John Force Racing has always felt like family. For decades, the lineup was John, his daughters, and sometimes a son-in-law, all tearing down the quarter mile together. When Brittany Force stepped away after 2025, many assumed the team would simply run three cars and call it a day.

Instead, John Force did what he always does. He went big. He just signed Alexis DeJoria to bring JFR back to a full four-car assault in 2026, and the drag racing world is still picking its jaw up off the floor.

Alexis DeJoria joins JFR

Six national wins, almost twenty years in the sport, and now Alexis DeJoria gets to say she drives for John Force. She will line up alongside Jack Beckman in Funny Car, Josh Hart in Top Fuel, and one more Funny Car seat that the team is still keeping secret. When the green flag drops next year, she will also make history as the first woman who is not a Force to race for the most famous team in NHRA.

DeJoria never thought this door would open.

Early in her nitro days, the JFR seats were all filled with Force family members, and that was that. She said she had always thought it was awesome that John put his daughters in top-tier equipment and built a legacy with them. But it didn’t feel like a door that would open for someone like her.

She started way back in Super Gas and Super Comp, and won her first national event in Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2011. DeJoria got her nitro license that same year from John Force and Del Worsham, and has been a steady threat ever since.

She has raced for some great teams, including Del Worsham, and spent 2025 with Joe Maynard’s JCM Racing.

Discussions with JFR actually began late in 2024, but the timing was not right. Once the 2025 season wrapped up, the conversation came back to life, and everything finally lined up. As the offer came back around, she knew she could not let it go. The car is already in the shop getting her colors, the crew is getting ready, and the countdown to Gainesville is officially on.

For John Force Racing, this is a huge milestone.

After Brittany stepped away, many wondered if the team would shrink or reload with another family member. Instead, John went out and grabbed one of the best free agents in the sport, someone who has beaten his own drivers plenty of times. It is a power move that says JFR is not slowing down. It is evolving – four cars, fresh blood, and the same winning attitude.

The same team that just added DeJoria also handed Josh Hart the keys to the fastest Top Fuel dragster on the planet.

Josh Hart to drive Brittany’s record-breaking rocket in 2026

It is the one Brittany Force used to rip off eight of the top ten speeds in 2025, including the national record at 343.51 miles per hour. Hart sold his entire operation to Richard Freeman so he could stop worrying about payroll and invoices and just drive. Now he gets to climb into that monster and go hunting.

Hart told crew chiefs Dave Grubnic and John Collins not to back down one bit. He said he hopes they go for the jugular every time they get a chance. He has Justin Ashley in his sights on the tree and a championship on his mind. After years of owning the team, paying the bills, and still trying to perfect the lights, he finally gets to do the fun part full-time with the best equipment the sport has ever seen.

Two blockbuster moves in one offseason.

Alexis DeJoria is breaking the Force family Funny Car monopoly, and Josh Hart is sliding behind the wheel of Brittany’s record setter. John Force Racing did not just replace what it lost. It leveled up. When the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals roll around in March, JFR is bringing four cars, two new faces, and every intention of reminding everyone why the name Force still means the most in drag racing.