John Force has had a number of archrivals throughout the years.

Some of them gave him real fits (Cruz Pedregon, Tony Pedregon, Al Hofmann, Whit Bazemore, Jerry Toliver). Some had fun needling him and vice versa (Gary Scelzi). Some from his own age group he appreciated as old-fashioned racers (Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, Chuck Etchells). And some he saw as the up-and-coming wave of NHRA Funny Car stars (Ron Capps, Del Worsham, Matt Hagan).

John Force has had a number of archrivals throughout the years.

Some of them gave him real fits (Cruz Pedregon, Tony Pedregon, Al Hofmann, Whit Bazemore, Jerry Toliver). Some had fun needling him and vice versa (Gary Scelzi). Some from his own age group he appreciated as old-fashioned racers (Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, Chuck Etchells). And some he saw as the up-and-coming wave of NHRA Funny Car stars (Ron Capps, Del Worsham, Matt Hagan).

Hagan, who knocked Force out of the points lead at the previous race, at Reading, is the one he has to overcome this time around, the one he has his eyes on as the Toyota Nationals opens Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But Force has one particular competitor he can't help but love and be proud of like no other. At the same time, this racer often aggravates the daylights out of him.

That opponent is Courtney Force, the youngest of his four daughters, the one he referred to as "my wild child" even when she was an elementary-school student.

"Oh, she aggravates me sometimes when she tries to get in my head, because I did all that smack talk back when I was her age," he said. "I've grown out of it. I just race. But to hear her, I see so much of myself. Brittany is a completely different animal."

Brittany Force is driving a Top Fuel dragster. But Courtney Force, 26, is competing in Funny Car – and jeopardizing his chances to win a 17th championship.

Dad is 36 points off Hagan's pace, and daughter is 36 points behind him in third place.

And the dynamics are so much different than any John Force ever has encountered.

"I loved sitting here and listening to her talk," he said, following her during a recent NHRA-sponsored teleconference. "She's just like her dad. Brittany, my daughters Ashley, Adria, they're all different. But I see the fire in her. She loves this sport – all my girls, [son-in-law] Robert Hight – the way I do. It's what my life's all about."

That's the part where all the emotions become jumbled. But one thing is for sure: John Force isn't about to get sentimental and mushy (not much, anyway) and take his focus off his own goals.

"I never realized how much I wanted it and the fear of losing it. I had the same fear when I laid in the hospital bed in Texas [in 2007 following a crash at the Texas Motorplex]. I laid there for five weeks. They were telling me it was over. Nobody tells me anything," he said. "I'm really thick-headed like my dad.

"I always believed that if you stand up and you fight and you're honest, you do the best you can, with a little help from the good Lord, the people around you, you'll be OK," John Force said. "If you win, that's great. That's the icing on the cake. But if you lose, and you gave it everything you got, you still won."

Courtney Force, who even as a ponytailed pixie daydreamed of racing against her father, conceded the reality of it "is tough. I think at the beginning when I first got into Funny Car, I was thrilled. This was a dream of mine. I grew up watching my dad race a Funny Car. Just to be paired up in the lane next to him, it was the most exciting, surreal moment I've ever experienced. I didn't care if I won or lost. I was in a Funny Car about to race my dad. I still get that every time I race him. It's still a surreal moment every time I pair up with him.
 
"Once you pass the finish line, all your emotions kind of change," she said. "You think to yourself whether you won or lost, someone's going home. Either I sent my dad home packed on the trailer or he sent me home. It's a little bittersweet."
 
She has discovered that even if she loses to her father, she hates losing, period.
 
"It was definitely bittersweet when he beat me -- well, the few times he beat me it is a little hard. When he beat me for the championship last year, I was going after that win, trying to move up to fifth in points last year at this point, and he took home the championship. I think the hardest thing for me was, yeah, we didn't get the win, I was really bummed, we didn't make an improvement on where we were at in points," she said.
 
"But I also couldn't really celebrate with my dad for the championship. I think that was the hardest part for me. As his kid, I'm usually the first one there standing by his side, hugging him, congratulating him. It's a different feeling when you have your own team and you're going after your own personal goals. Definitely makes it hard running against him and my brother-in-law Robert, as well."
 
Fighting for the same championship might seem weird (although what did either think might happen if Force and one of his daughters raced in the same class?). However, according to Courtney Force, life around the shop or pit is normal.
 
"He does still give me driving advice," she said. "It's great having him because obviously he's the one who taught me how to drive. Nothing really changes. We're still one team over here at John Force Racing.
 
"I think it would be exciting if either of us could get there. But the goal right now is that one of our teams does. So I'll be happy if Dad can get the championship done this year; that's the ultimate goal for all of our sponsors, for Traxxas, Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, BrandSource, Mac Tools, Peak. We've got to make these guys happy," Courtney Force said.
 
But she has her own sponsorship agenda.
 
"I'm with Ford Driving Skills for Life. This is actually National Teen Driver Safety Week. It's great being a part of all these programs.," she said. "But all these guys want me as a driver to get the win, get the championship for these sponsors. But Dad's always there by my side. He's always peeking his head under my Funny Car body, giving me driving advice. I think that kind of stops when we have to drive against each other. That's when I'm kind of on my own. He just looks at me, tells me to have fun with it, if I'm not feeling safe get out of it, don't make any mistakes. It's more that he's there for support 100 percent of the time. But the driving advice comes about 99 percent of the time, as well. I don't think he can ever stop."
 
She tried to understand his point of view.
 
"To me, I may be a competitor, but I'm still his kid. He still wants me to do well in the sport. Doesn't matter who I'm racing," Courtney Force said. "Obviously when I have to pair up against him, it changes a little bit. I'm kind of on my own. I take from what I've learned from him and kind of use it to my advantage. It's a lot of fun racing with him. He does great giving me advice all year long."
 
They both might need some great advice if either is to topple Hagan in the final race or two.

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