NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel class is experiencing changes for the upcoming 75th anniversary season in 2026. First it was announced that Josh Hart, a two-time 2021 national event winner in the dragster class had sold his self-owned Top Fuel team to Elite Motorsports, which later announced that, once funding had been secured, it would run Tony Stewart in Hart’s former car.
After that, radio silence prevailed. Then Brittany Force, the fastest human in NHRA drag racing, stated on September 12 that she would step aside from full-time Top Fuel competition to start a family; she is newly married. That left a truly competitive seat available at John Force Racing, which has fielded a dragster for Brittany Force since her graduation from Top Alcohol Dragster; she currently owns two world championships in the Top Fuel class and has set, reset and reset again national dragster speed records.
Now it’s official: there is a seat for Josh Hart in next year’s competition and it’s at John Force Racing (JFR). Announced on October 15 as the third-ever Top Fuel competitor at JFR, following in the footsteps of Brittany Force and Austin Prock, Hart will take over Force’s car when NHRA begins its 75th anniversary season next March at his home track, Gainesville Raceway.
In addition to a pair of Top Fuel victories in his initial 2021 campaign as a team owner, Hart has secured back-to-back Top Alcohol Dragster Wally trophies at the biggest race of them all: Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals. Hart’s participation in NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff series has been a constant; this year he’s in tenth place with two races left to run in his bright yellow and green R+L Carriers dragster; he’s 90 points behind reigning Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in ninth and 373 behind points leader Doug Kalitta.
Hart has signed a multi-year agreement with John Force Racing, a 23-time world championship organization; he’ll be tuned by the estimable duo of David Grubnic and John Collins, with primary sponsorship coming from the Huntington, IN native’s Ocala-based Burnyzz Speed Shop, which has helped open the past few NHRA seasons with celebrations at its location, close to Gainesville, FL. “I have always said, ‘Anything’s Possible’ and this opportunity proves that statewment,” Hart declared. “I want to thank John Force and the entire John Force Racing team for being open to this endeavor.
“No one can replace Brittany Force and what she has done for the sport and this organization,” he said. “I have been building my program on my own for five seasons and learned a tremendous amount. I want to continue to learn from the best, and John Force Racing is the best drag racing team in the history of the sport. My goal is to continue learning, winning races and Top Fuel championships as a driver and teammate,” to Austin Prock and Jack Beckman, drivers of JFR’s brace of Funny Cars.
John Force, CEO and 16-time NHRA Funny Car titleholder noted that he has been talking with Hart for a while about this opportunity. “Every time we talked it just made sense for our team to add someone like him. He is a family guy, and he is a businessman,” Fore explained. “John Force Racing is evolving and we have to feed the monster. Josh runs a huge [Burnyzz] operation in Florida, and I was impressed when I saw it a few years ago. Our team is going to keep growing and winning championships with Austin and Jack and Josh. Our focus now is on winning this season’s Top Fuel and Funny Car championships; then we will start working on 2026.”
“There have been a lot of rumors about my future, since the announcement to sell my racing operation,” Hart acknowledged, “but I had a plan the whole time. I hope making this announcement, the first of many, will answer some questions. I have been blown away by the support and interest in my driving future, and I hope this announcement answers a lot of questions. I want to stay focused on winning (the last two) races for the rest of the season.”
While further announcements about the program planned for Josh Hart are intended to be revealed at the conclusion of the current campaign, both John Force Racing and Josh Hart Racing are focused on the remaining two rounds ahead of them: Round 19 (of 20) takes place October 30-November 2: the Dodge-sponsored NHRA Nevada Nationals will run on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, followed two weekends later by the In-N-Out World Finals on In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, CA.
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