Courtney Force’s win at the 2013 NHRA Winternationals was big. That news got us to thinking and remembering the days before the Force clan was saturated in all forms of the media and John still represented a fairly heroic figure in the NHRA ranks. His 300mph mouth and Steve Evans’s pure awesomeness combined for some of the greatest interviews in televised drag racing history.

The days when Force’s dirty fire suit represented one of the hardest working crews in drag racing and one of the zaniest drivers the sport has ever known still hit us right in our drag racing heart. We’re not saying that he is an unlikeable figure now, but the time he spent as the underdog was classic. The focus these days has really shifted onto his talented fleet of racing daughters and that is neat in its own way.

The two videos below are long, but in our opinion, capture the rise of John Force and one of our favorite eras in drag racing, the best.