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JOHN FORCE RACING MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 13, 2015Mitch CovingtonBrittany ForceJohn ForceELON WERNER: I'd like to welcome everybody to our John Force Racing sponsor announcement teleconference. We are very excited to be joined by a number of guests.  In advance of the 35th annual SummitRacing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals which is going to start for us on this Friday at Atlanta Dragway. Right now we're happy to be joined by 16‑time Funny Car champion John Force, Top Fuel driver Brittany Force, and it's my pleasure to introduce Mitch Covington, Monster vice president of sports marketing. Mitch, I will turn it over to you. MITCH COVINGTON: Thank you. It's great to be back in drag racing for Monster Energy. As most of you know, we used to be in drag racing with Kenny Bernstein, had a great time of it. For a brand like Monster who lives and breathes authentic all‑American racing, we're really excited today to let everybody know just how we're getting back into the sport. John Force Racing, we don't have to tell anybody, is synonymous with winning. Monster's brand is really built on a culture of winning. Man, we just can't wait till this weekend to unveil that car. Monster's marketing is built on three things mainly: that's racing, music and girls. We think that fits great with drag racing. We're just super excited to be back in this sport. As to how we got in with John Force Racing, you guys all know John Force is one hell of a salesman. I actually met him at a wedding party. This dude chased me down the whole time. But I got news for everybody. John Force didn't sell this deal, it was his daughter Brittany and his other daughter Courtney. So today I am super excited to let everyone know that the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster will be driven by Brittany Force. It's been a sport that we really missed over the last few years. I just can't say enough about how excited we are to be with John Force and John Force Racing, and especially with Brittany Force. Without further ado, I want to introduce the star of this show, and that's Brittany Force. BRITTANY FORCE: Hi, guys. I have to say how beyond excited I am to be teamed up with Monster. This is honestly a dream come true. My sister and I have been chasing Monster for a while. To see it all actually happening, it's pretty surreal. Like I said, I'm beyond excited about it. Monster's all about living life on the edge. I think our sport ties in perfectly to that because there's nothing more extreme than driving a Top Fuel dragster. You're racing down the track 330 miles per hour. I don't think there's anything more extreme than that. I honestly think we are really a perfect fit. The awesome part is I get to do what I love, and Monster's going to support me the entire way. I'm just so excited to get started and have Monster on my car. Like I said, it's all very surreal and I'm very proud of it. Like I said, Courtney and I have been chasing it for a while and it's all happening this next weekend in Atlanta. ELON WERNER: I'd like to introduce John Force, CEO of John Force Racing, obviously 16‑time Funny Car champion. John, can you talk a little bit about what this sponsor announcement means to John Force Racing and also for Brittany. JOHN FORCE: Well, it's a big relief to me not just financially, but a relief that we've kept this a secret for a year. You know me, I can't keep a secret. Bottom line, I almost felt as a father, you want to deliver for your children. I got them in this business. Also as an owner you want to keep your teams financed. You all know the loss that we took over a year ago, year and a half. We've been chasing it. Luckily Auto Club of Southern California stayed on with us, long range contracts, Traxxas onboard, and Mack Tool. But we lost some majors. Me personally, I always chase the nuts and bolts, the automotive industry. I know these people well. I was able to come back working with Robert Hight, our president, and of course with JMI, the agency, and my marketing team, we hit it hard. It's a tough economy out there, but we landed PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, Lucas. Then the Chevrolet program came in. That was the icing on the cake. The problem I had was my next generation, my driver, my daughter, didn't have a home. You could see the teams as hard as they work night and day on the racecars at the races, having a trailer that's not branded with a sponsor's name. Everyone knows you're under‑funded. Everyone knows financially you don't have everything that it takes. You want that name. It's an honor badge that you wear. When my girls came home and said, Dad, we might have found a deal. I felt that I'd already spoke with Monster a year and a half ago and I couldn't get the deal done. I really feel I shouldn't be on this conference call, you know what I mean, because I didn't make this deal happen. Brittany and Courtney came home. We met this