"That's my one problem child Courtney": When John Force joked about daughter marrying IndyCar star Graham Rahal instead of NHRA drag racer

Drag racing legend John Force came out in May 2015 and joked about his daughter Courtney Force marrying an IndyCar driver. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal married Courtney on November 21, 2015. John Force appeared in a video uploaded by the WTHR YouTube channel as he detailed how her daughter had always been a problem child.

John Force suggested that he hoped Courtney would marry a drag racer since his daughter was also a drag racing driver, yet she chose to marry an IndyCar driver. Force said:

“To marry an IndyCar driver, you’re supposed to marry an NHRA drag racer. That’s my one problem child Courtney” (1:15 onwards)

Graham Rahal and Courtney Force first interacted on social media platform X. The drag racer asked the RLL driver regarding a place to hang out in Indy. The two stayed in touch and Courtney then invited Rahal to a drag race at the Route 66 Raceway in 2013. Soon the two started dating and got married a couple of years later.

Graham Rahal's father and IndyCar champion Bobby Rahal revealed the real challenge when it came to Courtney and his son getting married as he said:

“I guess the real challenge is going to be what the kids are going to do. Whether they go IndyCar racing or drag racing. I'm sure John (Force) will be steering them towards drag racing.” (1:30 onwards)

All of John Force's daughters are involved in drag racing and have driven or worked for his team John Force Racing. Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR, Brittany currently races in the Top fuel dragster category while Courtney and Brittany are former drag racing drivers.

Courtney Force announced her retirement in 2019 and her first daughter Harlan was born in November 2020. Her sister Tinley joined the family a couple of years later, in September 2022.

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Graham Rahal on how the Force Family reacted to John Force's crash in 2024

NTT IndyCar Series XPEL 375 - Practice - Source: Getty

John Force, despite crossing the 75-year-old mark, continues to race in drag racing. The JGR owner met with a horrific accident at Virginia Motorsports Park on June 23, 2024, as he raced in the Funny Car category. Force’s car went up in flames and hit the barriers on the other side of the track.

The drag racing legend was airlifted to the hospital following his crash at 300+ miles per hour. Graham Rahal came out and spoke with Motorsport a few weeks after the crash and detailed how the news was broken to the Force family. He said (via Motorsport):

“When I saw it, I immediately went to her and said, ‘hey, you should probably wake up. You should probably look and see what's going on here.

"It's hard because at that stage the reality was that we didn't know anything. Laurie, my mother-in-law, was with me. So, we didn't know anything. There was just so many questions to be asked about what's the condition. It wasn't until really a day, day and a half later that we started to get some clarity on what it was.”

John Force was kept in the intensive care and then shifted to the neurological department. This was followed by a few weeks in the rehab centre, and he was released abut a month after the incident.