Brittany Force powered her Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel dragster to the top of the field Friday night at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park. Her legendary father, John Force is No. 2 with the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil / BlueDEF team, Robert Hight is No. 9 with Automobile Club of Southern California, and rookie Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster team are No. 11.
Coming into the weekend sitting fifth in the NHRA Mello Yello points standings, Brittany Force started Friday’s qualifying with a 5.965-second pass at 111.01 mph after losing traction and shutting off her Advance Auto Parts dragster to sit in the No. 12 spot. Force’s performance improved in the night session when she laid down a stout 3.712-second pass at 328.38 mph to take the No. 1 spot and pick up three bonus points.
“You know, I’m feeling confident going into this weekend. The Advance Auto Parts team stayed after in Bristol and tested all day Monday, and we were hoping to find some things and figure it out before coming to this last race of the four in-a-row, and I think we did that. That first run we didn’t get down there, but that second run was a beautiful run. Putting a .71 on the board, it was awesome and stealing that No. 1 spot,” said Force. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We‘re hoping for two more consistent runs, that’s what we really need going into race day and our plan is to go out and win this thing. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs, so it feels really good to celebrate this small victory and we’re hoping to fight all weekend long.”
John Force and the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil / BlueDEF Chevy Camaro SS team had problems at half-track and shut off early in the first qualifying session to run a 4.230-second pass at 228.15 mph. The 16-time Funny Car world champion came into the second session sitting in tenth before running a stellar 3.884-seconds at 329.02 mph under the lights to end Friday’s qualifying in the No. 2 spot.
“Our car went, it was really hunting down there in that second pass. Tomorrow’s a new day but I’m excited for this PEAK team. Brian Corradi and Danny Hood, they really know this car and I’m just learning,” said Force who picked up two bonus points in the night session. “Brittany is No. 1 right now with the Advance Auto Parts dragster, and Robert and Auto Club, and the Prock kid with Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist are qualified, so I’m hoping tomorrow we can all do better and stay in it. This is a great race track, the Bader family, they really know how to put on a show. The weather created some issues, but I’ll tell you, it was beautiful today and that should tell you how the rest of the weekend is going to go. And did you catch the fireworks? I’m telling you, they do it all for the fans.”
This story was originally published on June 22, 2019. 
