We knew it would happen one day, but now that it has been made official, it’s still hard to believe and fathom, even though it was inevitable due to all of our worst enemies in life: namely, time.

Sadly, for drag racing fans around the world, the greatest drag racer of all time, John Force, made it official Thursday afternoon that he is officially retiring from drag racing.

Well, partly, that is.

The 16-time Funny Car champion, winner of 157 national events in his nearly half-century of chasing the quickest elapsed time and the fastest speed down a straight-line drag strip, is officially done as a driver, although he hopes to continue being involved as the owner of the organization that bears his name and will continue to be John Force Racing’s biggest cheerleader.

“It’s been over a year, but I’ve been under doctors’ care and I still am, so if I say anything wrong, please excuse me,” the 76-year-old Force said in a video that announced his retirement. “But it’s time for me to retire. It all made sense to me, even though I knew I had medical stuff that I had to address, that ‘Do I want to get back in the car and get hit in the head?’ And I don’t.”

Due to a near-tragic crash, Force did not get to retire on his own terms

Force’s stepping out of the cockpit of his 11,000-horsepower Funny Car wasn’t totally unexpected. It’s something that many already anticipated would happen, given the near-fatal crash he suffered on June 23, 2024, near Richmond, Virginia, when his car suffered a massive engine explosion at over 300 mph, followed by a horrendous crash, arguably the worst of the dozens of times he’s wrecked in his storied career.

Sure, the man who once joked that “I Saw Elvis at 1,000 Feet” was horribly injured in a crash at the Texas Motorplex in 2007, at first causing his fans to think his career was over at that point. But Force did come back, after a grueling, nearly year-long physical rehabilitation.

But the Virginia wreck was even more lasting as it left the Southern California native with a traumatic brain injury. He came so close to death after that wreck and continues to undergo physical and occupational therapy to this day (and likely will continue to do so for a long time still to come).

But Thursday, Force faced his past, present, and future and decided it was time to call it a career. He’s been drag racing since his early teens, a poor kid who spent much of his early life living in a ramshackle trailer home with his brothers and sisters.

He dreamed of stardom and success, first in football, which was short-lived due to an injury he suffered while in college, and then in drag racing, following in the footsteps of his uncle, mentor, and a Funny Car driver of note in Southern California, Gene Beaver.

Force’s life story is truly a rags-to-riches tale

If there ever was a rags-to-riches story, it is Force’s. The same guy who used to borrow cash or beg other teams for used parts and tires and do anything he could to keep his beloved Funny Car going, who even had to leave the U.S. to race in Australia to begin his lengthy legacy, is now an extremely wealthy man. He lives in a massive house at the top of a hill in Yorba Linda, California, that overlooks his equally massive drag racing headquarters down below. He also has an enormous satellite HQ in suburban Indianapolis.

Always a whiz when it came to business and getting sponsorships. Of course, what company would not want to sponsor the best of the best ever in the sport? Force often jokes that he once owned much of the land in Yorba Linda when it was still mostly undeveloped, and which he eventually sold off to other companies and firms, making millions in the process.

Old World Industries, which is Force’s primary sponsor with its Peak Antifreeze brand, gave him a lifetime contract several years ago, prompting Force to say that when his time on Earth was up, he wanted it to be behind the wheel of his beloved Funny Car. Old World officials truly believed Force would continue racing long into his 80s, maybe even into his 90s. To them, there was no stopping Force.

While that would have been the storyline to end all storylines, Force ultimately had to settle for something he rarely did: finish short of the finish line.

What will happen to John Force Racing going forward?

The biggest question now is what will happen to John Force Racing? His third-oldest daughter, Brittany, will compete in her last race this weekend in the season-ending NHRA Finals at Force’s home track, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

When Brittany steps out of her Top Fuel dragster for the final time on Sunday, it will mark the first time that JFR has not had at least one member of the Force family behind the wheel. Daughters Ashley, Courtney, and now Brittany all grew up with and learned to be among the best in the business from their father.

But with all three Force daughters having ended their respective racing careers for motherhood and other business interests, and having come to the realization that he can’t drive any longer, there really wasn’t much left for the patriarch of JFR to do going forward. He couldn’t kid himself anymore that he’d still come back to drive once again, whether it was later this year or five years from now in his early 80s.

“It was time for me with Brittany stepping out of the seat, and I don’t want to get hurt,” Force said with chilling frankness in the video that announced his retirement. “I’ve said it many times, I’m going to stay in the car until my race car gets me, and I always meant that.”

And at Richmond, that’s exactly what happened: his race car got him.

Next year’s JFR lineup will have Jack Beckman, who replaced Force after his Richmond crash, and will continue driving Force’s Peak-sponsored Funny Car, along with defending Funny Car champ (and on the verge of making it two titles in a row this weekend), Austin Prock. Meanwhile, Josh Hart will replace Brittany in the team’s dragster.