guy. He's nice. He's excited about the girls being part of racing. He knew Courtney was with Traxxas. He's really interested. I'm, Okay, kids, you went to college, sell it. A year later they landed this deal. That means there's a future in John Force Racing. It's not just about winning championships, we know how to do that, but you got to have funding. I'm no spring chicken, you all know that. My girls now, along with Robert Hight, they can lead this charge. But to land a company like Monster, that's huge. It was just a moment as a father, I said, The kids got it done. Mitch is a great guy. When I was first called to my first meeting, it was pretty amazing the energy in the room. A gentleman, Rodney Sacks, he's chairman of the board. Hilton Schlosberg, president and co‑chairman. Another gentleman Mark Hall, the marketing manager. The energy I saw which sold me, the joke, You sold me at hello, like the old movie with Tom Cruise. But the energy with their brand, the products that they sell, the excitement of what they created and built, that whole company shares that energy. Then their logo, the logo of the branding of Monster Energy, to see the way they felt about it, their passion. But when they spoke about Brittany, when we get with a driver, whether it's a movie star, an athlete in the action sports business, NASCAR, we're going to build their brand. That is what sold me, was my daughter getting an opportunity with a company that wanted to grow her and all of the Monster Energy brands. I'll be honest, Monster Java is my favorite. I got it right here with me because it's coffee. I just love it. I think I've said enough there. But I want to thank Monster Energy. I want to thank you, Brittany, your sister Courtney. You've got an opportunity now. No excuses. You never made excuses, but you've got funding, great funding here. I'm excited. All your other sponsors that go on that racecar with Monster Energy, it's beautiful. Wait till you see this hot rod. I always say with the Monster M, I say the Monster claw. Unbelievable. It's the chance of a lifetime. You got that opportunity, Brittany. They're going to put you to work on the street. You know that. BRITTANY FORCE: I'm excited. This is definitely a huge opportunity. Like my dad said, it all went down a year ago. I met Mitch Covington at a wedding and pushed and pushed for a meeting. It took a long time until we got it all done. But I remember when we came home and told my dad that we got a meeting set up next Monday, Courtney and I are going in and we're going to sell this Top Fuel dragster. My dad said, I've been there, done that. You girls don't know how it's done. There's so much involved. For two days we sat down with my dad in the office at Courtney's house all day long taking notes, figuring out how we're going to sell this. We'd never done it before, tried to bring home a sponsor. My dad is the best at that. I was lucky to have his support. Like I said, we took notes, went in there and actually didn't stick to our notes at all. We sat down with Mitch Covington. The meeting just went as it did. We got a call back for another meeting. It's something very exciting. It's something I'm very proud of to know I've been involved since the very beginning, both Courtney and I and my dad. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. ELON WERNER: We'll go ahead and open it up to questions now. Q. Mitch, just for clarification, I don't think it's been specifically said here yet, will Monster be the primary sponsor on Brittany's car for all the races for the rest of the season? Will this deal continue into next season? MITCH COVINGTON: Yes, it's a long‑term deal. It's a three‑year deal. We'll be the primary sponsor at every event for Brittany. Also we'll have some branding on all of John Force Racing, so we're not just getting Brittany, we're getting the whole team: Robert Hight, Courtney and John. We're joining the family or they're joining ours. We're going racing. Q. Mitch, could you tell us, does Monster's business affiliation with Coca‑Cola and Mello Yello being the series sponsor, did that connection influence this decision at all? Did anyone, for example, at the Mello Yello brand speak to you to help make this deal happen? MITCH COVINGTON: No, not at all. We've got a great relationship with our peers in the beverage industry there and Coke. That really had nothing to do with this. This is about Monster Energy getting back involved with drag racing and the Force family. So really not at all. Q. Brittany, there was a story some weeks ago that you were planning to test a Funny Car later this season. With your Top Fuel program now financially solidified, do you still plan to try the Funny Car at least as a test? BRITTANY FORCE: Yes. I've always said I'll jump in a Funny Car, get a license, just to see how different it is from a Top Fuel dragster. That's something we talked about. We've actually even talked about it over there at Monster. They're even open to the idea. They're excited about it. Maybe later in the