Force was born in Bell Gardens, California, and grew up in logging camps, migrant farms, and trailer parks. He survived childhood polio. After graduating from Bell Gardens High School he briefly attended Cerritos College to play football. His entry into drag racing was gradual and financially precarious; his early career saw him running an unsponsored car he called "Brute Force," a nickname that would follow him throughout his professional life.
Force drove his first Funny Car, the Jack Chrisman-built Night Stalker Mustang, in 1971. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s he worked his way up the competitive ladder, finishing outside the top ten in points through 1985. His fortunes changed when Castrol Motor Oil came on as his primary sponsor beginning in 1985, a partnership that would last through 2014.
Force won his first NHRA Funny Car championship in 1990 and his second in 1991. He then assembled one of the most dominant stretches in American motorsport history: ten consecutive NHRA Funny Car championships from 1993 to 2002, including six straight from 1997 to 2002. During this run he won 67 of 203 national events between 1987 and 1996 alone, and in 1996 reached the final round in 16 of 19 events, winning 13.
In 1993, Force became the first driver to record a sub-five-second elapsed time in a Funny Car on an official NHRA pass, running 4.996 seconds at the Texas Motorplex on October 16, 1993.
Force became the first member of the NHRA 1,000 Round Win Club, accumulating his 1,000th career elimination round win at the 2008 NHRA Midwest Nationals. He was the first driver to record 100 career NHRA victories and held 161 event number-one qualifications as of 2021 — the most in NHRA history. He was selected as Driver of the Year for all of American motor racing in 1996 by a national panel of motorsports journalists, the first drag racer to receive the honor.
Force was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008 and the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2023. He was ranked second on the NHRA Top 50 Drivers list (1951–2000), behind only Don Garlits.
Force remained competitive deep into his 60s and 70s. He won his 15th and 16th driver's championships in 2010 and 2013 respectively. In June 2024, he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fiery crash at Virginia Motorsports Park when his engine exploded at the end of a run. He was admitted to intensive care but recovered.
Force officially announced his retirement from driving on November 13, 2025, in a live address on the John Force Racing Facebook page, citing the 2024 crash as the final factor in his decision.
Force built JFR into a multi-car operation. His daughters Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force all drove professionally under his ownership. His son-in-law Robert Hight drove for JFR and won multiple Funny Car championships. The extended family unit became known as "The First Family of Drag Racing." As a car owner, Force's 22 championship seasons include titles won by Tony Pedregon, Robert Hight, Brittany Force, and Austin Prock.