Courtney Force

Last updated
Courtney Force
GoPro Grand Prix 2015 19 - Stierch.jpg
Force in 2015
Born (1988-06-20) June 20, 1988 (age 36)
Yorba Linda, California, US
Related to John Force (father)
Ashley Force Hood (sister)
Brittany Force (sister)
Graham Rahal (husband)
Bobby Rahal (father-in-law)
Robert Hight (ex brother-in-law)
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) career
Debut season2011

Courtney Fallon Force-Rahal [1] (born June 20, 1988) is a former drag racer who competed on the NHRA tour. She drove the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car for John Force Racing. She is the youngest daughter of 16-time NHRA World Funny Car Champion John Force and his wife Laurie. She is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton having majored in Communications. On July 19, 2009, Force-Rahal won her first national event in the Top Alcohol Dragster category at the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Washington. [2] After her sister, Ashley, announced her retirement from competitive racing in 2011, Force-Rahal became the fourth driver for John Force Racing. On July 27, 2014, Force-Rahal passed her sister for the record of most Funny Car wins by a female driver in NHRA history. [3]

Contents

Drag racing career

Force earned her NHRA competition drivers license in 2005 and her Alcohol-Fuel license in 2008. [4] She began racing in Super Comp before graduating to Top Alcohol Dragster (TA/D), along with her sister Brittany, in 2008. She reached the final round twice in 2009, at Seattle and Pomona, picking up the victory in Seattle. [2] Force has raced her sister Brittany on three occasions, beating her every time. She recorded a career best reaction time of .006 in the final event of 2009 at Pomona raceway.

Force's primary sponsor throughout her Super Comp career and first year of Top Alcohol Dragster was Brandsource. In 2009, Force picked up sponsorship by Sanyo, as well as Ford.

During the 2011 season, Force tested a Funny Car and earned her NHRA Funny Car license.

On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Traxxas would be the primary sponsor of Force's rookie season. [5]

Force made her Funny Car debut at the 52nd annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals. She qualified 12th with a 4.199 ET at 307.44 mph (494.78 km/h).[ citation needed ] In the first round of eliminations, she defeated Bob Tasca III with a pass of 4.204 seconds at 309.27 mph (497.72 km/h).[ citation needed ] In the second round, she lost to teammate Mike Neff despite running a career best 4.143 ET at 313.88 mph (505.14 km/h).[ citation needed ]

During the second race of the season, the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, she took out her father in the first round.

On 5 August 2012, Force won her first FC race, by defeating Matt Hagan in the final round of The Northwest Nationals, at Seattle, Washington.

To kick off the 2013 season, Force qualified in the number 1 position for the O'Reily Auto Parts Winternationals, becoming the first woman to do so.[ citation needed ] She would also go on to be the first female Funny Car driver to win that event, beating Ron Capps in the final.

At Kansas in 2014, Force achieved the 100th win by a female driver in NHRA by defeating Cruz Pedregon in the Funny Car final. [6]

On January 24, 2019, Force announced she would stop driving, effective immediately. [7]

Television

Courtney Force was featured with her family on A&E's reality show Driving Force .

Personal life

Courtney has two older sisters, Ashley and Brittany. [2] She also has an older half-sister, Adria. Force attended Esperanza High School in Anaheim, California, where she was a cheerleader. [4] In 2009, she participated in the Ford Fiesta movement and won the Internet's most popular agent award. She is married to IndyCar racer Graham Rahal, who is the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. [8] [9] In November 2020, she gave birth to a daughter, Harlan Ann Rahal. [10] In September 2022, Courtney gave birth to Tinley Leighton Rahal and announced on her Facebook page she was stepping back from her roles at her foundation and sponsorship to be a mom. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Hot Rod Association</span> North American drag auto racing organization

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanctioning body in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funny Car</span> Type of drag racing vehicle

Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Force</span> American NHRA drag racer

John Harold Force is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 157 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Force Hood</span> American NHRA drag racer

Ashley Corinne Force Hood is a former NHRA Funny Car drag racer for John Force Racing. She is the daughter of 16-time NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car national champion John Force and Laurie Force. She is married to Daniel Hood, who works for John Force Racing. She was on hiatus from racing in 2011 as the couple expected their first child. Since their child's birth, Force Hood has announced her retirement from competitive racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Bernstein</span> American drag racer and auto racing team owner