season I might jump in the car, make some runs, hopefully get a license. It's really just to give us an opportunity down the road, if things change, if I need to go in that direction, just options. Q. As far as you're concerned, you're still committed to Top Fuel? BRITTANY FORCE: I love my Top Fuel dragster. Q. John, when you had the conference call to announce your Chevrolet affiliation, I asked you this question and you tap danced around it like you were a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. With this deal, how close do you consider yourself, the team overall, to be fully funded? Are you 75% of the way? 80%? How close? JOHN FORCE: We're 85 or 90. You got to look at our operation. It's huge. California TV studio, production company, museums, apparel stores. I've got so much on my plate. You have to have so much sponsorship. I'm not dancing, I'm just laying this out. I was dancing before. I was lucky with the partners that stayed on like Auto Club, and the new ones that came on like PEAK and Chevrolet and the Lucas family. But I didn't have funding for this dragster. I sold a number of the racers on my car. So I'm excited about that. But the girl, Brittany, was the problem. Did not want to fail my kid as an owner and as a father. I said once, I don't know if we'll ever get back to where John Force Racing used to be. Money was falling out of the sky. With the economy in the last three or four years, it changed. I have enough money now to run my Fuel teams, be competitive, run for the championship, and I've got the money to build safety. Those two things are why I came to racing. It wasn't about trying to make a profit. It was about getting to drive these racecars. I saw tears in my baby girls' eyes when I told them, I don't know if we're going to make it. I'm doing my best. You don't know that world out there, it will chew you up and spit you out. She said, I'm going in the boardroom, dad. This guy is a good guy. You don't know his people. I knew of them a little bit through Kenny Bernstein who always spoke highly of them. When I got to go in, saw the energy, it was like Brittany, everybody in the boardroom was best friends. I got thrown out on my head the first time I went there because I pitch different. The girls went in, and like Mitch said, they just talked from the heart, they talked about what they loved. It wasn't their old man just talking about money and how great he was. He saw a whole future with the next generation, and that's where Monster Energy's going. After that, the next generation of fans, NHRA fans, that's really what it's all about. Yes, sorry for the long answer. I'm really excited about this. This is taking a lot of pressure off me. I can finally go to Atlanta and race and know that thanks to Mitch and his team at Monster that I didn't fail my daughter. Q. Mitch, you're switching over to Top Fuel from sponsoring Funny Car in the past. I'm wondering, is that a reflection that you wanted to go with Brittany Force or did you want to get into Top Fuel in particular? You could have been on one of the Funny Cars, bigger signage. Why Top Fuel at this point? MITCH COVINGTON: Sure, a couple reasons. One, when I met Brittany, she really made an impression of her passion for winning. She made no bones about the fact that she was going to win in Top Fuel. If Brittany had of said, I'm driving a Funny Car, we would have went to a Funny Car with her as well. Monster looks for athletes that have a real passion for getting on that top step. Even though they may have had adversity, they're not winning at the time, any of that kind of thing, but you see that passion, that's what we want in our fans, that's what we want on the teams we sponsor, and what we especially want in the drivers and athletes that we sponsor. Monster's brand was built on personalities and athletes, not necessarily teams or sponsoring series or hanging up banners at tracks. We don't buy TV commercials. It's really built on personalities. We saw something in Brittany that we thought fit our brand. We know it's going to be a home run for us. So more than anything, to answer that question, if Brittany says, I'm going to drive a Funny Car, we're all about it. She says, I'm going to drive Top Fuel, we're all about it. I got to say, that Top Fuel dragster that I seen a picture of this morning is pretty damn hot. Kind of be hard to get us off of that. Q. John mentioned part of the thing he really liked was that you guys said you want to promote your drivers, elevate them in pop culture in general. How are you going to do that? What kind of activation are we going to see with Monster and Brittany Force? MITCH COVINGTON: That's a good question. Obviously we'll learn more as we jump in here. Two, we have to be respectful of the series sponsor that is also a beverage in Mello Yello. We have to be very respectful of what they bought with the series. We'll be bringing trade guests, VIP guests that do business with Monster Energy, fans, promotion winners, a lot of things we do with our