Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 10:02 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
The euphoria that John Force experienced Sunday following his 100th career NHRA victory had given way to introspection by Wednesday afternoon.
Force admitted he was "down after the fight" to become the first drag racer to record 100 wins when he took part in an hour-long media teleconference that touched on a wide range of subjects, including his family.
The 52-year-old father of four girls said he regretted being absent much of the time while his daughters were growing up, but conceded he wouldn't change his life if he had it to do all over again.
"That's why it's so important for my daughter Ashley and my daughter Adria, who works with me every day, to be part of this racing -- it's the only closeness I have to my kids and I hope they all want to get into racing," Force said. "I'm trying to fix that, but it's hard to fix what you screwed up over 25 years.
"You just can't say 'OK, I've won a hundred now and now I want to be a good parent.' I thought I was a good parent -- I gave them everything and I gave them all the love that I had ... it's just that I missed a lot of things in their lives that their mother (experienced). I dedicated my whole life to NHRA and I forgot about my children. Well, the next 25 years ... I'm going to give my kids some time."
Force's oldest daughter, Adria, works at John Force Racing in Yorba Linda, Calif. Ashley, 19, has begun her racing career in a Super Comp dragster owned by her father. Force's other two daughters, Brittany and Courtney, are 15 and 13, respectively. Force's wife, Laurie, lives with their daughters in a separate house in Yorba Linda.
"I have kind of a special situation; I live in another house in the same town," Force said of his marriage. "My wife said one day 'I'm tired of you coming home at 2 in the morning ... we have a life here that we want to live. My children want to go to school, I want to be involved in the community, I want to be part of PTA.' I was guilty of saying 'I don't want to be a part of that; you don't know what it takes to win ...'
"All of a sudden, you grow apart -- even though you still have the love and that respect -- you grow apart. I love this woman dearly, she's an educated woman, she graduated from San Diego State with a degree in psychology and she uses that to maybe keep the balance with an individual like me that runs on guilt.
"Do I love the woman? Yes, very much. Does the woman love me? Yes, very much. But do we live two different lifestyles? Yes, it happens, but we hold it together for the children and the corporation. I never could have asked for a better woman in the world than this woman to take care of my children and put up with me chasing this NHRA Powerade dream that we chase. Maybe it is time, (after) 100 wins, to give credit to a woman that was a bigger part than anybody knows (for) getting me here."
In almost the same breath, however, Force admitted he wouldn't go back and change a thing he has done during his 25-year career.
"Would I change my life? No, because if I would have stayed and been a truck driver and raised my children, I'm the same individual and I'd probably be working for the Teamsters and I'd have the same situation," he said.
"I'm not going to be hypocritical about my marriage, I'm not going to be hypocritical and say that I would change what I did because I love the sport that I love. Would I change? Hell, no. I wish I had more time with my mother and my dad, I wish I had more time with my sister, Cindy, who I love with all my heart. She raised me as a kid, when my dad was sick and my mom had to work."
Despite his regrets, Force said he is not planning to hang up his drivers suit in the near future.
"(The media) made so much hype out of winning the hundredth, it was almost like I was going to retire," Force said. "I've signed with (sponsors) Castrol, Ford, MAC Tools and MBNA for five years (and) I have no intentions of retiring; it is only a stepping stone in my career.
"So many NASCAR (drivers) at 40 and 50 are retiring -- hell, I'm just starting to get good at this four-second game."
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