Kenneth Dale Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed the "King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start quarter mile. Bernstein owned King Racing, which he drove for in the NHRA and fielded various cars in other racing series such as IndyCar and NASCAR. Bernstein retired from full-time competition in 2002 and moved his son Brandon into the Bud King Top Fuel dragster, but returned to finish the season in place of his son after Brandon suffered a severe injury. With the exception of a brief return to Funny Car in 2007, Bernstein did not return to the car and instead continued to run his team until the end of the 2011 season when he left drag racing altogether.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Kalitta</span> American drag racer, airline owner (1938– )

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaine Johnson</span> American drag racer (1962–1996)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Nicholson</span> American drag racer (1927–2006)

Don Nicholson was an American drag racer from Missouri. He raced in the 1960s and 1970s when there were few national events. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) estimates he won 90 percent of his match races. As of 2002, he held the record for the most number of categories in which he reached a final round : Funny Car, Pro Stock, Super Stock, Competition Eliminator, Stock, and Street. He was nicknamed "Dyno Don" after he was one of the first drivers to use a chassis dynamometer on his cars in the late 1950s, a skill that he learned while working as a line mechanic at a Chevrolet car dealer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendy Fry</span> American racecar driver

Mendy Fry is an American dragster and funny car driver competing in the NHRA. Under the tutelage of her father, Ron, she began driving quarter-midget sprint cars at age 4. As a teenager, she campaigned in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster class. She is the only female drag racer to record a 5-second 1/4 mile elapsed time in a front-engined Top Fuel dragster, as well as the only female member of the exclusive "Nostalgia Top Fuel 250 mph Club". In 2019 she recorded the first 5.4 second quarter-mile elapsed time in a AA/Fuel Dragster.

Pat Austin is a retired American drag racer. He competed in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). He won four NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car championships between 1987 and 1991. He was the first driver to win eliminator titles at the same event when he won the Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car classes at Topeka. His 62 wins between his start in 1985 and 1996, which were the most for any driver between the late 1970s and 1996.

Roland Leong was an American drag racer from Honolulu, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Car races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis DeJoria</span> American drag racer (born 1977)

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Jerry Ruth is a former professional drag racer who raced in the "golden age of drag racing" in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known as drag racing's "King of the Northwest".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brittany Force</span> American NHRA drag racer

Brittany Leighton Force is an American NHRA drag racer and 2-time NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel dragster champion. She is the daughter of drag racer John Force and the sister of fellow racers Courtney Force and Ashley Force Hood.

Chuck Beal Racing is a drag racing company owned by professional drag racer Chuck Beal. The company is located in San Diego, California. Chuck Beal started as a racer of front- and rear-engine vehicles until he changed to the alcohol funny car class and then nitro-class vehicles. His grandson Brandon Welch took over the duties of racing his Funny Car after having graduated from Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School. He also serves as the Vice President of Marketing. Other racers who have raced for Chuck Beal include Jeff Arend and Jeff Diehl. The company's vehicles have multiple sponsors, including AutoAnything, UnderCover Truck Bed Covers, TruXedo Tonneau Covers, ProZ, and TruXP.

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References

  1. ↑ "Courtney Fallon Force, Born 06/20/1988 in California". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Blount, Terry (July 19, 2009). "Courtney Force Continues Family Dominance". ESPN . Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "Courtney Force wins NHRA Sonoma Nationals". USA TODAY. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Courtney Force". Menstuff.org. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "NHRA Story » Courtney Force, Traxxas team up for 2012 rookie Funny Car run". nhra.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "Courtney Force earns 100th NHRA win by female driver". USA Today .
  7. ↑ "COURTNEY FORCE STEPPING AWAY FROM DRIVING DUTIES | John Force Racing Official Site". Archived from the original on 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (November 27, 2014). "Courtney Force, Graham Rahal announce engagement". Foxsports.com . Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  9. ↑ Terry Blount [@TBlountSports] (22 November 2015). "So happy for @courtneyforce & @GrahamRahal. Great racers, but more importantly, exceptional young adults" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "Graham Rahal, Courtney Force welcome their first baby - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  11. ↑ "Log into Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2022-11-03.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
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