NASCAR programs and Supercross programs, to give our partners and consumers a real experience at the racetrack of behind the scenes, authentic racing experience, rather than just giving them tickets and going out to dinner with them at night. We've been really successful in NASCAR and our Supercross, Moto GP, all the other sports. We've had some really good employees that led us down the right road as far as getting the most out of those properties and out of the athletes that we introduce them to. We're going to be doing the same thing in NHRA. Q. Obviously, Brittany, you may be on a path to a bigger role model now than you have been. On that note, what would you tell all the other Brittanys out there about racing at this level, this top level, and carrying a top sponsor along with you, as well? BRITTANY FORCE: I've been very lucky, very blessed. I've had so much support all around me just getting my career started in racing. For younger kids out there I'd tell them to get started in a junior dragster. I started in Super Comp, worked my way up, raced Super Comp for three years. Got into a (indiscernible) dragster, competed there three years before getting into the Top Fuel dragster. For me that was the best route to go. I really learned everything in drag racing before going 330 miles per hour. That was the way I did it. Kids always come up to me at the ropes and ask me the same kinds of questions. That's what I always tell them. You got to go after your dreams. We were struggling for a while. I was definitely getting worried about having a sponsor this year. Everything worked out with Monster. We started going down that route. You got to go after it. If you want it bad enough, you'll make it happen. Q. John, obviously you've learned a lot about winning. Nobody could ever go up against you on that. What have you learned from losing those sponsors abruptly, then going out and signing top sponsors, then have Brittany and Courtney bring Monster along? What have you learned from that? JOHN FORCE: Never take them for granted. People invest, you got to work for 'em. I told Brittany, You're locked into a great company. You got a lot of work ahead of you. I know you're new in this Top Fuel business, this whole thing. You look at our drivers, they live on the road. Hell, Ron Capps was at a big NAPA convention in Vegas. We were up there, our drivers, with PEAK Antifreeze. Capps was up there for seven days. You live the life. You got to love it. We're P.T. Barnum, we're the circus. That's the only way to get the message out there to get a sponsor. I said this to my girls, Robert Hight knows this, if you work hard enough for a sponsor, and you deliver, there won't be any negotiation. It will be that they'll need you, they'll want you with them because you get the job done. That's why we live it seven days a week. We've been here for a solid week. Brittany, Courtney, all of us, Robert, making this thing, just to get this Monster car done. Brittany was out the other night hanging decals. I was sleeping on the floor. They videoed this whole thing. Wait till you see this. They videoed it for days. Doors were bolted up, hidden, until the rigs roll today. We were so proud when the trailers rolled out with Monster. I wanted to get the word out before it got on the Internet. Q. Brittany, this is a huge step forward. There have always been questions. John can train a driver to drive, but there are so many other elements of the sport that are necessary: getting sponsorship, pitching, that maybe you can't be trained to do. Clearly you've proven you can be successful at that. Can you tell us about that process, going to make the pitch. Were you nervous as making your first runs in a car? How is it different building that skill set? BRITTANY FORCE: Like I said, I was very lucky to have my dad's support and his guidance through the very beginning. I graduated from Cal State Fullerton with my BA in English. Actually got a credential to be a teacher. Going to school was very important to me. That was something I wanted to accomplish. I think all those classes, even though I was an English major, I took so many public speaking classes, I think a lot of that stuff I see is helpful today in my job. Even though I'm racing, you can't go to school for that, but it's definitely been very helpful. Like I said, my dad at the very beginning, he taught me everything in the world of drag racing, everything about driving the car, going down the racetrack, different tracks, different things you feel in the car. Not just driving the car, but everything that comes with it. Meeting fans, hanging out with fans, media events, doing interviews. I mean, he's taught me everything about it. He's the best one out there, I believe. I've grown up watching him as a kid. So he's always been there to support me. Before we went into that meeting, we sat down and he told us where we needed to start, what points we needed to hit, just gave us all the information. That morning when Courtney and I drove out for that Monster