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Notes scribbled on the back of a $52 receipt for 17 gallons of gas
8/2/06
I lambasted John Force and his reality show recently and I got emails from a couple of folks that I really respect in the Force camp who took me to task for saying that Force messed around on his wife. What I actually said was that the show “portrayed” him as having that problem. And according to our letters from readers, I’m not the only one who got that impression. But nonetheless and whatever the reason was for her kicking him out of their home, in my opinion that subject should remain a private matter between John Force and his wife. It should not be part of a reality show and certainly not something his fans needed to know about. So, if I was wrong as to why John was thrown out of his house, I apologize.
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Since I wrote my column I’ve watched three more episodes and a repeat of one show to see if I would change my mind. To be honest, the three new shows weren’t as objectionable to me as the first two and actually contained a few bright spots -- primarily those being Force’s visit to his old trailer home in Bell Gardens.
Regardless, I still feel like a “Peeping Tom” when watching those episodes. Oh well, as with many things these days I seem to be in the minority. I mean a million viewers can’t be wrong, can they?
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I’ve just recently realized that “Driving Force,” like all reality shows, is just a cartoon without animation. While they are called “reality” shows they actually have little or nothing to do with reality unless you believe that a guy with a video camera and sound equipment lives in John and his wife’s houses, his shop or in their cars, and John and the family just forget they are there filming and say and do things they would never want publicized. And the scenes are all spontaneous with no scripting or direction. Quick, does anyone have a bridge they can sell me?
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It finally got through my thick skull that John and his family are participating in a partially scripted and directed TV show for the “Benjamins!” Somehow, before watching the first two episodes I made myself believe I was going to see a documentary instead of made-for-TV dreck, so when I saw a man I’ve always respected act like a goon with his family, I reacted badly. The only reality is that John Force Racing will field four nitro Funny Car operations, an A/FD team and a pair of Super Comp teams next year and he needs to find funding for all of them. He’s using an A&E reality show gig to try and make that happen.
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Come to think of it, John has always done whatever it took to get the funding to race and this business deal is just another example of John Force being John Force. If he wasn’t the star of a reality show he might be wearing a rubber chicken suit and promoting a fried chicken franchise.
So I’m getting off of the “bash the Driving Force” bandwagon. If the show turns out to be good for John Force and drag racing, fine. If people get the wrong impression about the sport and its families from watching the show, so what? Drag racing is a business, not an amateur sport and what Force is doing is just business. I retain a tremendous affection and respect for John, his daughters, his family and his organization; as for the Driving Force show itself I’ll have to pass. Maybe I really am just an old fogy who has lost contact with what drag racing fans want to see.
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The thought has occurred to me that as much as some of us thought that the Driving Force reality show might be bad for drag racing or the NHRA, history doesn’t agree. Over the years oval track racing and NASCAR fans have been subjected to some movies that portrayed oval track racers poorly. Here is my short list of bad oval track movies and some were real stinkers.
Days of Thunder, 1990. Starred Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid, and Robert Duvall. A real steaming load.
Fireball 500, 1966. Starred Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and one-named singer Fabian. All this lacked was a plot and Elvis. Too bad Elvis already had made his own version...Viva Las Vegas
Bobby Deerfield, 1977. Starred Al Pacino and Marthe Keller. Al Pachino?
Stroker Ace, 1983. Starred Burt Reynolds (wearing chicken feet) with Jim Nabors and a pneumatic Loni Anderson. Oh that Loni!
Finally, there is the soon-to-be-released Talledega Nights starring Will Farrell which, judging from the promos, might rank right up there with Stroker Ace.
Drag racing had its share of “B” movie bombs in the sixties and seventies including films like:
Drag Racer, 1971. It starred a forgettable Mark Slade whose character got a ride in a front-motored Top Fueler. Race scenes from the old Irwindale Raceway and Lions Drag Strip, the cars of Gerry Glenn, John Peters, Dwight Salisbury, John Lombardo, Frank Graf, Bill Schultz, Larry Dixon, Norm Wilcox, Ray Alley, Sherm Gunn, Mike Snively, James Warren, Don Moody, and Bob Muravez were featured.
Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow,1959. The film features a drag race on the Los Angeles River bottom. Stars include Jody Fair, Martin Braddock, and Russ Bender.
High School Caesar, 1960. John Ashley as the quintessential high school punk was the lead. The film includes a ten-car drag race between the brains and the gangsters. Also stars Judy Nugent and Steven Stevens.
Drag Strip Girl,1957. Blonde bombshell Fay Spain likes hot rods and the guys who race them. John Ashley was the lead in this move also.
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Hot Rod Girl, 1956. The “Rifleman,” Chuck Connors, and his sidekick try to establish a drag strip to get teenage racing off the roads. Frank “The Riddler” Gorshin was also in this movie, which featured action from the “Pond,” i.e. San Fernando.
And finally, who could forget the forgettable Burnout, which featured, among others, World Champ wrestler Dale Funk.
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My point here is that none of the stinkeroo movies I’ve listed above have slowed down the NASCAR juggernaught nor evidently helped or harmed drag racing. John Force’s reality show probably won’t have a serious effect on drag racing’s future one way or the other despite what I originally thought. On the other hand, maybe Force will be able to move back in the main house and all will be right with the world according to Force.
