John Force Racing wrapped up a successful four-day preseason test session February 17-20 at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, with returning driver Jack Beckman and newcomers Alexis DeJoria, Josh Hart, and Jordan Vandergriff delivering competitive performances and collecting valuable data ahead of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
The test session was in preparation for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, March 6-8 at Gainesville Raceway to kick off NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
Jack Beckman (PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car) and the Daniel Hood/Tim Fabrisi-led team ran strongly in the 3.8-second range, including passes of 3.867 seconds at 334.07 mph and a 3.887-second pass at 323.89 mph. The 2012 NHRA Funny Car World Champion and 2003 NHRA Super Comp World Champion picked up a Wally in winner’s circle at the 2018 Gatornationals so he knows what it takes to be successful at the legendary Florida track.
“I had a former crew chief that said, ‘I’m OK with testing, but I hate practicing’,” said Beckman. “In other words, if we’re gonna spend a day that’s not a race weekend day at the racetrack, flogging this car to go down the track, we need to be doing something towards an end.’ So, I think Dan Hood and Tim Fabrisi did a excellent job of laying out all the things that we wanted to test: spare superchargers, newly assembled short blocks to make sure our power levels were the same, a new fuel system on the car, we tested our spare clutch. And I thought we had a very good systematic approach. Started off with short runs to get our fuel system dialed in and ran an 800-footer to make sure everything looked good, and then full runs, and we got 11 runs done. We made six runs to the finish line, it went between 3.86 and 3.91 and I think we got a great hot rod in our PEAK Chevy.”
Alexis DeJoria (Bandero Premium Tequila Chevrolet SS Funny Car) dipped into the three-second zone multiple times. Her last run on Friday proved to be the fastest of her career, running 337+ mph, proof that the team led by crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jonnie Lindberg is building momentum heading into the new year.
“The Gainesville test was very successful, getting acclimated to the new team and the way they run their cars,” said DeJoria. “Not too different, just some slight differences and getting in that routine. We made 13 runs between Tuesday and Friday and our last two runs on Friday evening were really good. I ran my best career speed, which wasn’t too far off from my previous best, but I had only run that one time before. So that was great, you know, to finish the day off running 337 plus miles an hour in our Bandero Chevrolet. We’re going to get a couple more days of testing before the race this next week. I’ve been in these cars for a while but anytime you join a new team, there’s certain quirks, different things that they do. Driving a Chevrolet SS body is a little bit different vision out the front window. But the John Force racing chassis are by far the best chassis I’ve ever driven.”
Josh Hart (Burnyzz Speed Shop/Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster) made an explosive JFR debut, topping 340 mph twice—including 3.701 seconds at 340.47 mph in the first run of the first day of testing on Feb. 17 and backing it up with a run of 340.22 mph. Crew chiefs David Grubnic and John Collins, who led Brittany Force to both the NHRA national elapsed time (3.623 seconds) and speed records (343.51mph), seem to have picked up right where they left off last season.
“To be the first in the lanes, first down the track first, right out of the box, 340.4 – I can’t put it into words, man,” said Hart. “It was smooth. It was straight. Epic feeling. It’s going to be a good year.
“It was so much smoother and quieter,” Hart said of driving the Burnyzz Speed Shop / Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster with a canopied cockpit instead of the open cockpit he had been used to. “Kind of feel like you’re more aware of what’s going on with the car. It’s not so loud and obnoxious. You’re used to going with the thrust but you’re not used to the chutes hitting that hard. So, you almost see stars a little bit when the chutes come out.”
Jordan Vandergriff (Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car) excelled in his first test with the team and Funny Car category, running 3.866 at 331.69 mph and 3.886 at 332.75 mph. He successfully completed his NHRA nitro Funny Car crossover licensing requirements during the session, with his license signed off by 16-time Funny Car World Champion and team owner John Force as well as DeJoria and Beckman.
“I’m new as a driver, and we have a new crew chief duo in Chris Cunningham and Jason Bunker on the Cornwell Tools team,” said Vandergriff. “Our whole team is new together. The most important thing for us was to get comfortable with each other. And I think that happened pretty quickly, and I think the results show it. We’re feeling pretty good coming out of testing. It’s crazy to be after day two of testing be the quickest Funny Car, and that’s what this car is capable of. Coming into this ride, I knew that this Cornwell Tools Funny Car can do that, can be quick, can be the quickest, and it turns out we’re picking up where it left off.”
John Force Racing plans to test again at Gainesville on May 3-4, the Tuesday and Wednesday of the Gatornationals race week.
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