NHRA: Brittany Force re-sets national Top Fuel speed record (see video); is 2nd championship next?
Brittnay Force made history again on Friday.
Last month, the daughter of drag racing legend John Force set the national record for the fastest Top Fuel run in NHRA history by running a whopping 338.43 mph in the opening round of the Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Friday, during the first of two days of qualifying for the season-ending Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, Brittany once again re-set the national speed record, bumping up her previous-best speed to 338.94 mph, at an elapsed time of 3.641 seconds.
“Setting another new speed record is pretty incredible,” Force said. “I’m just very proud of this Monster Energy team and what we’ve accomplished. We’re chasing a championship that’s going to lock up on Sunday and I’m excited about it.
"My mindset is where it’s been all season long: the confidence that I have with this team. We know how to get this car down (the track). We know how to turn win lights on. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m confident with these guys that we can get the job done. It’s going to be fun.”
CHECK OUT FORCE'S RECORD-SETTING RUN IN THIS VIDEO:
Force earned the provisional No. 1 qualifier as a result of Friday's achievements -- and potentially could out-do herself during Saturday's two final rounds of qualifying before Sunday's eliminations.
Force came into the weekend with a seven-point lead over Justin Ashley in the standings. She slightly increased that lead to nine points after Friday's fireworks.
The third of four daughters for John and Laurie Force, Brittany is not only chasing her second Top Fuel championship, but if brother-in-law Robert Hight can also clinch the Funny Car title for the fourth time in his own career, John Force Racing can win the two most important championships in the NHRA.
The feat would be a repeat of the 2017 season when both members of the “First Family of Drag Racing” accomplished the feat for the first time.
“I feel good,” Force said of her title hopes in an interview with Auto Racing Digest on Thursday. “Overall, our Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team has had a good season.
“We struggled a little bit in the beginning of the Countdown (the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs). We were strong all season long and we lost our footing for a little while, but we kind of gained it back in Las Vegas (two weeks ago). That is what pushed us to the top, barely, only by seven points. But we’re out in the lead and we’re feeling good coming off a win into Pomona.”
The 2022 season marks a return to dominance in a way for JFR. After the entire organization opted out of the majority of the 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the team returned in 2021 where Force finished second overall in the final point standings but only picked up one victory.
But the JFR has made a lot of changes after returning to competition, particularly to Brittnay’s team. Those changes appear to be paying off.
“I have a whole new team from top to bottom,” Force said. “(Co-crew chiefs) David Grubnic and Mac Savage came on board and an entirely new group of guys. We had a lot of big changes that we had to adjust to and I think we found our footing pretty quickly.
"We had a pretty strong season overall and this team that we’ve had so far this year is the strongest that we’ve had together. I’m very proud of these guys. We’ve had a number of wins, and a number of track records and we’re currently the points leader. This is our best season yet together.”
While Force enters her home track with the points lead, several other Top Fuel contenders still have a chance to win it all as well. It’s quite possible that she’ll need to win the race to win the title, as Justin Ashley, Mike Salinas, Antron Brown, and four-time defending Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence are all still in contention as well.
But Force still has the slight edge in the standings, and come Sunday afternoon, she may very well earn the title of “champion” once again.
“You can’t predict how this thing is going to end up,” Force said. “It’s going to go one way or the other. I have all the confidence in my guys - every single one of us - that we’re going to push through to the end.”