John Force’s Indianapolis test continues evolution
of John Force Racing, PEAK Chevrolet team

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (June 30) – Biologists teach that evolution can a slow process, often taking hundreds or thousands of years.

Evolution happens in drag racing, too, and while the process doesn’t take nearly as long, it can be slow and sometimes painful.

Evolution continues at John Force Racing, and a test by John Force and the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car continued that development.

Force drove the car tuned by crew chief Mike Neff and co-crew chief Jon Schaffer at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis on Thursday, making four solid, straight passes with good performance.

“With my situation changing over the years, I had to go through a rebuilding stage like any football team,” Force said. “Basically, Neff kept my ship afloat for two years and did a great job. He’s a very savvy racer.

“Our teams evolved, and it was time to evolve the combinations. Jimmy Prock (crew chief for JFR teammate Robert Hight) came with a lot of ideas and a lot of things we’re trying.”

The evolution of any ideas takes time and moves from team to team, and the process is continual. Hight and the Auto Club of Southern California Chevy and Courtney Force and the Advance Auto Parts Chevy have shown lots of speed this season, and the evolution of their speed to John Force’s race car continues.

“We evolve our combinations slowly,” Force said. “We’re evolving some of Jimmy’s stuff into our car, and it shows potential.”

Additional parts to make the appropriate changes to Force’s car were manufactured in the JFR machine shop this week, and they were incorporated and then tested Thursday.

“We got the parts, and we made more of the transition,” Force said. “Out of the box, it runs 800, 850 feet, 3.86. Came back in the heat and it ran 3.90.”

Force was pleased with the performance as he prepares to race in the Fallen Patriots Route 66 NHRA Nationals next weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

“First, I said, ‘We’re trying to get back. I got my money back, I got my band back,’” Force said. “The next story is, ‘We’re starting to turn the corner.’”

Another part of the evolution of JFR also tested at Indy. Development driver Austin Prock, Jimmy’s son, got some seat time in a Top Alcohol Dragster – with Advance Auto Parts on the side – owned by Anthony Dicero.

“We got an opportunity to get him some seat time,” Force said. “And (Dicero) wanted to test his car, so we did. The kid looked really good.”

Prock, whose development will continue with a test later this season at Frank Hawley’s drag racing school, earned his Top Alcohol Dragster license, making a best pass of 5.478 seconds at 260.11 mph.

And there’s more evolution happening at JFR, as a Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car is being built for Monster Energy driver Brittany Force.

The car was specially engineered by the JFR fabrication shop to fit Brittany Force. She will drive the car during tests later this season.

“I never had a car that fit Brittany,” John Force said. “Brittany, because she’s so light, we had to move a lot of weight. We had to move the steering to her. We’re making a bunch of changes to make it fit her perfect. There’s no hurry.

“I want my daughter to experience the Funny Car. Hell, I may get into that dragster. But we had to build a car especially for her.”

Brittany Force will have a seat fitted next week at the JFR shop in Brownsburg.