meeting, I was so beyond nervous. I had never been so nervous in my life. Once we got in there and started talking, I kind of relaxed a little bit more. I think they saw both Courtney's and my personalities come out. I think that's what made it all happen. Q. Mr. Covington, I know you're going to have your plan for how to utilize this relationship, but where can we expect to see Brittany's likeness in our daily routines, whether it be stores or stand‑ups? I can't imagine what you have planned. Most people would agree that kind of marketing is sorely missed in the sport of drag racing and will be a great benefit to the team as well as the sport. MITCH COVINGTON: That's a great question. As we get into this, I think you will see her likeness a little bit in all those places. Our teams here have done a good job creating some really unique videos for YouTube that's been followed by millions, with other athletes like Ken Block, B.J. Baldwin, things like that. We'll do a lot of that. Hopefully a lot of people will see her there. Our sales department and marketing department does a great job of point‑of‑sales stuff involving all of our athletes. We also do a lot of cross‑promotion into other sports. You may see Brittany showing up at Supercross, Moto GP, even F1 as it fits her schedule. We do a lot of cross‑promoting in other sports. Maybe you'll see her in some unusual places. Q. I was curious if Brittany or Mr. Covington could you speak to the changing face of sponsorship. This is clearly the sponsorship of an athlete as to the sponsorship of a machine. That's something that gives us goosebumps, we're so excited to see that kind of change of pace. What is it like to see your name associated with the aforementioned names, Kurt Busch, Ken Block? BRITTANY FORCE: With the sponsorship, you get the driver and you get the racecar. Monster Energy is all about living life on the edge, extreme sports. That's exactly where we are in drag racing. It's extreme. If you've ever been out to a drag race, you can't compare it to anything. It all just ties in and it makes sense to be teamed up with Monster. Q. Brittany, it's a relief for you to know you took a lot of anxiety away from your dad. How is that going to play out with maybe the whole team performing better, having their minds more on performance instead of deals off the track? BRITTANY FORCE: Definitely. Making this announcement today, it's taken a lot of anxiety away, not just for my dad, but myself, my team, all of John Force Racing. We were all worried about it with all the changes we made in the last year, starting our season with not having a primary sponsor on my car. It is a relief now to know that we'll be stepping into Atlanta to unleash the beast. We're excited, we're pumped, and we're ready to get there. Q. Brittany, what is it about the product itself that attracted you and made you feel like this is where I want to go to get a sponsorship? BRITTANY FORCE: As Monster says it, it's a lifestyle in a can. Their lifestyle matches right up to the lifestyle of a drag racer. You're out on the road. It's an extreme sport. It just goes hand‑in‑hand. It really seems to work out. More than anything it's funny because, I mean, since I started competing out here in the Top Fuel car in the professional ranks, my guys since day one have stocked their coolers with Monster. We've always had it in our pits. It's something we've loved. It's just what we drink. We got pretty lucky to be teamed up with Monster. Q. For the gentleman from Monster, you join a very elite list of companies who truly recognize the ability of female athletes. How did you get to that point? MITCH COVINGTON: Well, for one thing, we look for winning athletes, an athlete that's committed to competing at the highest level, whether it's a male or female. It doesn't hurt that Brittany is a very pretty girl and she looks great in that Monster fire suit. She looks really good at 300 miles an hour in a dragster with our brand on it. To be honest, it really wasn't about picking a certain gender. It was about finding an athlete in NHRA that fits our brand, that's on a team that's capable of running at the highest level. We got two girls in this deal, too. We got Courtney, who does a great job in the Funny Car division, that we consider one of our athletes as well. Then we got Robert and John. So really I'd have to say, hey, I'm glad she's a girl because she looks so good in the car and fits the whole image. At the same time we're looking for a high‑performing drag racing team. Q. John, you talked about a future for John Force Racing because Ashley, Courtney and Brittany have all graduated from the John Force Racing School of Drag Racing. In saying that, what I'd like to know from you, what have all the girls, if anything, taught you about the sport? JOHN FORCE: I always wanted sons, to be honest. I didn't think women could drive racecars. Just us men, it's our egos maybe. Shirley Muldowney proved different, Erica Enders. My children have shown that. Driving the racecar 