In the world of NHRA Top Fuel, David Grubnic has carved out a reputation as one of the sharpest minds in the business – and for good reason. The crew chief for Brittany Force has been responsible for eight of the nine fastest runs of the 2025 season, including multiple jaw-dropping blasts north of 340 mph.
Fans love the big numbers. They light up social media, make headlines, and cement reputations. But for Grubnic, those staggering speeds aren’t the end goal – they’re the byproduct of a much more delicate and calculated process.
“Well, we have to get the engine so close to the edge,” Grubnic explained. “NHRA has a mandated rev limiter in our MSD ignition controller, and it retards the engine at, I believe, 20 degrees per second. Once it reaches a certain RPM, it’ll start pulling timing out of it. That’s obviously taking power away. So what we have to try and do is get the engine to the point where it’s on the brink of hurting itself or destroying itself, but the retarder saves it.”
That balancing act – living on the razor’s edge without falling off – is what makes Top Fuel tuning as much an art as a science.
“It’s very, very touchy to do that,” he continued. “Like I always keep saying, we don’t have a lot of control over it. When it runs those speeds, we’re at the mercy of what the engine wants to do with the nitromethane. So, you know, we take them when we can get them. But again, it’s all about round wins and winning races.”
In other words, while the record books might remember the 343-mph blasts, Grubnic’s eyes are firmly locked on the win light at the other end of the track. The performance ceiling might be tantalizing, but the real measure of success is holding the Wally on Sunday.
The 2025 season has been a showcase of both extremes – headline-worthy speeds and hard-fought eliminations – proving once again that in Top Fuel, the fastest car doesn’t always win. But with Grubnic calling the shots, Force’s Monster Energy team remains one of the few capable of chasing both speed records and championships at the same time.
This story was originally published on August 5, 2025. 
