BROWNSBURG, Ind. -- Drag-racing legend John Force is going back to where he started, announcing Thursday that John Force Racing will field a trio of Chevrolet Camaro Funny Cars in the 2015 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Force drove Chevrolet products early in his career, and won one of his record 16 Funny Car championships in a Chevrolet Lumina in 1994. But he has been strongly associated with rival manufacturer Ford throughout most of his career, including the last seventeen years.
Ford and Castrol oil, Force's main sponsor for the last 30 years, informed him in August 2013 that they would end their support at the end of the 2014 season. That gave Force 16 months to line up new affiliations for 2015 and beyond.
The new partnership between JFR and Chevrolet was described as "multi-year." Force announced a one-year deal to feature PEAK Antifreeze as his primary sponsor in November 2014.
Auto Club of Southern California and Traxxas will continue as primary sponsors of the JFR Camaros driven by Robert Hight and Courtney Force.
"It is great to be back with Chevrolet," Force said. "I started my career in a Chevy and my plan is to keep racing with them for many years to come. I won my first round of racing, went to my first final and got my first No. 1 in a Chevy. This is a great American company and we are excited about the opportunities in front of us.
"We're in a tough economy and the up and downs I faced on and off the race track in the past year have been tough. I wanted to stay with Detroit and to have the opportunity to go back to my roots is personal to me. It means a lot."
Ford announced nearly 18 months ago that it planned to end support for JFR and two other NHRA Funny Car teams, scaling back to fund teams at the Sportsman level. That opened the door for Chevrolet to renew its association with one of drag racing's most successful drivers and businessmen.
"John is a champion and a legend both on and off the track as a driver and as a team owner," said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. "John's a racer's racer, he's a fierce competitor and we are delighted to welcome John and his team back to Chevrolet.
"We never left the sport, and what we see is a really enthusiastic fan base that loves cars and loves trucks," he added. "We see this as an opportunity to interact with those fans."
Hight, the 2009 Funny Car champion, who also serves as president of John Force Racing, was instrumental in putting the association with Chevrolet together.
"It is impossible to win in the NHRA Mello Drag Racing Series without a manufacturer," Hight said. "Over the past few years, Top Fuel and Funny Car have become so competitive that you need the backing of a major auto manufacturer to give you new technology.
"We're excited to work with Chevrolet and their engineers to make our cars faster," he added. "If you look at their track record, they win in everything they do - IndyCar, NASCAR, and naturally the NHRA Pro Stock Series."
NHRA president Tom Compton also welcomed the news.
"This is a big day for the sport," he said. "It all started with the entitlement of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, and last year we came out with the return of Chevy as the Official Truck. Now comes the announcement with John Force Racing, so welcome back, GM."