Is John Force Pulling Our Leg?

[preacher]

Here's the setup... I've been to Yorba Linda and toured the shop in awe of his CNC equipment, blower dyno's, drag racing accomplishments etc... Been to his place in Brownsville but not since the Eric Medlen Project was started... Love the guy to death (see avatar that I use for every forum I'm a part of)!

Like many of us who have been following or have knowledge of his career since the late 70's, time and time again over the years during interviews he alludes to the fact that he has no mechanical ability? It would seem to me that watching his car being disassembled and reassembled at least a few times a day during a race weekend for 30+ years that by osmosis he would be able to put a fuel motor together? What about the thousands of hours of communication Coil? He seems to go out of his way at times to make it sound like he has no idea what a 4 cycle engine is

 

[snowbunny]

John wouldn't do something like that, just kidding, John Force is drag racing,
but as a long time truck mechanic i wouldn't want someone with his hyperactivity level even close to me when i am working on these newer diesel engines, to many ways to screw things up if you are distracted, i'm sure his crew guys are glad he's busy doing other things.

 

[RJM323]

IMHO John is 60% Buisnesman 39% Driver 1% Mechanic

 

[jackass]

I wouldn't dout it.... i know several great drivers that could not find the right sized socket if the bolt and the socket were labeled with a billboard.....

Billy

 

[Z28LT1]

I'm not a huge JF fan these days, but there was a 15+ year timespan be for Coil. These cars didn't tune themselfs before Coil came along. There was a point in time when he had some tuining ability. Although he had some helpan a nitro motor has SOME simularities to a deisel engine, although be it few.

 

[RJM323]

I'm not a huge JF fan these days, but there was a 15+ year timespan be for Coil. These cars didn't tune themselfs before Coil came along. There was a point in time when he had some tuining ability. Although he had some helpan a nitro motor has SOME simularities to a deisel engine, although be it few.

although one thing to remember is that before Coil..... John did not win

which is where I believe the Business smarts of John kicked in, He knew he could drive but could not tune so what do you do..... hire the best tuner out there Austin Coil

 

[Just Paul]

My opinion, Force would know more if he had to know it.

I think Force also got to be a better driver around the time Coil came along.

I remember hearing a Bill Schultz story on how back in the late 70's, early 80's He was crew chief for John, and John was not shifting the car on time. I don't know if this is excact, but it's how I remember hearing it. They didn't have 330 and 660 cones then like they do now. So they went out and looked around the track for a landmark so John would have a reference on where to shift. Well they saw a porta-jon out a few hundred feet or whatever along the fence, and decided that was it. Well it worked in qualifying, but first round John didn't shift the car, and it rev'd too high and kicked the rods out. Schultz got down to the top end, and asked John what the heck happened. John said he never got to the porta-jon, it blew up before it got there. Well sure enough, they are towing the car back, and Schultz sees that during the night someone had moved the thing down to about the 1000' foot mark, and John didn't happen to notice!!!

 

[Leebone]

I agree about Coil being John's success, however, it seems like his tuning prowess has dropped off a bit the last couple of years. Now you have Wilk and the Pedregons doing all the winning, while John, ...all he won was Topeka this past year.

 

[Mooseman]

I'm not a huge JF fan these days, but there was a 15+ year timespan be for Coil. These cars didn't tune themselfs before Coil came along. There was a point in time when he had some tuining ability. Although he had some helpan a nitro motor has SOME simularities to a deisel engine, although be it few.

Force had other crew chiefs before Austin Coil

 

[mike cummings]

although one thing to remember is that before Coil..... John did not win

l

and he blew up alot of stuff too before he got Coil on board.

 

[hard-runner]

Didn't John say that when he came to Australia match racing he couldn't get the car to go so Gary Densham helped him out. He also said if it wasn't for Densham he'd still be down here.

I agree, he'd know if he had to.

 

[Porkchop]

Put it this way,if not for Coil,Force would still be blowing **** up!!!

 

[Porkchop]

Didn't John say that when he came to Australia match racing he couldn't get the car to go so Gary Densham helped him out. He also said if it wasn't for Densham he'd still be down here.

I agree, he'd know if he had to.

Swimming back is the word You are looking for...lol

 

[Nunz]

Couple things. I'm sure Force has some general knowledge of how fuel cars work. Obviously he hasn't made learning to tune or even re-build motors his priority. I don't believe Coil has lost anything, the dominance these guys enjoyed was during an era where innovation still gave an advantage, not so much anymore. Also, don't forget how often Austin set John on fire in the early days! It was all part of their growth.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Seems like I remember reading an old story that said Austin was the one who gave John his education in marketing.

I also remember a story about some CEO who was hired in and turned a steel company around. He admitted that he knew nothing about steel but, that he knew to get the people who did and let them do what they're good at.

You might not WANT John to know too much! He might start thinking about what he's doing!

 

[Randy]

Force had other crew chiefs before Austin Coil

Steve Plueger was one of Force's crew chief before Coil. Force was light on the budget and Steve did a good job keeping him from becoming a burnt piece of toast. Plueger continues to kick their butts in NFC with Bucky at the wheel.

Force is not exaggerating his lack of mechanical abilities. He is successfull because he has surrounded himself with talent.

 

[Rumblebones]

Coil blew up just as much as Force did after his hiring. During the 1990 season, the NHRA was gonna pull Force/Coil from competeing because the car consistantly was blowing up at the finish line. They didn't get disqualified for that season because Force/Coil were contenders for the championship and Coil explained he was runnig the car lean which caused it to blow it's cork at the end of it's fuse. Coil still runs the car lean and it still blows in the lights, but less violently.

Force did little tuning in his early years. Members of his extended family and others in the mechanical field did the setups. He does know the mechanics of a fuel motor and F/C in general just as well as 90% who post on this board. It's that he learned to let the more qualified people call the shots on tuning, while the tuners let Force call the shots on driving and marketing.

The story about Force wasn't about shifting. It was his being taught about burnouts from Coil. Coil said do a burnout to the port-o-potty. It was moved down track the next day and Force did a longer burnout, practically to the finishline. After that, Coil put a wood block under the pedal and told Force to step on the peddle and count to three then let off, or something like that. A fairly common Forcelore.

 

[Just Paul]

The story about Force wasn't about shifting. It was his being taught about burnouts from Coil. Coil said do a burnout to the port-o-potty. It was moved down track the next day and Force did a longer burnout, practically to the finishline. After that, Coil put a wood block under the pedal and told Force to step on the peddle and count to three then let off, or something like that. A fairly common Forcelore.

The Shifting story was a Bill Schultz story, not a John Force story, before Coil was even around.

 

[afx421]

I agree about Coil being John's success, however, it seems like his tuning prowess has dropped off a bit the last couple of years. Now you have Wilk and the Pedregons doing all the winning, while John, ...all he won was Topeka this past year.

but he also won 125 before that! i think he has a clue how a fuel car works also