When most people think of Father's Day, they think of dads taking their sons fishing, or daughters to a picnic, or families honoring their patriarch.

When it comes to the Force family, in the past Father's Day has been a time of strapping in, firing up and blasting down the drag strip. This year, for the first time in many, many years, Father's Day won't be at a racetrack. There will be no autograph signings, no team meetings, no media interviews and no special moment in a nitro-filled atmosphere for John Force and his daughters, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney.

This year, John Force will be out on a boat with his sponsors and his son-in-law, Robert Hight, while the girls will be in Las Vegas with their mother, celebrating Courtney's 21st birthday. Not much different than in years past, before the girls became drivers.

As the youngest, Courtney had the toughest time understanding the revolving door that was and still is her father's life.

 

When most people think of Father's Day, they think of dads taking their sons fishing, or daughters to a picnic, or families honoring their patriarch.

When it comes to the Force family, in the past Father's Day has been a time of strapping in, firing up and blasting down the drag strip. This year, for the first time in many, many years, Father's Day won't be at a racetrack. There will be no autograph signings, no team meetings, no media interviews and no special moment in a nitro-filled atmosphere for John Force and his daughters, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney.

This year, John Force will be out on a boat with his sponsors and his son-in-law, Robert Hight, while the girls will be in Las Vegas with their mother, celebrating Courtney's 21st birthday. Not much different than in years past, before the girls became drivers.

As the youngest, Courtney had the toughest time understanding the revolving door that was and still is her father's life.

“Well, it was a lot of fun but it was complicated at the same time,” said Courtney when asked about life as the daughter of such a famous driver. “It was real hard not seeing him because I would be in school when I was little and he would always be at the race track. Actually when he would come home I would cry to him, ‘Please don’t go back to the races,’ and he would be like, ‘No, I have to. I’ve got to work, you know. You’ve got to go to school,’ and I would be like, ‘Please don’t go. I just want you to stay here.’ I didn’t really understand much about it and then when I grew up I got involved with racing and loved being out at the race track and understood why he was gone every weekend, but when I was little I didn’t really know. I would always ask, ‘Why does he have to leave, why is he gone, he’s only home for a couple days a week?’ So it was hard but after a while after I learned about it, it was okay.”

All three girls agree that as they ventured into the sport, they better understood the sacrifices their father was making on their behalf. Racing alongside their father, week in and week out, gave them an appreciation of a man obsessed with success, because success meant never having to struggle for the next bologna sandwich.

“I admire how he’s so motivated in life and so dedicated to doing something he wants to do,” said Brittany, the third of his four daughters. “I think it takes really strong character to be able to do that in so many instances like with racing, with his accident and with his come back. He was determined, absolutely determined to walk again. Not just walking, but driving his race car and he was so motivated and so determined to do what he wanted to do. He didn’t care about what anyone said, he had doctors say he would never walk again and that didn’t stop him, didn’t faze him at all. When he wants something really bad, he goes for it and that’s something that my sisters and I look up to him for.”

As his daughter's have come to know a father they missed in their youth, not being together on Father's Day is not a heartbreaker. In reality, the celebrate their father every time they are at the racetrack, as does John celebrate his daughters. He is there for every run, looking at the track, looking at the car, giving words of encouragement and cheering loudest of all at their successes and comforting them in their struggles.

And, to their father, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney each say this, “‘Happy Father’s Day and I love you, Dad.”

 

 

Advertisement