Whoever coined the phrase “Behind every good man is a better woman” could very easily have been thinking of Laurie Force.
As Laurie and her husband, 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, close in on their 35th wedding anniversary next month (Sept. 26), life together has been a drag – a perpetual drag race, that is – but it’s never been boring.
Laurie is the yin to John’s yang. While her oftentimes hyperkinetic husband rolls through every day and everything he does at 330 mph – even when he’s not in his famed race car – it’s been Laurie who has been the steadying influence, the one who has been a sea of calm and leadership and voice of reason.
As John Force prepares for the sport’s biggest race of the year, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals this weekend in Indianapolis, Laurie will once again be there by his side, keeping steady a ship that can sometimes become rocky due to John’s quest for excellence and winning.
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HE FLIPPED A CAR RIGHT AFTER FLIPPING FOR HER
John and Laurie first met at a wedding of mutual friends in 1972, where John was best man and Laurie was maid of honor. They dated off and on for nearly 10 years before getting married in 1981.
Early on in their courtship, John wanted to impress his new love by showing how fast his car was. On a quiet, nondescript street in Southern California, John got behind the wheel while Laurie watched from the sidelines.
Before you could say “one-day 16-time NHRA Funny Car champ,” John hit a curb, flipped the car and it promptly caught fire.
It would be the first of numerous times where he’d flip his car – and occasionally catch fire – over the following 40 years.
And yet, Laurie stayed. She wasn’t shaken, wasn’t afraid. She knew her eventual husband lived, slept and breathed drag racing.