300 something miles an hour, being on fire, living on the edge, you know what I mean? Boy, if that isn't enough. Then all day at the ropes signing autographs, doing interviews, doing TV. It's unbelievable. Sometimes I felt, How does a man do this? Then to live on the road week after week, show after show, presentations, media gigs. It never ends because your job is to pitch the sponsor's brand, to help them sell it. That's why we're here. I watched Ashley go through it. For years I've seen them in tears, Ashley, Courtney and Brittany, from the work, but the next day suck it right up and be right back out there. I saw a lot of me, so much of their mother, the smart side, the respect, the personality, how to treat people. I taught them like my dad taught me: You give a man a day's work for what he pays you, but you always give 150%. If you don't love it, get out, get out of the sport. So many times there were days when I said, Enough's enough. Maybe you're not cut out for this. The next day I thought, They won't come back. The next morning they're standing at the track with the helmet in their hand. I couldn't run them off if I wanted to, and I don't want to. I'm loving life, being with my kids. But they showed me through the pain when they're late on a Christmas tree, they lose a round, when they break a motor, come back, they're wanting to apologize. I know we're on a budget, dad. I drove it too far. I worry more about them getting hurt if they drive it too far. But they know budgets. They went to work and found me some money. They got the combination of looks that I never had, and number two, they got the drive, they got an education like Brittany was talking about. Kids need to get an education if you're going to be in this sport. She did and so did her sisters. They proved to me the Force name, boys or not, the name will go on. Ashley has her fire suit, her helmet, ready to go at the racetrack. And Courtney, if she's not at an IndyCar race with Rahal, she's back with the sport she loves, drag racing. And now Brittany. To keep them here, we got to have a company, and we got the right company for her. Monster Energy, we thank you and love you for this opportunity. Q. Mr. Covington, since you have this stable of very capable girls, will there be any targeted marketing of Monster Energy to the female population out there, to women, teenage girls in particular? MITCH COVINGTON: Well, you never know as far as how our marketing team is going to take it and run with it, what resonates with the fans as we go along. I guess I'm probably not the best guy to answer that question in the fact that I'm really looking at a top‑performing athlete. To answer your question, I think you will see us utilizing her to hopefully influence more female consumers of our product. We hope that's a benefit. We hope the guys like watching her, too, and that makes them go buy Monster Energy. Like I said, a key pillar of our brand, like we said, when the whole thing got started, was pretty simple: it was about extreme sports, music and parties, and girls. It was almost somewhat male‑focused. What we found is, hey, our beverage sells extremely well to the female market as well. We include everybody. We like to see we're every man's brand. We're very inclusive instead of exclusive. When we do events at races, almost all of them are open to the public. We spend millions of dollars putting up big displays and activations at NASCAR and Supercross. There's very little VIP only going on. It's always open to the public. We want the guys to bring their girlfriends, the girlfriends to bring their guys, and let's all be part of the brand. Q. Being college educated and having a dream doesn't ensure success. That doesn't guarantee success. It takes a lot of hard work. Having said that, from the drag racing side of the world, you've seen it with your dad, if there's a sponsor lead out there, you hit that up. Every lead you can you hit. Brittany, I want you to take me back to that moment in this process. Tell me how long ago it was and what that moment was like when you really knew there was a great opportunity to get Monster on the side of your car, bring them back to the NHRA. BRITTANY FORCE: It was about a year ago when we first set that meeting. I had a little glimmer of hope that we could move on from there and get another meeting and hopefully build something with the brand Monster. Honestly, we knew it was going to happen. Things were getting finalized and done. But I still had the fear that something could change, they could go a different direction. Now that I've seen it on my car, now that I'm wearing the hat and the team shirt, it's really come together and is real. I'm beyond excited about it. Q. What was the call to your dad like? Dad, there's something real here. BRITTANY FORCE: Actually, he was a little upset about it when we came home and told him we had a meeting. He was a little upset about it. JOHN FORCE: When I met with them, like I said, a year ago, contracts, people were putting