Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team are having their patience put to the test as they head into this weekend’s Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway looking for their first win of the season. Sitting third in points, the reigning world champions are ready to show they’ve finally turned a corner in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Force and the Monster Energy team are coming into Brainerd International Raceway off a promising runner-up finish at Heartland Motorsports Park. After qualifying eighth, Force and her Monster Energy team put on a show Sunday winning on a holeshot against four-time champion Steve Torrence and recording the second-quickest elapsed time of the weekend, falling just short in the finals. Already with four No. 1 qualifiers this season, Force is looking for her first win to solidify her team in the championship hunt.
“Our Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is ready to head to Brainerd International Raceway after a strong and eventful weekend in Topeka, Kansas. We really stepped it up on race day, ran killer all day long, went to the finals and I was strong on the tree. We didn’t get the win but we had a great weekend,” Force said. “Carrying that over to Brainerd, it just motivates you, it pumps you up. This Monster Energy team wants to win Brainerd. We’re inching closer and closer. We are so close to that first win of the season. It would be coming at the perfect time to get the win this weekend right before we head to the U.S. Nationals and these points reset for the Countdown to the Championship.”
Through two days of qualifying, Force will be trying to extend to four the number of consecutive times she has qualified her Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac dragster No. 1 at Brainerd International Raceway. She’ll also be looking for her second win at the facility, her first came in 2016 after finishing runner-up in 2015. For the last two seasons, Force has made it to the semifinals and in 2021 she set the track speed record at 334.98 mph.
Competition at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway begins with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 and 4:15 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event begins with qualifying shows Friday at 8 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcasting Network.
This story was originally published on August 16, 2023. 
