Hart eager to make the most of his John Force Racing opportunity

It was his first day at the John Force Racing shop when Josh Hart found himself cornered by crew chief David Grubnic.

“What are your goals (for) Q1?” Grubnic wanted to know.

Hart admitted that never in his NHRA Top Fuel career has he been the No. 1 qualifier.

“And he said, ‘Oh that’s easy. We’ll take care of that. What’s next?’” Hart recounted with a laugh. “He said, ‘Here, I’ll give you some of these yellow hats (signifying a driver is the No. 1 qualifier) that we’ve acquired.’ But what do we want to accomplish? I want to be one of the best leavers. I want to go rounds. We obviously want to win some races.

“But I would say by the end of Q1, we’re going to be a real championship contender for the first time ever in my career.”

It’s neither mere hope nor exaggeration. Hart is the newest driver for the legendary Force and his organization with 24 championships, and the expectations are for him to do his part.

Hart will be behind the wheel of the dragster that Brittany Force drove to two of those championships with Grubnic and John Collins leading the way. Grubnic is a respected and accomplished – some might say wizard – of his profession and, now that he’s getting to work with and know Grubnic for himself, Hart calls him second to none.

“He’s a rare bird not only because he’s so good at tuning the car but because he’s a former driver,” Hart said. “When he speaks, you listen. I’m never going to say that I’m the smartest person in the room. I will always listen to my peers, and he’s been great taking me under his wing and giving me little tips and tricks. I love every minute of it.”

The coming together of the Force team and Hart has been seamless thus far. Hart has felt welcomed and guided in the right direction. Seeing how professional the team conducts itself has been an eye-opener, and Hart quickly realized he is now in a different world.

Hart’s slowest run in the car during testing has been faster than any personal best he has achieved in his own car over the last few years. But even better? The first run the team made off the truck – and the very first run for any NHRA driver in 2026 – hit the 340mph mark.

“When you hit the gas in these cars, they all launch about the same,” said Hart of the experience driving what has been one of the fastest cars in the class. “But in my past life, my car would really give you like a swift kick when it went one to one at 300 feet and the clutch was locking up. Grubnic and John Collins and the guys have this thing figured out because I don’t feel anything like that. It is so smooth and so fast that it almost feels like it’s launching again.”

Hart drove for the team he founded from 2021 through '24. His debut in the Top Fuel class resulted in a victory at the Gatornationals at Gainesville in 2021. But regardless of how proud Hart was of himself and his wife, Brittanie, for what they built with the program, and no matter how much money or talent they thought was there, it wasn’t coming together.

The downslide in performance over the last few years ended up tarnishing the vibe of the program for Hart, Brittanie and those on the team. The weight is gone with that chapter of his life closed as Hart moves onto just being a paid driver for Force.

“I want to try to have fun again,” Hart said. “I want to fall back in love with drag racing, win some races and it’s happening. Already the mindset is totally different.”

Hart does have a pair of wins on his resume but they both came in his rookie season. The opportunity to add to that and in a big way, has never been better. The same goes for contending for a championship.

“That’s probably the best part about it,” Hart said. “I didn’t have a whole lot to brag about the last three and a half years. I got the crap kicked out of me. So now that I know that I’ve got the sled and we have a real contending car, it’s like, 'All right, now we can show people, hopefully, what we’re made of.'

“I would say (it’s) pressure. I just want to make sure I do my job and worthy to be in the seat. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Brittany Force is awesome; she’s a two-time world champion. John Force is the greatest of all time. You have to put that on the sidelines and say, 'OK, now I have to do it.' I wouldn’t say it’s overly cumbersome as far as pressure goes. It’s just making sure that when I go up there, I do my job and not disappoint.”