When I first moved to Southern California, I bumped into John Force one day at Home Depot in Placentia, right down the street from the editorial offices I worked in for 12 years. It was a week or so before Christmas and Force was shopping for some light fixtures for the outside of his house. I told him I was doing a monthly drag racing column and asked if I could stop by the shop. Force looked at me and said, "It's not like I got time to open presents with you or anything, but yeah, come on by." Well, I did take him up on that offer, and since then, I can't count the amount of times I've been there.

Just before pre-season testing early this year, I stopped in again, and luckily caught Bernie Fedderly with a few minutes to spare. Austin Coil was busy getting blowers ready to run on the dyno, while the rest of the shop was in a calculated thrash to get four (!) Fuel Funny Cars ready for the 2007 campaign. John was working on promotional material with his new graphic designer, Ashley was in her office having a late lunch, and, well, you get the idea. The whole place was in a sort of controlled chaos, but Force has assembled such a top-notch crew, there was plenty being accomplished.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand just what it takes to keep the entire John Force conglomerate at full tilt. This is an amazing machine with a huge payroll - not to mention, a mind boggling number of trucks, trailers, busses, crew vehicles, and more. Hell, the laundry bill alone would likely make your heart skip. When you get right down to it, John would be the first to credit his people. After all, they're a dedicated bunch who (like their boss) work hard, go the distance, and do what it takes to be the best they can be. And you couldn't win 14 championships with anything less. DR