Josh Hart’s move to John Force Racing next season will put one of drag racing’s most reserved drivers inside one of its most animated organizations. While Austin Prock and Jack Beckman are known for their sometimes animated post-run interviews and energetic delivery, Hart brings a calm, calculated presence to the team dynamic.
Hart is entering an organization led by one of drag racing’s most animated personalities — a man once so fired up in a top-end interview that he stripped down to his underwear to prove he wasn’t hiding anything from his competitors. By comparison, Hart is measured and understated. “Everybody was saying some things about my personality,” he said in a CompetitionPlus.com interview. “It’s like I didn’t have a whole lot to be excited about.” But he did. As Hart admitted, joining John Force Racing is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Hart said the pressures of operating his own independent team — managing payroll, performance, and expectations — often drained his energy. “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.”
He described his quiet demeanor not as apathy, but as exhaustion. “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 said. “Maybe not loud and boisterous, but when I do say something, I make sure that it counts.”
Jack Beckman, who will share the John Force Racing pit with Hart next season, joked that the team is already plotting ways to bring him out of his shell. “We will bring him out of his shell,” Beckman said. “Whether we have to tug on him, pry on him, pour 70-weight around him, we will drag him out. Win lights also seem to do a good job of making better interviews.”
Beckman said fans value authenticity more than theatrics. “I think people want genuineness,” he said. “Josh is never going to be a John Force interview. He’s never going to scream at the top end like Austin. All I can be is me, and we want Josh to be Josh.”
Prock agreed, saying Hart doesn’t need to change to fit the team’s vocal reputation. “He’s very well-spoken, just a man of few words,” Prock said. “That’s okay — everybody’s got their own personality. You’ve got to respect that he’s himself.”
Prock admitted, though, that he wouldn’t mind seeing Hart study Force’s famously animated interviews. “The only advice I can give him is go back and watch some John Force interviews,” Prock said. “He’s the best in the business at getting the attention of a crowd, and if you take some notes from him, you’ll be doing a good job behind the mic.”
Hart, meanwhile, embraces his nickname “The Silent Assassin,” a moniker from his alcohol dragster days. No matter how many social media critics he has, his old car carried a quote that still defines him: Work hard in silence. Let your success be your noise.
That philosophy still guides him, even as he prepares to join an organization that thrives on volume and charisma. When asked what his new motto might be for 2026, 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.”
Hart is aware of the social media chatter that labels him “too quiet” or “too robotic,” but he’s unfazed by it. “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.”
Hart doesn’t plan to out-talk Force or out-yell Prock — and he doesn’t need to. His calm approach and straightforward demeanor could make him one of the sport’s most refreshing voices in 2026. “I don’t really have anything that I want to say to combat anybody,” Hart said. “That’s their opinion. They’re entitled to it.”
