Richard Petty has been an inspiration to the world of motorsports since the early days of NASCAR. ‘The King’ was the first-ever driver to win seven Cup Series championships. Since then, he has always been considered as one of the greatest of all time. But it’s not just the younger generations that have learned from him. Recently, a 74-year-old NHRA racer revealed that he too has taken on-track and off-track lessons from the Hall of Famer.

In today’s day and age, not many motorsport athletes keep racing at the highest level after a certain age. Recently, that age has been going down. However, for NHRA racer John Force, age is just a number. At 74 years old, he still has not hung up his boots. However, last year, for the first time, he might have given fans a glimpse into when that might be.

NHRA legend invokes Richard Petty and reveals things he is too old for

Speaking on an episode of Kenny Conversation with Kenny Wallace, the 16-time NHRA champion expressed a personal side. John Force said that he had no interest in starting a fight with anyone at his age, regardless of the factors that may be involved, be it politics or anything else. At his age, Force said that there were only a few people he could call his friends and fighting was not what he wanted to do with them.

Among these people was Richard Petty himself. The King was someone John Force learned a lot from. Given their age, the two drivers raced at the same time. But in different competitions. Petty and Force may not be very close but there certainly is a lot of respect for Petty in the heart of the NHRA legend.

“I don’t want to get into politics. I’m watching all FOX and CNN and all this stuff. I don’t want to fight with the world. Me and Cruz, he called me the other day over some issue and I said yeah, and he gave me a solution and I took it. Certain people I just ain’t gonna fight with. I’m too old and I love them too much and they’re the only friends I got.

“I’ve learned from Richard Petty, I learned from your brother. I loved him, I worked with him… All those years and the stuff that we did…life’s been good to me and it’s too short,” the 74-year-old said. More like 74 years young rather!

One question that the 16-time NHRA champion has faced for a long time in his career is what his plan for retirement was. The veteran has never given a clear-cut answer but late last year, he might have revealed what would happen to his seat should that time come to pass.

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Will the 16-time NHRA champion ever retire?

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John Force is a legend in the NHRA world. Not only has he won 16 championships, but he has also made motorsports history. In 1996, the 74-year-old became the first-ever NHRA racer to be named Driver of the Year in all of American motor racing. When he does decide to retire, he will surely receive a hero’s farewell. The veteran already has an exit strategy planned when that day comes.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, because I’m not getting any younger. But what’s cool is we’ve built a situation,” Force said as per Autoweek. “If any reason I went down—and I could, any day—(JFR Top Fuel driver Austin) Prock would step right into my seat. Wouldn’t be a problem. He’s driven Funny Cars. He’s driven dragsters.”

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The fact that he is willing to put his body on the line at the highest level at 74 makes him a legend. Take into account his 16 NHRA championships and John Force will come across as one of the greatest American racer of all time, regardless of the series. He has survived several fiery wrecks over the years but the fire in his belly has never been put out. How would you rate him as a motorsports athlete?