{"id":102544,"date":"2025-11-14T01:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/john-force-makes-it-official-im-done-with-driving\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T01:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:44:30","slug":"john-force-makes-it-official-im-done-with-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/john-force-makes-it-official-im-done-with-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"John Force Makes It Official: \u201cI\u2019m Done With Driving\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Force stood inside the John Force Racing shop in Yorba Linda on Friday afternoon and did the one thing he spent a lifetime swearing he\u2019d never do \u2013 he announced he\u2019s officially done driving a Funny Car.<\/p>\n

More than a year after his harrowing, high-speed crash at the 2024 NHRA Virginia Nationals, the 16-time Funny Car world champion spoke candidly about the injuries, the recovery, the fear, the gratitude, and the clarity that ultimately pushed him toward retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been over a year, but I\u2019ve been under doctor\u2019s care and I still am,\u201d Force said. \u201cDo I want to get back in the car and get hit in the head? And I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The crash \u2013 a violent, wall-to-wall impact that left the sport holding its breath \u2013 forced the 75-year-old champion into a long, difficult neurological rehab. Force acknowledged that while he once expected to \u201cstay in the car until the race car got me,\u201d the accident in Richmond changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said so many times, \u2018Until this race car kills me, they\u2019re going to have to drag me out of the seat,\u2019\u201d Force admitted. \u201cBut the truth is, I was dragged out of the seat at Richmond. They thought it killed me then. I\u2019m lucky I\u2019m back walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Force wasn\u2019t somber as he said it. He was honest \u2013 in that way only Force can be \u2013 balancing humor with a very real understanding of what another hit could mean. Surrounded by family and longtime team members, he spoke openly about the race he\u2019s been fighting off the track for more than a year: rehab, rest, and the pressure of the unknown.<\/p>\n

He also talked about his growing family, new grandchildren, and the next generation building around him. And he credited the timing of Brittany Force addressing her own plans for the future \u2013 something she initially revealed in early September \u2013 as another moment that made today feel right.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was time for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI really love this sport. I really love NHRA. But I am officially done with driving, and I hate to say that word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as he closed the book on his driving career, Force was quick to point out that retirement doesn\u2019t mean disappearing. Far from it. He made it clear that he\u2019s committed to the future of John Force Racing and the programs already in motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to grow my operation,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited where it\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, in true Force fashion, he cracked the door open just enough to remind everyone that the man still bleeds nitro.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t say I won\u2019t ever get in the car and warm it up,\u201d Force said with a grin. \u201cOr maybe even make a burnout. Don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd laughed. Force smiled. And just like that, drag racing\u2019s greatest showman delivered one more cliffhanger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always say never say never,\u201d Force said. \u201cSo I won\u2019t say it. But I\u2019m done racing. That part\u2019s official.\u201d<\/p>\n

A career defined by winning. A legacy that reshaped the sport. And a final chapter delivered the only way John Force could deliver it \u2013 with honesty, with heart, and with plenty of horsepower still rumbling somewhere under the surface.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on November 13, 2025. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post John Force Makes It Official: \u201cI\u2019m Done With Driving\u201d<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Force stood inside the John Force Racing shop in Yorba Linda on Friday afternoon and did the one thing he spent a lifetime swearing he\u2019d never do \u2013 he announced he\u2019s officially done driving a Funny Car. More than a year after his harrowing, high-speed crash at the 2024 NHRA Virginia Nationals, the 16-time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}