stuff together, but we didn't have a timeframe. The good Lord built the world and the universe in seven days. I won't get into the Bible here, I don't know it that well. But I get this phone call last week. It's like Tuesday of last week. It's like, Dad, Mitch called, time to move. All the secrecy, all the stuff buried, we set up everything but yet we kept it a secret in case it didn't happen. Neither side, neither party wanted to be embarrassed. Called my office. We were on airplanes to Indy to orchestrate it. Kelly Antonelli went through this thing like you wouldn't believe to organize awnings, uniforms, fire suits, the stuff that went down to make it happen. I'm telling you, yesterday morning at 5:00 in the morning, I was sleeping on the floor in the shop, I'm going to tip over. Dean Antonelli working with us, working every day with Mitch's team to deliver. When this car rolled out, rolled into that trailer, I almost cried. I stood there and it's like, I'm going to bed, I'm going to sleep, it will all happen now. That's how the call came. These people, when they decide to make a move at Monster, their word is gospel. Their whole team said, Time to go. They didn't call me, they called Brittany, because that's who they made their deal with. She called me, and, boy, it just happened. Don't know how we got her done, but we did. She looks beautiful. Q. John, you've done it all, jumped through every hoop, cleared every hurdle, some of them hitting your back. From a fatherly pride standpoint, John Force the machine, you, My kid did this? When it's all said and done, where does that rank in your hierarchy of life? JOHN FORCE: They asked me what was your proudest moment when you won 10 championships straight or your first. I said, No, my proudest moment was when my daughter won a race. It all started with Ashley. But in all of this process, you can win all the races you want, but if you don't have financial backing, you don't make it. Like I said, I'm no spring chicken. These kids got to take it to the next level. Ashley just become vice president under Robert Hight at John Force Racing. I'm setting up this company to move ahead long range. That's where Monster was such a fit. They're talking long range here. They're not talking a year, two years, three years. We got a contract for three, but they're looking where they're going to take her and build the brand with her. That's what was exciting to me. The fact that the girls put it together, it showed me, working with our marketing team, Kelly Antonelli, our people, that they can survive in this business without their dad. I didn't want to leave them high and dry someday, when I step away, whatever, okay?  I wanted to know they could go on. I love this sport. I'll have the Monster branding, all of our Funny Cars. But like Mitch said, we want to be respectful to Coca‑Cola because of what Mello Yello brand has done. I'm a Mello Yello champion. That's what Mitch and his company said. That's the deal, that's our respect, now let's go to work. You agree with me on that, Mitch? MITCH COVINGTON: Yeah, I do. If I could back up a little bit on that question, kind of how it all got started, how Brittany and Courtney made it happen. Kind of a funny story. John and the rest of the guys came in, made a really good pitch to us a year and a half, two years ago. At that time there really wasn't a lot of real estate to do it the way Monster likes to do it with our logo. It was really hard. We liked the Force program. They're just down the street from us. They understand our brand. But there really was not a lot there for us. I was down in Mexico with Brittany and Courtney at a wedding party. I got to talking to her at dinner. I got to sit by her at dinner. I'm like, Oh, no, she's going to pitch me hard. John is always pitching me hard. John pitches me hard 24 hours a day and I love the guy. It's my entertainment almost. Okay, I'm going to sit by the daughter. She never says anything. After sitting there for five minutes, maybe a few Margaritas in, but I see something here, this girl's committed to winning. We kind of talked about it throughout the weekend. When I came back home, I tell you what, how about you girls coming in pitching the rest of our team here at Monster and leave John at home. She said, Oh, boy, this is going to be fun, but we can do that. They really won us over when they came in without John. That's no disrespect to John, we all love John. But his daughters stepped up to the plate and really won us over. Then from then on we picked it up with John. It's all good. But I do like to give John a hard time about that. She's a lot better looking than he is, and it's better to sit in the meetings with the girls than John and Robert. ELON WERNER: We'll wrap up this call. I want to thank everyone for being on. We'll be unveiling the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster in Atlanta on Friday. Have a good day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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