Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel team have history on their side as they head to the NHRA Camping World Series season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway March 12-14. Force has left her stamp on the Gatornationals making the event a special stop for the 2017 Top Fuel world champion.
In 2016, Force raced to her first NHRA Top Fuel win and celebrated alongside teammate Robert Hight in the winner’s circle for John Force Racing’s first double up victory. At the 2019 Gatornationals, her last appearance at the event, Force set the track elapsed time record of 3.680-seconds on her way to becoming the first woman in 40 years to qualify in the top spot at the event.
“This Monster Energy team is ready to get to Gainesville. It’s a special place for me but it’s special this year because we’ve been gone so long,” said Force. “I’m excited to see what we can do this weekend. We’ll be coming out swinging right out of the gate looking for our first win at the first race of the season.”
A successful test session at Palm Beach International Raceway has Force and her David Grubnic and Mac Savage led Monster Energy team confident heading into the season opener. Force ran low of the test session with an impressive 3.679-second pass at 331.04 mph, landing her at the top of both the speed and low elapsed time list.
“It’s been a year since we’ve been out here and it feels awesome to be back in the car, back with my team, back with the fans and all of John Force Racing as a whole. Our team rolled right back into things in our first pass,” said Force. “I feel like we’re pretty close to where we left off over a year ago. Grubnic is happy, Savage is happy, I feel good in the car and the whole team is pumped to go to Gainesville.”
Before John Force Racing made the tough decision to sit out the 2020 season, Force had landed in the No. 1 qualifying position at both the Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. and the NHRA Arizona Nationals is Phoenix.
Nitro qualifying at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals takes place Friday with a session at 5 p.m. and will continue Saturday at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Eliminations begin Sunday at 10 a.m. Fans can watch the qualifying action on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Final Eliminations will be live on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at noon ET.
This story was originally published on March 10, 2021. 
