(Charles Wickam photo) – In news that we hinted at HERE it was announced today that Castrol will end its near 30 year sponsorship of John Force at the close of the 2014 season. This is the second major blow to the team after Ford announced its departure from all professional drag racing sponsorships at the end of 2014. In a company statement, Castrol said, “John Force has been the ultimate ambassador for the Castrol brand and we are grateful for his passion and dedication,” said Rich Pond, head of US marketing for Castrol, “but after 29 successful years, we have decided to pursue new ways to engage with our consumers and customers, while still celebrating the superiority of Castrol motor oils.”
Force has released a statement that he’ll continue to race hard for Castrol through 2013 and 2014, but things have to be tense and honestly weird in the halls of John Force Racing today. So many people are employed by the team that runs a fleet of funny cars and the top fuel dragster of Brittany Force and with the announcement of the team’s two cornerstone sponsors pulling out, the future is very much uncertain. We hinted that Castrol’s recent business dealings may present a problem for the winningest professional drag racer of all time but even we weren’t thinking that a total pullout was inevitable.
We’ll continue to monitor this story and others as 2013 and 2014 progress. Lots of people think that companies will be lining up to do business and support John Force racing going forward, but with the news of all the other things swirling around the top levels of the sport, we’re not so sure. One thing we do know is that Force has one of the best business operations in the world of drag racing and if any team were capable of filling the financial voids left by these two companies pulling up stakes, it is them.
2014 is already looking like some sort of very significant for NHRA drag racing as the most famous and active organizations in the sport all appear to be standing on shaky ground. We know one thing, the professional drag racing landscape will not look the same after 2013. Whether that simply means new sponsors and different paint jobs or a far more dark picture remains to be seen.
STAY TUNED AS WE’LL DO OUR BEST TO FOLLOW THIS EVER EVOLVING STORY!
All good things must come to an end and Force has had a real good run with Castrol. Maybe it’s a good time for John to get out of the cockpit?
Snake couln’t do it–Bernstein wouldn’t do it Now Ford and Castrol have left, will Force do it ? I think not. He may down size,but I don’t think he’ll quit. Now all we need is for Army to pull out and maybe the land-scape of the Mega teams will change and give some of the lesser funded teams a better chance to compete. Mother N.H.R.A. maybe needs to down size too. I mean cut back on the number of National Events. Have you seen the people(or lack of)in the stands lately. SAD
I agree, Dennis. It’s been a good ride and I’ve been a fan of John Force for many years.
we buy oil and cars that support john nufsaid !!
Seems kind of obvious at this point that the current system is not stimulating the imagination of the masses. Not sure where any of this is heading. My 20 year old nephew doesn’t even have a drivers license and doesn’t really want one…. Ack.
time to bring racing home to the little guy as it was in the beginning this walmart of racing is hit its peak. local tracks with local racers SCTA 65 years no major sponsors. NHRA lost sight of its roots. and the rules to run your car is a fucking joke. all this SFI rectification on parts scam.10sec car needs 5000$ in SFI shit that needs re cert even if you did not use it.
NHRA is like the DMV suck the life out of the little guy keep the tracks clear for the big boys and there toys. club NHRA
amen.
Speed Channel is gone so sponsors are too.
Not to mention that the NHRA isnt doing squat to help these small and even big strips that are closing nation wide… they come in and provide one maybe two big events a season but otherwise they leave the strip to fend for its self. I would think they would get behind some local grudge match racing or support some kind of program to keep the stands full and the tracks running while keeping the dangerous street racing to a minimum. …… . no such luck im sure
I’m not really surprised by all this. I haven’t been to the Gator Nats in years. why should I spend all that money when what I always went every year to see is no long there or relevant. Pro Stock should go back to a stock body with weight to cubic inch formula. Limit funny car body design to something akin to years ago when they looked like some thing on the show room floor without the incredible aero mods. Limit blower size, single mag, limit fuel pumps and cubic inches. Keep safety upgrades but back everything else up. I long for the days of 75 pro stocks showing up, A,B,C/SM, all the M/P classes, the old Gas classes. Who wants to watch super gas and super comp where they launch hard, fall on their face for a while then full throttle through the lights. On top of that the sportsman classed the are remaining are nothing more than a pain in the back side for the rocket scientist at NHRA. On the local level its almost all turned into 1/8 mile crap. I don’t want to participate or watch any of it. That’s not even touching on the SFI monopoly. RIP JFR.
are we getting back to racing like it started. Maybe the little guy can enjoy the sport again. NHRA and Wally Parks have ruined the sport.. Is the end near for big time drag racing??
I agree, we need to get the focus back on the grass roots racing. I don’t know anyone who could afford to field a top fuel/funny car team. I noticed that speed channel when away over the weekend, bummer, end of pinks reruns or no more fast time, I guess.
I could see this coming for a while. Castrol needs to spend its advertising money where the most people will see it. Sponsoring the Force family was fine for a while but viewership of televised NHRA events as well as attendance has been on the decline for years.
Will the last big NHRA sponsor to leave please lock the gate.
and don’t let the door hit ’em on the ass on the way out..
NHRA(and NASCAR, for that matter) hasn’t been the same since the gooberment cracked the whip on tobacco companies(which was more than willing to dump gazillions of ad dollars they couldn’t spend elsewhere into either series)…..finding corporate sponsors that’ll stick around is pretty much a moot point these days. The big-name teams across all the pro-classes are fixing to hit some REALLY tough times…Sportsman and Nostalgia classes are where the fun is at anyhow.
NHRA needs a change, their shows are getting stale.
