Josh Hart isn’t one to chase attention, but even he admits the sound of “Josh Hart, John Force Racing Top Fuel driver” has a nice ring to it.
“I never thought I’d have John Force’s phone number, let alone be able to call him and say, ‘Hey, what time do you want me to work, boss?’” Hart said.
The 2026 season will mark the beginning of a new chapter for Hart, who will drive the Top Fuel dragster previously piloted by two-time champion Brittany Force. The move follows his decision to shut down his own team at the end of the current NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and sell its assets to Richard Freeman’s Elite Motorsports operation.
Hart confirmed the deal with John Force Racing is a multi-year agreement, solidifying his future in nitro racing with one of the sport’s most decorated organizations. “It’s pretty cool,” he said. “I’m genuinely excited to get back in the car and kind of open up a new chapter, reset the grid a little bit.”
Sources close to the situation indicate that Hart’s longtime backer RL Carriers is expected to stay with Elite Motorsports’ Top Fuel operation under Freeman’s leadership, while Hart is finalizing new sponsorships for the 2026 season. Hart did not confirm those details but hinted that announcements are forthcoming.
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For weeks, Hart carried the weight of one of the sport’s biggest off-season surprises while his future played out behind closed doors. “It was extremely difficult,” he admitted. “You’re so excited, and there are so many things happening behind the scenes. You’ve got this great news that you want to share with the world, and you just have to focus and do your job.”
That job was complicated by uncertainty. Hart had announced the sale of his own team but couldn’t reveal the next step. “It was a mounting pressure that not many people probably experienced,” he said. “I felt like Burnyzz’s was growing up at the same time as my race team was growing up, and I wasn’t doing either one of them very good.”
Once the sale to Freeman’s organization was confirmed, the rest began to fall into place. “Then it was like, ‘Okay, that happened. Now we need to make sure the Force deal happens, and then we’ll be locked in for 2026,’” Hart said. “It was a great plan, and all the chips fell into place.”
Hart’s transition into John Force Racing comes at a time when the 16-time Funny Car champion’s organization is expanding its Top Fuel operations. The team has proven strength with Austin Prock and an elite technical group led by tuner David Grubnic and John Collins — a lineup Hart calls “second to none.”
“That part hasn’t quite set in yet,” he said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I make my first pass. But looking at everything that Grubnic and John Collins and the team have done, it’s just second to none. I mean, super excited and very, very blessed.”
Hart confirmed that Brittany Force’s previous crew members will remain intact for the 2026 campaign. “Yes, all of the same players,” he said. “I got to meet them. I got fitted in the car. They were all amazing people. They were.”
If there’s one contrast between Hart and his new boss, it’s personality. Force and his teams are famously animated — rarely quiet on or off the track. Hart, by comparison, has built a reputation as one of drag racing’s most reserved competitors. But he’s aware that joining John Force Racing means being heard.
“I have a counter to that,” Hart said with a grin. “Everybody was saying some things about my personality. It’s like I didn’t have a whole lot to be excited about.”
He explained that constant internal pressures during his team’s independent run — managing expenses, personnel, and performance — often left him emotionally exhausted. “I had internal team members asking for raises constantly, and knowing that you’re the highest paying team out there and not performing, it’s tough,” he said. “When I was first introduced to drag racing, they used to say, ‘A good time slip changes everything.’ That’s true. We just couldn’t find it.”
The quiet exterior, he said, was simply a reflection of those frustrations. “I was very quiet. I was very reserved. I was trying to keep my thoughts to myself over the last couple of years because it wasn’t a whole lot of fun.”
Hart insists that silence doesn’t mean indifference. “Maybe not loud and boisterous, but when I do say something, I make sure that it counts,” he said. “And I make sure that everybody hears it crystal clear.”
In his earlier alcohol dragster days, that demeanor earned him the nickname “the silent assassin.” He lived by a saying painted on his car: Work hard in silence. Let your success be your noise.
That philosophy still guides him, even within an organization known for its personalities. When asked what his new motto might be, he laughed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe I’ll put a mic drop on my puke tank on the back of the car.”
With increased visibility comes louder opinions. Hart has seen the social media chatter that labels him “too quiet” or “too robotic.” But he isn’t interested in defending himself.
“I don’t live for that type of thing,” he said. “If you’re a God-fearing Christian man and you try your best to do right no matter what, it’ll all work out. I don’t really have anything that I want to say to combat anybody. That’s their opinion. They’re entitled to it.”
Still, Hart can laugh at the harsher comments. “I had somebody say that I acted like I was on Quaaludes,” he recalled. “The social media team only sent me the highlights, and one was that. I immediately thought about the guy in The Wolf of Wall Street when he falls out of the Lamborghini. I just thought, ‘Man, if I’m on Quaaludes, I’m a hell of a driver.’”
Hart remains grounded, crediting his family and business success for keeping him focused. “I’ve got a beautiful family and a great business,” he said. “Now I just want to be successful in racing, and I feel like I’ve aligned myself with one of the most successful teams in the world — actually, in history.”
When asked about his motivation now that he’s stepping into one of drag racing’s most iconic seats, Hart’s answer was simple. “The only drug I’ve ever really been addicted to was speed,” he said, laughing. “That’s why I found the NHRA.”
After a pause, he offered one final correction: “Actually, let’s just say horsepower — I’m addicted to horsepower.”
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