John Force is waiting to hear from the horse's mouth that Don “Snake” Prudhomme has truly hung up the towel.

“I haven't talked to Prudhomme,” said Force. “I've read it's official. But, I thought it was about finding a sponsorship. Whether he walks away now and comes back later when a sponsor pops up, I don't know.”

Despite the current economic conditions, Force believes there has to be a company out there who can easily see the value of a NHRA legend, his team and a new young driver.

“The sport cannot afford to lose Don Prudhomme.”

John Force is waiting to hear from the horse's mouth that Don “Snake” Prudhomme has truly hung up the towel.

“I haven't talked to Prudhomme,” said Force. “I've read it's official. But, I thought it was about finding a sponsorship. Whether he walks away now and comes back later when a sponsor pops up, I don't know.”

Despite the current economic conditions, Force believes there has to be a company out there who can easily see the value of a NHRA legend, his team and a new young driver.

“The sport cannot afford to lose Don Prudhomme.”

One by one the names of those who were admired by Force when he was a young pup trying to make his own name have drifted away. Garlits is gone. Bernstein was almost gone. Scelzi is on the sidelines. Bazemore is on the sidelines. Now Prudhomme is throwing in the towel.

Force is one of the last characters, still carrying the load.

“Don Prudhomme was the name I chased for the first 20 years of my career. It just is going to be a huge loss. I am just going to pray to the good Lord something falls out of the sky. This is the toughest economy we have ever been in and I fighting the same fight.”

The fight is to stay funded. Prudhomme, despite having a fresh face in Spencer Massey behind the wheel, couldn't lock down the funding needed to maintain his operation. Prudhomme wasn't interested in racing, just to race. He made it clear if he couldn't contend for a championship, he wasn’t going to race for the sake of racing.

Unwilling to spend his life savings, Prudhomme felt it was best to hang it up and play around with his Nostalgia cars. Force understands the logic behind such a decision; however he's been fortunate enough to have successfully branched out into other businesses.

“I am having the struggle (as Prudhomme) right now keeping my team afloat. I have other businesses that help keep the thing going. We have Hollywood and television that we do. I have an entertainment company. I have a rental company. I've got a lot of other things that help, because I knew this time was coming.

“But, I have great partners, Castrol, Auto Club, Ford, Brandsource. These are great partners. It's the 25th year next year for John Force. It's a very critical year for Castrol. Twenty five years, and we could go for another 25 years, not with me as a driver, but with one of my next generation of drivers.”

Force says he has too much invested to quit and he doesn't believe Prudhomme wants to quit. “I think he is just going through a time. I don't want him to quit,” says Force.

“Don Prudhomme could make money doing appearances and stuff like we do. But, he don't need the money to make a living.”

Making a living and funding a race team are two very separate issues. Racers, according to Force, don't race for the money. They race for the love of racing and anyone who races for the love of the sport, races to win; Prudhomme included.

“There is an old story in drag racing,” says Force. “All the racers were saying they wouldn't race if they couldn't get paid more, until the call came to line up. Then everyone raced to their cars to get them to the line.

“Prudhomme is a special individual. He built this sport and although he is going in a different direction, some sponsor is going to find him and I hope he'll be back.”

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