NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force and IndyCar driver Graham Rahal are mulling over the idea of switching rides for a day, according to Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star.
Force is still trying to decide if she’ll go through with it, but Rahal is gung-ho to hop into a nitromethane-burning Funny Car.
But there’s one caveat: Rahal will have to go through the John Force School of Drag Racing – Force, of course, being the 16-time NHRA Funny Car world champ and also Courtney’s father.
“I told (Rahal) he’s going to go through what we call ‘Funny Car 101,’ ” Force told Cavin. “I’m going to tow him around the parking lot like I did with (my) girls. ‘Here’s a chassis, get in it.’ No firesuit, no helmet.”
Basically, Force wants Rahal to learn how a Funny Car feels, handles and steers – even though it’s designed to do one thing best: go straight.
“These things are an animal, and they’ll eat you alive in second,” Force said of Funny Cars. “You don’t have time to think; you have to feel it.”
Right now, the plan is to have Rahal get behind the wheel of Force’s car after the season-ending NHRA Finals in Pomona, California, which will also be after the season ends for the Verizon IndyCar Series, as well.
In addition to letting Courtney drive his open-wheel IndyCar, Rahal also wants to put her dad behind the wheel.
Forget it, says John Force.
“I went to Buck Baker’s (road racing driving school), and I was in the Long Beach Grand Prix celebrity race (in 1993); I’ve done all that,” Force told Cavin. “I stay in drag racing because I know what I do. Besides, I told Rahal that if I crash one of his dad’s Indy cars he’s going to make me pay for it.”
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