The elder Force still has high hopes that his grandkids will follow in his or their mother’s footsteps and fire suits. But that may not be for several more years, if it ever happens at all, because almost all of his grandkids are still young.

However, there is one grandchild, Autumn Hight, daughter of Force’s oldest daughter, Adria, and ex-husband and former JFR President Robert Hight, who could move up to the pro ranks in the next few years.

Autumn is 21 years old and has steadily moved up the sportsman ranks over the last few seasons. But whether she has what it takes to eventually become the next member of the Force family to race professionally for wins and championships remains to be seen. Autumn just wrapped up her second season in the SuperComp class, finishing 49 in the final standings.

JFR was rumored to have signed FOX Sports broadcaster and reality star Jordan Vandergriff to eventually replace Brittany in her dragster, but with last month’s announcement that Hart will be her replacement, that apparently will not happen any time soon for Vandergriff, if ever.

His daughters are unlikely to fill their father’s leadership role

While John Force will remain with the organization as its owner, and likely will continue to attend races much like Richard Petty still attends NASCAR races as its official ambassador, Force’s future and the future of his organization are questionable.

Force’s son-in-law, three-time NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight, took a hiatus from racing in 2024, claiming it was due to medical reasons that were never fully explained. And then earlier this year, in March, Hight ended speculation of a comeback as a driver when he shockingly quit as the organization’s president after purchasing a firearms supply company.

John Force Rading has been without a president and leader since Hight stepped away in 2024 and then left for good earlier this year. There really is no one in the JFR organizational bullpen, so to speak, that is qualified to step into a full leadership role and take away much of Force’s burden.

Adria and Ashley work for their father’s organization in administrative roles, but it’s unlikely either would be interested in stepping into a leadership role. Courtney has carved out her own success operating husband Graham Rahal’s burgeoning business empire. And Brittany’s focus for at least the foreseeable future will be starting a family, not running a racing organization.

Some critics have speculated that once Brittany retires, while JFR’s legacy will go on, its future as a viable organization will slowly whittle away.

Rumors have floated since last year that Prock, along with crew chief and father Jimmy, and brother and co-crew chief Thomas, may eventually leave to join another top-tier organization. So far, those rumors have remained unsubstantiated, but it does make one wonder if the Procks indeed do go, will JFR’s future go with them?

John Force’s first of 16 eventual Funny Car championships came in 1990, and his last was in 2013, 16 championships in 24 seasons. While he’s tried valiantly to remain competitive to win another championship or more, and even set personal bests in both ET and MPH as recently as early last season (a few months before his fateful crash), it became clear after the Richmond crash that Force finally met an opponent he couldn’t beat: time.

It just doesn’t seem like the NHRA without Force

Even though Force eventually returned to the drag strip this season, as a spectator and team owner only, the vibe and personality of NHRA, not to mention by far its biggest draw for fans, just wasn’t the same without the man nicknamed “Brute Force” behind the wheel.

For more than 30 years, Force has not only been the sport’s most successful driver, but he has also been the face of the NHRA. He made countless people become drag racing fans (and obviously, most became Force fans).

Not only did he beat his rivals on track, but he also beat them in souvenir and memorabilia sales. It wasn’t even close. Even today, most t-shirts or jackets, or hats that drag racing fans wear at national events still sport John’s face or JFR’s logo.

Sadly, there’s one other thing to think about with Force’s announcement: many of his best friends and chief rivals in the sport are now well into their 50s and even 60s. Without Force to compete against, don’t be surprised if you start seeing several other top Funny Car and Top Fuel drivers decide to call it a career in the next few years.

Who will replace Force as the face of the NHRA? Frankly, there is no one. Force is irreplaceable now and always will be. No one will ever come close to either his championships won record or the national event victories he’s earned, and ESPECIALLY the attention he brought to the sport and himself in the process.

Some have speculated that NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart will be the most likely candidate to replace Force as the face of the sport. But Stewart, who enters his third full-time season in Top Fuel next season, is now 54 years old and has, maybe, five more seasons left in him if he chooses to go that long, that is.

Others like Ron Capps, Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher, and Cruz Pedregon are now all in their 50s (or quickly approaching) or even into their 60s. Like Force, they too will find time remains an unbeatable foe.

Where does that leave NHRA going forward without Force?

Where will that leave NHRA going forward? There are younger drivers like Prock, Steve Torrence, Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd, Alexis DeJoria, Stewart’s wife Leah Pruett, Shawn Langdon, and others who could step up to become the next big name in NHRA annals. As much as I hate to say it, but I bet most, if not all, would agree that they’ll never be like Force.

Yes, John Force is irreplaceable, and the look of NHRA is going to be significantly different going forward without him, with some fearing that may leave the sport’s future questionable at best. One thing the sport will never forget is the impact Force made upon it.

As late comedian Bob Hope used to say, and if you’re so young that you don’t know who Hope was, go ahead and Google his name. “Thanks for the Memories,” John Force.