’ We can’t fight now, we can’t race right now, but with what I have, with the help of my sponsors and my own personal money, I can maintain. I have to protect my family, my employees, my teams and my sponsors. What I built was a team that could win. All I have to do is get to next year. It will look different, but I have all my department leads and my sponsors, Auto Club, Chevrolet, PEAK, Monster, Frank Tiegs owner of Flav-R-Pac and Montana Brand, Cornwell Tools, Parker Store, Baldwin Filters, they’re all supportive.

What I’m saying is that I’m going to prepare to come back next year stronger than ever. Watching all the people that went racing, NHRA, the track, Safety Safari, TV, the media, all the winners, all the teams, thank you for racing and keeping the sport alive. I am really heartbroken I’m not out there. If I had stayed and raced, I couldn’t come back. If I step back now, I can. I want to be with all of you again and I want to be competitive. We will continue to support all our sponsors, doing their promotions as planned and stay relevant on social media for the fans; we are going to continue to build race cars, as we always have, build engines, mount bodies, parts and do everything we can because we are open for business in Indy and California.”

Camaro Funny Cars, Top Fuel Teams Started Strong

While the John Force Racing quartet of John Force, Brittany Force, Robert Hight and Austin Prock were not in attendance at either of the two Indianapolis events this month, they did compete in the first two races back in February.

In the season opener in California, Hight qualified third in his Camaro with John Force qualified in the fifth spot. Hight lost in the second round, but John Force made it to the finals, where he lost a crazy-close drag race with Jack Beckman. Force ran a 3.897 with an .065 reaction time to Beckman’s 3.837 with an .081 reaction time. In the second event of the season, John Force qualified second and Hight started in the third spot. Hight lost in the first round, but Force would make it to the semifinals, where he lost to Jack Beckman.

Over in the top fuel class, Brittany Force opened the season by qualifying in the top spot in California, with teammate Austin Prock qualifying second. The younger Force lost in the semifinals, but Prock made it to the finals, where he lost to Doug Kalitta. In the second event for the top fuel drivers, Brittany Force once again qualified first, but Prock had to settle for the eleventh place to start. Prock lost in the first round and Force lost in the second round.

In short, none of the John Force Racing team cars won either of the first two events, but they were among the quickest in qualifying and in eliminations. It appeared that all four drivers had a chance to be in the hunt for the 2020 NHRA championship, but those hopes have been dashed. More importantly to some, the John Force Racing Camaro funny cars have really been the only true competition for the Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger Hellcat funny cars. A DSR Dodge has won each of the first four events and with Force and Hight out for the season, it could be an easy stroll to the title for Team Mopar.

John Force Racing Images

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com