Driving Force

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Driving Force is an American reality television program which premiered July 17, 2006, on A&E. It is centered around John Force, a drag racer, and his drag racing daughters.

[edit] About the show

John Force is the most dominant competitor in his sport, drag racing. He has compiled 119 victories and 16 team championships in 16 years. The show is reality based, following John in his day-to-day life of juggling both his business, and his personal life. His wife, Laurie Force, managed contracts for his racing team, most notably landing the Wendy's restaurant sponsorship. When their children were born, she decided to be a stay at home mom, to give their daughters a more well-rounded proper and traditional upbringing. [1] [2]

The hook of the show, is partly his catchy last name, but mostly that John Force has four attractive daughters;

36 year old Adria Hight, born from a previous marriage (wife of John Force Racing driver Robert Hight)
23 year old Ashley Force [3]
19 year old Brittany Force [4]
17 year old Courtney Force [5]

The oldest daughter, Adria Force Hight, has managed the finances for John Force Racing since she was 20 years old, and her husband Robert is one of the three (in 2006) John Force Racing Funny Car drivers, driving the Auto Club of California Ford Mustang. However, now the three younger daughters have decided to follow in their father's footsteps, competing as drivers for his company. Ashley has already been named Rookie of the Year in Top Alcohol Dragster. [6]

The show centers mostly around John Force now reconnecting with his daughters, having missed much of their younger childhoods due to his career. Now that his company has become one of the leading companies in the racing venue, he wants to spend more quality time with his family. In doing so, he often becomes frustrated with his daughters spending sprees, believing that they do not understand what it's like to be poor. In one episode, he takes them to the trailer house where he was raised, stating that this period of his life was one of the happiest, all due to his loving and hard-working parents. Adria is the more grounded daughter. Ashley is fiercely competitive, with mountains of talent in racing. Brittany, his third daughter, is the most rebellious and ultimately has a wild streak in her. She and her father cross often, but ultimately it becomes obvious that he respects her spirited nature. Courtney races because she enjoys it, but doesn't let it control her life at the cost of her school activities. All of his daughters insist that an education should come before racing, a notion reinforced by mom/step-mom Laurie Force. [7]

Although the series has the backdrop of the racing circuit, and his full support of his daughters career choices, it takes on a comical side when showing him trying to reconnect with being a father, and his often comical reactions to being the father of four very spirited and strong-willed girls. The show debuted on July 17th, 2006, and has gained steady momentum since. [8] The DVD of Driving Force - Series 1 is available from the Souvenirs section of the John Force Racing website

[edit] Criticism of the Series 2 Premiere

Series 2 premiered March 27, 2007 with immense criticism from many fans because of tragic circumstances.

On March 19, 2007, John Force Racing driver Eric Medlen crashed heavily and sufferred severe head injuries during testing a day after the Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. Medlen died on March 22 after being taken off life support.

John Force Racing, as was the entire motorsports community, was in mourning and Medlen's memorial service was being held March 27, with an official funeral being held the next day.

Some fans criticised the decision to continue with the series premiere on its scheduled day, instead of delaying the premiere of the second series temporarily and replacing the episode with a Series One episode featuring Medlen as a tribute. [9]

Series 2 will be dedicated to Mr. Medlen.