Alva Review-Courier -

In the decades since Shirley Muldowney won her three championships in the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) Top Fuel category, several other female drivers have also excelled at drag racing.

Only one other, however, has risen to the top of the Top Fuel class. She is Brittany Force, a member of one of the sport’s royal families. Her father, John Force, is among the most successful and venerated drag racers in American history.

John Force, competing in the NHRA’s “Funny Car” class, has been a year-end champion an amazing 16 times! Still racing in his 70s, his most competitive days are, not surprisingly, in the past.

Force won his championships between 1990 and 2013. Moreover, he captured 10 of them in a row — from 1993 through 2002! Such an impressive string of successes is unprecedented in the sport, making it too easy to conclude that John has long been a force to be reckoned with in the NHRA.

So, too, has daughter Brittany and the rest of the clan. Drag racing has made John Force and his family rich and famous. Two other daughters, Ashley and Courtney, have also won individual NHRA races (but not year-end championships).

Force’s first-born daughter, Adria, is not a driver but her former husband, Robert Hight, still races for and serves as president of the family company, John Force Racing. Hight has been a year-end champion in the Funny Car class three times; Adria is the chief financial officer of the family business.

If all of that sounds like a reality television show waiting to happen, Hollywood is full of people who would readily agree. John Force, his wife, Laurie, and the three racing daughters were featured in “Driving Force,” a reality show that aired during the 2006-2007 tv season.

John Force is gregarious and charismatic — loved by some but not by everyone. The fact that his daughters are all extremely attractive adds to the family’s allure. But it is, of course, their racing success that drives them — as we will explore next week.