Drag racing's Force family knows they can't escape 'the monster.' They race anyway.

It has been a frightening and violent season for drag racing’s Force family.

As patriarch John Force constantly reminds his racing daughters: “The monster is out there.” And it has visited the Force family twice this season.

“The monster” Force invokes is the unrelenting specter of danger that hovers above their sport, which sees cars hit speeds of up to 335 mph down a 1,000-feet track.

Sometimes, those races don’t end well.

That was the case in February for Brittany Force, one of the family’s racing daughters and the National Hot Rod Association's 2017 Top Fuel champion, whose dragster crashed during a race in Pomona, Calif. She sustained a concussion and heavy bruising in the accident.

Two weeks later in Chandler, Ariz., the engine in John Force’s Funny Car exploded, causing a crash that sent Force to the hospital for the rest of the day.

“I wouldn’t say we’re used to it, but we’re constantly aware of the dangers,” said Courtney Force, who will race against her father in the Funny Car division this weekend in the Four-Wide Nationals at Concord’s zMax Dragway. “It’s always out there. My dad told us for years: The monster is out there. It’s part of the danger of the sport.”

The Force family is synonymous with drag racing. John, 68, the sport’s biggest star, has a record 145 victories and 16 NHRA Funny Car championships, as well as 20 as team owner of John Force Racing. Brittany won the Top Fuel championship last season. Courtney, with nine career victories, finished a career-best third in the Funny Car standings in 2017 and already has a victory this season. Ashley Force Hood, the oldest of the three daughters of John and Laurie Force and a former driver, is married to one of Courtney’s crew chiefs, Daniel Hood.

Robert Hight, the team’s fourth driver and a two-time Funny Car champ (including 2017) is married to Adria Force Hight, another daughter of Force’s from a previous marriage and the team’s chief financial officer.

Courtney Force’s victory this season came at the Arizona track — just hours after she watched her dad crash. When she accepted the winner’s trophy, John Force had returned from the hospital to share in the celebration.

“He’s a nice teammate and boss, but he still has that fatherly role,” said Courtney, who is married to IndyCar driver Graham Rahal. “And it’s part of the reason he was never overly supportive of us following him into the sport. Everybody thought he pushed us into it, but it was the complete opposite.”

Indeed, John Force has always been nervous watching his daughters perform and compete. Courtney said when she was a cheerleader in high school in Yorba Linda, Calif., John once hid in a stairwell rather than watch her execute what he worried was a dangerous stunt.

For a father, the monster can be anywhere.

Schedule

Friday: Qualifying for lower divisions begins at 11 a.m. Pro stock qualifying is at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Nitro (Funny Car and Top Fuel) qualifying is at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday: Qualifying for lower divisions begins at noon. Pro stock qualifying is at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Nitro (Funny Car and Top Fuel) qualifying is at 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: Eliminations begin at noon. Pro stock finals are at 3:45 p.m. Nitro finals are at 3:50 p.m.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Drag racing's Force family knows they can't escape 'the monster.' They race anyway.."