absence leaves NH with John Force sized hole at us Nationals John Force along with Ed the ace mullik has the most funny car victories at the US Nationals with five and force has made 43 appearances at the nh's premier event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis raceway Park calling it a busy weekend always is as it should be biggest race of the Year biggest drag race in the world his Peak Chevy Camaro will be prominent at this weekend at the Toyota sponsored race with driver and 2012 funny car champion Jack Beckman at the wheel for a second straight event this final race before the countdown begins will Mark a rare absence by the 16-time Series champion fans and Rivals alike are missing John Force this week at Indie after winning the most recent of his five Indianapolis trophies in 2019 force and his team sat out all four Indianapolis races including the US Nationals in his first trip to the big go in 1979 he failed to qualify he skipped the 1982 Edition this time around he's out of the car still recovering from a traumatic brain injury diagnosis following a high-speed racing accident near Richmond Virginia the John Force Racing Camp the force family and force himself have remained silent about his progress his plans to return or retire and what to expect as the season winds down with this event and six countdown races car funny car veteran Ron caps said this week already we're getting a glimpse of NH without John Force throughout history we've had these Heroes SL icons of the sport that have pretty much carried the sport through certain periods of its time going way back and certainly when you look back years from now you're going to see that snake and the and Don garlets and the Greek Chris caram scenes and the ace you're just talking about all the people that have had a stamp on nh's History Force has remained silent about his progress his plans to return or retire it's hard to top what John Force has done and it's very strange not having him around at the racetrack for me especially as tight as we've been and how much he's meant to me as a person on and off the racetrack but he's a foe as well it's been some unbelievable matchups every time we come up it's interesting to hear the people on TV talk about how many times we've met before whether it's a final round or for championships or just head-to-head it's a lot he said so we hope to have him back everybody's on pins and needles just wondering when he'll get back out cap said obviously his Health's more important than anything but for me it's going to be a great sight the first time we have him back at the racetrack whether it's just hanging out or riding around on the scooter and coming up and talking to me on a Friday before our first qualifying run for Beckman the opportunity is rejuvenation he said the last year that I raced 2020 the world was falling apart there were four National events at Indie but only one US Nationals and I left with the trophy fast forward four years and now I am strapped into a Chevy Camaro that I think is the baddest race car in the pits driving for the coolest car owner at the biggest race of the year we have a realistic shot at winning the big go for Peak Force won the US Nationals in in 1993 1996 1998 2002 and 2019