Force’s Castrol deal was originally $5,000. They leveraged each other. Castrol Synthetic is as good as it gets. Their regular oil is crap. I own a cab company, I know! Having Coil gone and relatives driving for you (nepotism) may not be the best route. I’ll give Courtney a break, it’s her first year. It would be great to see JFR reinvent themselves with a couple savvy veterans and the 1320 and funny cars that look like factory cars. Why, I attend nostalgia races!
Also, Fox sports 1 will eventually bid for the NHRA, instead 30 billion dollar ESPN. Commercials will cost more on either channel. Any true race fans buy the products sponsored on the car. ESPN, was so dumb at one time they had 10 Mopar commercials on the 30 minute, What’s Hot (maybe TNN) or whatever they called it. The perception being, every fan is an A.D.D. Stoner. TNN, was never that dumb. The best days were Evans and Mc Clelland on TNN and Force when he could hype and jive.
NHRA/IHRA/ADRL/XDRL show mostly crap anymore. I get more enjoyment watching the street legal outlaw car like the Shakedown or Yellowbullet Nats.
Build a car that identifiable instead of the cookie cutter cars like Pro Stock or Pro Mods. Funny Cars have been laughable for decades.
Since WINSTON left drag racing it’s gone down hill. Force pioneered the “if you can’t win, then be spectacular” showmanship. Castrol has had enough. Can’t blame them. NHRA is a shell of it’s original self. No innovation, and rules that kill exciting shows. Take one clutch disc away from the fuel teams and shrink the blower. If that isn’t enough, take some wing away. Body’s that look like a car. Easy cost effective solutions. Pro stock should go back to stock factory sheet metal. Period. NHRA is not growth minded. They will die.
NHRA is arrogant & only cares about the dollars. Forcing teams with 75 minute turn around times they care nothing about racers & only how hard they can make it for them. They have killed the sport for the little guys & in the end they will do themselves in.
Sad too see this buisness partnership come to an end, but nothing lasts forever. That said I don’t think any of this lies at the feet of JFR. The NHRA has become stale – BOORING!!! – Listen to a track announcer lately??? Listen to some of the audio from back in the day and you’ll notice a HUGE difference in hype over the P.A….. An air of excitement was pumped into the crowd over the P.A. and the cars were the icing on the cake. But, the NHRA panders to the Baby boomer generation still and anything too exciting might cause massive heart failure throughout the crowd. Then we have the people up in arms over the courtney pictures… Ugh!!! Anyone remember the days of Jungle pam and all the other Back up girls???? No need for a magazine shoot… It was right there on the track and sensory overload for a teen aged boy!!! Made for life long fans of the sport…. Nothing to get them “hooked” anymore. Now we pander to corperate sponsors, insurance corps and political correcteness. Can’t even have beer in the stands anymore at some venues… Seriously??? How has the SCTA survived all these years without massive corp involvement???
Couple of ideas: 1) Go back to 1320 feet for all classes! If the IHRA can run T/F on a quarter mile with no insurance issues whats NHRA’s problem? 2) Leave the top fuel rules alone, but lift the inovation restrictions. 3) change funny car to the nostagia funny car rules set to a T, no exceptions. 4) Pro stock needs to use stock bodies. period. How about modern engines you can actually buy today also (yep – blowers, turbos, EFI. all of it. If the manufacture sells it on the production model it’s legal but the engine must also be the same as the engine in the production model). 5) The NHRA is going to have to figure out how to make drag racing more fan freindly with the sportsman classes as well. The trottle stop crap needs to be left out of the big show. Programs like “pinks all out” were popular with the racers and even more so with the fans. Real racing understood by fans and racers alike.
I wasn’t going to comment, but I had to because Jim so nailed it with his comment. The only thing I would add would be what Maverick said. Go back to 1320! Other than that I second everthing Jim wrote. For me the races I avoid are the two at Pomona. But I’m up at Famoso at least five or more times a year. Like I said weeks ago, I hope Force retires. I’m sick of him and his entire family. I say death to all mega-buck. multi-car, teams! Never more than one car per class should ever have been alowed. That’s when things really started to go down hill, once monopolies were alowed to take over. I hope to hell some NHRA folks read all the above comments and get a clue before it’s to late.
NHRA seems like it’s irrelevant: Megabuck cars made from unobtainium, a few team owners with multiple cars, 1000 foot races, questionable traction surfaces, spectator seats out in the open with no shade, no “free” earplugs for the kids…
No wonder the kids stay home and diddle on their Ipads…
No one even mentioned the lack of ON Time tv shows. Late because of Little league baseball last weekend, Just waiting for high school chess match to delay show next. The tv contract stinks.
As JF said himself “Its all about the money”. Slow cars do not sell,Wild rides without safety the person that posted that you get in the car and risk your life.For those who do not like NHRA start your own and find out why thing cost money with insurances.
This really began when the tobacco lawyers killed off the sponsorship…the smaller companies that filled the void really didn’t. It is interesting to see all the comments about getting drag racing back to its roots. Possible, but I would expect to see more tracks closing and not more opening. Maybe more street racing, for the instant gratification crowd. Remember, too, that going back to the roots might really involve going back to when we lost a couple of good guys a year. NHRA has its faults, and they have been listed here quite well, but we should be concerned about the loss of the structure that haolds all this together.
I used to watch the racing weekly and follow the latest on the NHRA website.
When Al-Anabi Motorsports came into NHRA racing, I left them for good.
I wish you well,John Force Racing.
Thanks for all the great memories, so far.
You’ll be with a whole new game in two years.
No need to panic!
John & Courtney & the entire crew are top notch!
Met them all & enjoyed dinner with them thanks to a Castol Sweepstakes win last year.
My kids & I enjoyed Pomona!
We hope to go back again!
There will be another sponsor more than willing to step forward…
Lucas Oil, Coca-Cola, Jimmy John’s, Subway, Papa John’s Pizza, Pepsi…who knows!