John Force Racing has redrawn its brain trust for the 2026 NHRA campaign, unveiling a crew chief roster that blends proven tuners with fresh driver pairings. The reshuffle follows a turbulent offseason and signals that one of drag racing’s most decorated organizations intends to fight for championships on multiple fronts rather than simply defend past glory.
By locking in experienced leadership on both its Top Fuel and Funny Car entries, the team is betting that continuity in the pits, not wholesale reinvention, will deliver results in NHRA’s milestone seventy‑fifth anniversary season. The new structure also clarifies how John Force Racing plans to move beyond its high‑profile split with Austin Prock and Jimmy Prock while keeping its competitive edge intact.
Stability at the top: Grubnic and Collins steer the Top Fuel program
The centerpiece of the new technical chart is the decision to keep David Grubnic and John Collins in charge of the John Force Racing Top Fuel Dragster, now driven by Josh Hart. Rather than reshuffle a successful pairing, the organization has chosen to double down on the duo that has already demonstrated it can extract national‑record performance from a nitro car, a clear signal that Top Fuel remains a strategic priority. Hart steps into a seat that has been carefully developed by Grubnic and Collins, giving him access to a playbook that has already produced elite speed and consistency for the team.
That continuity matters because the Top Fuel landscape is tightening, with rivals investing in veteran tuners of their own. When Tony Schumacher returns to Top Fuel, for example, he will have Crew Chief Rob Flynn calling the shots on his Rick Ware Racing dragster, underscoring how much emphasis leading teams are placing on experienced decision‑makers. By retaining David Grubnic and John Collins on the John Force Racing Top Fuel Dragster and pairing them with Josh Hart, the organization is matching that arms race with a stable, data‑rich operation rather than a risky reset.
Funny Car firepower: Beckman and the PEAK entry lean on veteran guidance
On the Funny Car side, John Force Racing has opted for a similarly measured approach, keeping Jack Beckman in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car with an established crew chief group behind him. Beckman returns for a second full season in that car, a continuity play that should allow both driver and crew to refine rather than reinvent their tune‑up. In a class where reaction times and incremental gains often decide race day, the value of a second year with the same combination is difficult to overstate.
The PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car program also benefits from the broader institutional knowledge that John Force Racing has accumulated across decades of Funny Car competition. Even as the organization adjusts to personnel changes elsewhere, the Beckman entry stands as a stabilizing pillar, built around a veteran driver and a crew chief structure that already understands how to manage the car’s behavior over a full NHRA schedule. That foundation positions the PEAK effort to capitalize quickly if rivals stumble during the early events of the season.
Life after the Prock split: reorganizing without losing momentum
The most dramatic backdrop to the new crew chief roster is the end of John Force Racing’s partnership with Austin Prock and Jimmy Prock. John Force Racing, also identified as JFR, confirmed that its relationship with Austin Prock and Jimmy Prock had concluded, closing a chapter that included multiple championship‑caliber seasons. The separation removed a high‑profile driver‑tuner pairing from the organization’s lineup and forced leadership to rethink how its remaining resources would be deployed across Top Fuel and Funny Car.
That decision did not occur in a vacuum. One of the most unexpected dramas of the NHRA offseason centered on the future of the two‑time NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car world champion, with Austin Prock and his group preparing for what has been described as the next chapter of their story. At the same time, Cunningham was identified as lead crew chief with Joe Barlam remaining as co‑crew chief on Prock’s hot rod, illustrating that the Prock camp was not stepping away from top‑tier technical support. For John Force Racing, the response has been to consolidate around its remaining programs, elevate internal leaders, and ensure that the loss of Austin Prock and Jimmy Prock does not translate into a loss of competitiveness.
New faces, familiar pedigree: Hart’s arrival and Schaffer’s departure
Josh Hart’s move into the John Force Racing Top Fuel Dragster is one of the most intriguing elements of the revised structure. Hart joins a program that has already etched its name into the NHRA record books, with the team having set the NHRA speed national record multiple times and ultimately reaching a final mark of 343, 51 m at Indianapolis. That kind of performance baseline gives Hart a formidable platform, and his collaboration with David Grubnic and John Collins will be watched closely as the season unfolds. The combination of a hungry driver and a record‑setting technical team suggests that John Force Racing expects to contend for Top Fuel wins immediately.
While Hart arrives, another long‑time figure has moved on. Longtime John Force Racing crew chief Jon Schaffer has been named the new crew chief for Paul Lee and his Funny Car team, taking his experience to a rival operation. Schaffer’s shift to Paul Lee’s Funny Car underscores how fluid the crew chief market has become, with top‑level tuners moving between organizations in search of fresh opportunities and new challenges. For John Force Racing, the task is to ensure that institutional knowledge does not walk out the door with any single individual, a challenge the team appears to be addressing by reinforcing its remaining programs and clarifying lines of authority.
Strategic depth for NHRA’s 75th anniversary season
All of these moves unfold against the backdrop of NHRA’s seventy‑fifth anniversary season, a milestone that has prompted many organizations to reassess their competitive strategies. John Force Racing’s answer is a crew chief lineup that prioritizes proven chemistry and targeted adjustments rather than wholesale upheaval. By keeping David Grubnic and John Collins together on the John Force Racing Top Fuel Dragster with Josh Hart, and by maintaining Jack Beckman in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car with veteran guidance, the team is signaling confidence in its core structure even as it adapts to the loss of Austin Prock and Jimmy Prock.
The broader NHRA paddock is moving in a similar direction, with teams like Rick Ware Racing turning to experienced figures such as Crew Chief Rob Flynn for Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel return, and with Prock’s new operation leaning on Cunningham and Joe Barlam for continuity. Within that competitive environment, John Force Racing’s newly unveiled crew chief power roster reads less like a gamble and more like a calculated reinforcement of strengths. The organization has redistributed responsibilities, absorbed the departure of Longtime John Force Racing crew chief Jon Schaffer to Paul Lee’s Funny Car, and aligned its technical leadership around programs that have already demonstrated record‑setting potential, positioning itself to remain a central force in NHRA’s landmark season.
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