John Force Receives Rock Star Reception in Quebec

Legendary drag racing star makes triumphant and humble return to the site of his first ever NHRA national event win….

Less than twenty four hours after being back in the United States after a whirlwind four day trip to Canada John Force is feeling excited and humble at the same time. As the Grand Marshal of the 15th annual Castrol FestiDrag presented by Coors Light, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion returned to the site of his first professional win after over two decades. Force spent a day in Quebec City and one in Montreal for press conferences before the Saturday and Sunday drag racing event at Sanair International Raceway.

“I am worn out but it was a great event. Martin D’Anjou is a great promoter and he had the media excited. He put on a great show. I couldn’t believe I was back in Canada and the people were so welcoming. I don’t speak French but that didn’t matter. There were hot rods all over the place and I was lovin’ spending time with fans at my Travelin’ Road Show for two days,” said Force.

Throughout the weekend Force divided his time between autograph signings at VIP events, patrolling the pits on his scooter and the Road Show which featured five historic Funny Cars from Force’s storied career: the Superman Funny Car, the most recent Elvis Presley Funny Car, the Hall of Fame Castrol GTX Funny Car, the Brute Force Funny Car and most importantly the 1990 Castrol GTX Funny Car that Force drove to victory at Sanair on his way to his first NHRA Funny Car championship.

“The fans loved seeing the Funny Cars. We unveiled the 1990 Castrol Funny Car on Saturday afternoon and the crowd went crazy. We posted a video on our YouTube channel (http://youtu.be/Eb0GYc7Jvwk0) and I couldn’t believe the reaction. I am talking with all kinds of sponsors and a lot of them want a global presence. We had one this weekend in Canada and I would be interested in doing more events north of the border as well as around the world if we could get the schedules and money to work out,” said an excited Force.

Fans brought photos from Force’s races at Sanair as well as t-shirts, posters and ticket stubs from his racing career. The team also distributed the traditional hero cards and Force posed for photos with fans young and old throughout the two day event. Sunday was capped off by Force and Jeremy, a young fan who was a guest of The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, as they “raced” down the track in a brand new Lamborghini from John Scotti’s Lamborghini Montreal.

Posted by:  Elon Werner