A Bold Expansion: Alexis DeJoria Climbs Into John Force Racing’s Third Funny Car
The NHRA world is buzzing. Alexis DeJoria has officially signed with John Force Racing for the 2026 season. And let’s be honest, it feels right. If you rewind the tape back to the 2012 Gatornationals in Gainesville, you might remember a young Alexis DeJoria lining up against the absolute titan of the sport, John Force.
She didn’t just show up. She beat the legend in the opening round. At the time, nobody, probably not even Alexis herself, would have bet that 14 years later, she’d be sliding into the cockpit of a Funny Car with the Force Racing logo plastered on the side.
A Major Expansion for Force Racing
This isn’t just a simple driver swap. This is a statement. The 2025 season felt like an emotional roller coaster for the organization, marked by speed records and championships, but also by the heavy retirements of both John and Brittany, leaving the Force Racing team to reload.
The addition of DeJoria, along with her long-time backer Bandero Premium Tequila, signals that Force Racing is expanding its footprint back to a four-car powerhouse. It’s the kind of bold move we’ve come to expect from the “Yankees of Drag Racing.”
Think about the lineup for a second. You’ve got Jack Beckman, a former world champ. You’ve got Josh Hart taking over the Top Fuel dragster duties. You have a mystery driver yet to be named. And now, you have DeJoria, a proven winner with grit to spare.
It’s the largest nitro team currently competing in the NHRA Mission Foods series, and it proves that despite the recent departures of the Prock family and the Force Racing icons themselves, this organization isn’t slowing down.
Chasing History and Championships
Alexis isn’t coming to JFR just to fill a seat. She’s coming to win. At 48 years old, she has put in the work. She worked her way up through the Sportsman ranks, broke into the nitro class in 2011, and has six Funny Car event wins to her name, including a massive victory at the 2014 Nationals in Phoenix. She knows what it takes to win, but there is one accolade that has eluded her: the big one.
“Since day one, my goal has been to become the sport’s first female Funny Car World Champion,” DeJoria said about the move. Joining Force Racing gives her the machinery and the data to take a serious run at those history books.
Last year, she was tearing it up with JCM Racing alongside Ida Zetterstrom in a historic all-female nitro team. But when the phone rings and it’s the Force camp on the line? You answer. It’s an opportunity to cement a legacy.
The Family Connection at Force Racing
There is a genuine warmth to this signing that goes beyond business. John Force, who retired after that terrifying crash in Richmond earlier this year, knows a thing or two about the father-daughter dynamic in racing.
For years, we’ve watched John Paul DeJoria, the co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, and a guy who clearly loves watching his kid race, hanging out in the pits. He’s been her rock since she was a teenager. John Force sees that, and he respects it.
“I’m obviously pretty familiar with the dynamic between father and daughter competing in NHRA drag racing,” Force said. “So I respect and admire what Alexis and her father, John Paul, have built together.”
It’s a classy nod from one racing patriarch to another. Alexis is a fierce competitor, and having the blessing of the man with 157 NHRA wins and 16 championships adds a layer of prestige to this next chapter.
Kickoff in Gainesville
The timing feels poetic. The 2026 season, the NHRA’s 75th anniversary, kicks off right back where this story started: The Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, next March.When Alexis DeJoria rolls up to the starting line in the Bandero machine, she won’t be the underdog facing down the giant anymore.
She’ll be part of the giant. She’ll be driving for the team that sets the standard. And for race fans who love a good comeback story and a driver who races with her heart on her sleeve, March can’t get here soon enough.
