Romance is gaining momentum! Inside John Force’s Lasting Love with His Wife, Laurie
“Lauren is the love of my life.” She is the foundation of my family. In the beginning, she drove the pickup truck, mixed fuel, and installed the parachutes on my race car.”
On June 23, 2024, famed drag racer John Force was engaged in a tragic high-speed accident caused by an engine explosion. John was rescued from the wreckage by the NHRA Safety Safari and sent to a nearby trauma hospital in Virginia. He is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
As fans closely follow John’s journey and battle for health, many are curious about his personal life, particularly his family. For starters, who is his wife? Here is what we know about his wife, Laurie.
Who is John Force’s wife?
According to NBC Sports, John and his wife, Laurie, first met at a wedding in 1972, where John was best man and Laurie was maid of honor. They had an on-and-off romance for ten years until being married in 1981.
On November 29, 1982, they welcomed their first child, a daughter called Ashley. On July 8, 1986, John and Laurie had their second daughter, Brittany. Courtney, their youngest daughter, was born June 20, 1988.
Laurie has been by John’s side throughout his career, offering support and stability throughout difficult times. Laurie has been a key member of John Force Racing since its inception, handling everything from contract drafting and merchandise sales to packing parachutes for John’s car, providing meals for the team, and even handling the nitro fuel that powered John’s Funny Car. Laurie has even worked on the automobile herself!
“Laurie is the love of my life,” said John to NBC Sports in 2016. “She is the foundation of my family. In the beginning, she drove the pickup truck, mixed fuel, and installed the parachutes on my race car. She did all of this while attending college to pursue an education. I lacked that. I wrote the first Wendy’s contract, and they returned it to me. She rewrote it, and I knew she was in. I needed to marry her.”
John Force’s daughters followed in his footsteps.
As previously stated, John and Laurie have three daughters together: Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney. John has a daughter named Adria Hight from a previous relationship. She is currently the chief financial officer at John Force Racing.
John and Laurie’s daughters continued in the footsteps of their father, a 16-time NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car national winner. Ashley started racing in 2004 and advanced to the professional ranks by 2007. The next year, Ashley became the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event.
Ashley stopped from racing in 2011 to focus on raising a family with her husband, Daniel Hood. She is currently the vice president of John Force Racing and the owner of her own production studio, John Force Entertainment.
Brittany joined the NHRA drag racing world in 2013. By 2017, she had become only the second woman in history to win a Top Fuel Championship, after Shirley Muldowney in 1982. In 2019, Brittany became the first female.
Her record-breaking moment occurred on October 2, 2022, at the NHRA Midwest Nationals, when she achieved a national record speed of 338.17 mph, the fastest Top Fuel run ever. Brittany went on to win the 2022 NHRA Top Fuel Championship.
Courtney, John and Laurie’s youngest child, earned her NHRA competition driver’s license in 2005 and her alcohol-fuel license in 2008. Courtney won her maiden national championship in the Top Alcohol Dragster class on July 19, 2009, at the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals.
Courtney earned her NHRA Funny Car license in 2011. So, after her sister Ashley declared her retirement that same year, Courtney became the fourth driver for John Force Racing.
Her career continued to flourish, culminating on July 27, 2014, when Courtney broke her sister’s record for the most Funny Car wins by a female driver in NHRA history.
