John Force stood at the edge of the drag racing track, his eyes fixed on the starting line where engines roared like beasts waiting to be unleashed. The crowd buzzed with anticipation, but his mind was elsewhere, wrestling with thoughts that threatened to overshadow the race ahead.
It had been a year since John and Laurie’s divorce, yet the ache was still fresh. They had been inseparable once, Laurie his rock, his confidante through every victory and defeat. But fame and success in the NHRA circuit had come with a price neither of them anticipated.