Courtney Force grew up immersed in professional drag racing through her father John Force's career at John Force Racing, one of the sport's dominant multi-car operations. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton, with a degree in Communications. She earned her NHRA competition driver's licence in 2005 and her Alcohol-Fuel licence in 2008. Her family was featured on the A&E reality series Driving Force, which brought the Force racing dynasty significant public attention.
Force began competitive drag racing in the Super Comp category before moving into Top Alcohol Dragster (TA/D) in 2008, sharing that development path with her sister Brittany. In 2009 she reached two final rounds — at Seattle and Pomona — claiming victory at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Washington on July 19, 2009. She recorded a career-best reaction time of .006 seconds at the final event of the 2009 season at Pomona. Her early sponsorship came from BrandSource and later Sanyo and Ford.
When her sister Ashley retired from professional racing in 2011, Courtney assumed the role of fourth driver for John Force Racing. That same year she tested a Funny Car and earned her NHRA Funny Car licence, setting the stage for her transition to the nitro category.
Force made her Funny Car debut at the 52nd annual NHRA Winternationals, qualifying 12th with a 4.199-second elapsed time at 307.44 mph (494.78 km/h). In the first round of eliminations she defeated Bob Tasca III before losing to teammate Mike Neff in the second round while posting a career-best 4.143 elapsed time. Her primary sponsor for that rookie season was Traxxas.
She claimed her first Funny Car national event victory on August 5, 2012, defeating Matt Hagan in the final round of the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Seattle, Washington.
The 2013 season brought further milestones. At the O'Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals, Force qualified in the number one position — the first woman to achieve that distinction in Funny Car — and went on to win the event, becoming the first female Funny Car driver to win the Winternationals.
In 2014, Force achieved the 100th NHRA national event win by a female driver, defeating Cruz Pedregon in the Funny Car final at Kansas. On July 27, 2014, she surpassed her sister Ashley's record for the most Funny Car wins by a female driver in NHRA history. From 2017 to 2018 she drove for Advance Auto Parts sponsorship. At the 2017 NHRA Finals in Pomona her car ran co-branded livery in association with Taylor Swift.
On January 24, 2019, Force announced her immediate retirement from professional drag racing. The decision ended a Funny Car career in which she had set multiple records for women in the category and consistently competed at the front of one of motorsport's most physically demanding disciplines.
Force attended Esperanza High School in Anaheim, California, where she was a cheerleader. She is married to IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. The couple have three daughters: Harlan Ann Rahal (born November 2020), Tinley Leighton Rahal (born September 2022), and Fallon Ruth Rahal (born October 2025). In 2013, Force appeared in ESPN's The Body Issue.
Courtney Force's career represented a generational step forward for women in NHRA Funny Car competition. As the first female driver to qualify number one and to win the Winternationals outright, and as the holder of the all-time female wins record in the category at the time of her retirement, she raised the competitive standard demonstrably beyond what predecessors had achieved. Competing within a family dynasty gave her both unparalleled resources and uncommon scrutiny, and she met both with results. Her marriage into the Rahal family added a cross-series dimension to one of American motorsport's most recognisable names.
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