John Force’s Daughter Brittany Shares Emotional Message on His Return to NHRA

16-time Funny Car champion John Force returned to the NHRA stage this weekend in Las Vegas. His daughter Brittany, who also drives for John Force Racing, shared an emotional message after securing provisional first place.

Brittany Force, competing in the Monster Energy/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Top Fuel Dragster, delivered an impressive performance during the Q1 session, going 3.675 seconds at 336.74 mph, earning her a temporary first place finish out of the two sessions. She said reuniting with her father at the racetrack was very moving for her.

She explained to the media:

“Going into this weekend, we knew it was going to be special because my dad was planning to come, so he came with my mom (Friday morning) and I think everyone was looking forward to seeing him, especially me.

“I grew up here at these race tracks all over the country, but I’ve never been here without him. So it’s definitely been weird being here without my family since June, so my team and all these guys and everyone at John Force Racing – everyone in our pits – are like brothers to me. I’m lucky to have them and their support.

“To have my family back, to have my dad back here, I’m so happy for him. I think it’s great for him. He promoted physical therapy and he was focused and he was dedicated to it and we’re really proud of him. But I think being here with my old routine, with my fans, with my teams, standing on the race track, is exactly what it should be.

“I’m glad to be here with him and very proud that I performed well and put a killer number on the board. I wish we could have gotten there in the last run, but it was pretty cool to do it while he was standing.” behind our car.”

She continued:

“I wasn’t nervous. It’s just normal nerves that come with… I hadn’t been sitting still for a couple of weeks and my dad came over and wished me luck and I was glad he wasn’t there. I definitely missed him here. It meant the most to me that he came and wished me luck.”

John Force was involved in a horrific accident in Virginia on June 23 that left him with a traumatic brain injury, a broken sternum and other injuries that required extensive hospitalization and rehabilitation. Fortunately, he is now back on the track.