Graham Rahal’s wife shares throwback video celebrating father John Force’s 90s victory

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal's wife and drag racer Courtney Force uploaded a wholesome video of her childhood, celebrating her father John Force's win.

Courtney's father a 16-time NHRA World Funny Car champion and a prominent figure in drag racing. John is also the founder of John Force Racing, a professional drag racing, which competes in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. It fields multiple cars, including Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters, driven by John Force, his daughter, Brittany Force, and Austin Prock.

On Tuesday, June 17, Courtney, a 12x Funny Car race winner with her father's team, shared a video where she's told that her dad won a trophy. She's seen celebrating the victory with Lisa Coil, the wife of Austin Coil, the legendary NHRA crew chief.

"Dad showed me this old video today, of me and him in the back of his tow car after a win back in the 90's. And Lisa Coil celebrating in the front!," Courtney captioned the video.

Image via Instagram (@courtnneyforce)

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When Graham Rahal spoke about the difficulties of being married to a fellow racer

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 - Practice - Source: Getty

In a 2016 interview, Graham Rahal discussed the dynamics of being married to NHRA drag racing star, Courtney Force, who understands the demands of professional racing.

The couple tied the knot in 2015. They welcomed their first daughter, Harlan Ann Rahal, in 2020, and their second daughter, Tinley Leighton Rahal, in 2022.

Courtney Force made her mark while competing for her father’s legendary outfit, John Force Racing. She rose to prominence by surpassing her sister’s record, becoming the winningest woman in NHRA Funny Car history. Meanwhile, Graham Rahal races in his father’s team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Graham once spoke about the emotional difficulty of watching his wife compete in such a high-risk sport. During an August 2016 interview with IndyCar, he reflected on how not many find themselves in that position.

“It’s a very unfamiliar situation. Most people in this world don’t really understand what’s that like from a husband side because they don’t have to experience that too much with their wives. Obviously for me, she’s far more than a race car driver or just another female. It’s important to me that she’s safe and luckily she is," he said.

Graham also spoke of the burden of inheriting a legacy and taking it forward. He credited that as the common factor that led to the couple's bonding:

“There are only a handful of people in the world who could understand the pressure I have. Living in [our dads’] shadow and following in their footsteps, you don’t find a lot of people who can relate to something like that".

Graham Rahal will be in action at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, which is scheduled for June 22 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Edited by Bhargav