"We set goals and making a living, and not all my choice," Force says. "The crew chiefs have been meeting every day, over lunch, over everything, over new employees. We are trying to restructure my team to bring in four new helpers to take the load off my guys."

Force understands the strenuous workload of the sport. The taste of baloney sandwiches eaten in the back of a station wagon somewhere in the Midwest is ever much alive. But he knows he just can't pull guys off the job like they do in NASCAR.

"Our guys who work on the cars have to stay in the groove," Force says, the momentum now slowly building. "The only way to do it is to have enough to rotate, to give them a break. It's not they can't keep doing it for a year or two or 10. People wake up one day and their children are growing up."

In this case, Force is those people. The road life - competing, sponsor commitment, shows - has deprived him of time with his children. More than once, whether on a teleconference or in person, Force has voiced regret about not being there at times for daughters Adria, Ashley, Brittany or Courtney. He doesn't want to be responsible for putting his crew members in a similar position.

Throughout his racing career, Force was motivated by winning, even when he wasn't. But now that he is, the desire grows.

"I have set a goal to go after 11 (championships) because I have a commitment to Tony (Pedregon, driver of his second car). Tony needs to go after the title for himself, and that's a fact," Force says. "My deal was always to win another.

"But the point is, between eight and nine, somebody out there said if you go to 10, you tie the all-time record. I said `What record? What's the importance? I never raced Glidden.'

"But if you want to become (Roger) Penske or an individual that can walk into a board room long after you don't drive and have the power to say, `I'll build you a winner' to these sponsors, it doesn't hurt to have those credentials of being the all-time winner. That's why my drive in the Funny Car is so important to all the dragsters; to prove that I can win, that this is what I do."

"I have a saying: In NASCAR, they run in packs. In drag racing, we're individual hunters, so to speak. It's hard to find partners. I have one in Pedregon and I'm going to have that in a third partner pretty soon.

"I've got to give Tony a chance to win. I'm either going to build a three-car beast that can't be beaten, unless it beats itself, or build a Top Fuel car.

"My deal is to break the record. I have a five-year deal with Castrol and Ford, all the sponsors. When that record is broken, I'll do one of two things. I'll go to Top Fuel and go for the championship or I'll run interference for Tony for him to win the championship.

"Everyone knows what we do, it's no secret. They're all buying cars to beat us. Now that they're testing two-car teams, I may go with a third team. The sponsorship money is already there ... they've agreed to let this be a test year to put the program together.

"John Force will chase the title in 2002 either for himself in Funny Car or Tony Pedregon in Funny Car or for himself in Top Fuel. That is the game plan, that will not change."

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