A track record, the top qualifying position, and a semi-final appearance are among the highlights for NHRA Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel Dragster driver Brittany Force at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals in Dallas, Texas.
No 1 qualifying Double-up with Dad
For the second time in NHRA history, a parent/child duo scored a double-up in qualifying poles. Brittany Force secured the No. 1 qualifier spot in Top Fuel, while dad John Force also earned the Funny Car pole Saturday at the Texas Motorplex. This marks the second occasion that the pair was able to accomplish this feat, the first time coming from this year’s SpringNationals in Houston, Texas.
“It’s always really special to hold onto any No. 1 qualifier with a teammate but to hold it with my dad, that’s the best. He’s the one who taught me how to drive this car and everything about this sport, and the reason I’m out here is because of him so to be able to share the No. 1 qualifier with him is awesome,” Force said. “We did it earlier this season and now we’re doing it again. It’s just very special to me. I’ve doubled up with Robert a handful of times but to be able to double-up with my dad would be awesome. It’s on my bucket list.”
Brittany Force, driver of Advance Auto Parts Top Fuel Dragster
Brittany Force’s qualifying efforts of an exhilarating 3.651-second pass at 331.28 mph Friday night was enough to set the track elapsed time record and marked her first No. 1 qualifier at the Texas Motorplex. She scored an additional 6 qualifying bonus points for the quickest elapsed times of session Q2 & Q4.
Semi-Final eliminations finish for Force
In the opening round of eliminations, the Advance Auto Parts machine blasted past No. 16 qualified Cameron Ferre with a stellar 3.694-second pass at 330.31 mph defeating Ferre’s 3.984 at 269.19 mph pass.
Round two, Force competed against longtime rival and three-time world champion Antron Brown. In prior meetings, Brown has the edge with a 17-9 record. Brown would leave the starting line first, and Force would encounter trouble when her dragster had cylinders out early, but hung on to run a 3.815-second pass at 319.60 mph upsetting Brown’s 4.113 at 230.72 after he smoked the tires.
The semi-final matchup placed Force against Torrence whom she has a 3-1 record against prior to this meeting. Torrence would take the starting line advantage and never look back for the win. Force dropped a cylinder to run 3.793-seconds at 318.32 mph giving Torrence and his 3.747 at 328.38 mph performance a trip to the finals – and the eventual event win. The margin of victory at the finish line was 0.0606 seconds (approximately 28 feet).
“Going into first round, this Advance Auto Parts team made some big moves especially when points leader Steve Torrence got taken out and No. 2, Doug Kalitta, got beat by my teammate Austin Prock. That opened the doors for this Advance team to pick up some points and catch up and that’s exactly what we did. We made it to the semis and would have obviously liked to have gone all the way but I’m not looking down on it. I’m staying positive and we’re still in the hunt for this championship.”
Brittany Force
Brittany and her Advance Auto Parts team leave the event in the No. 3 points standings for the Countdown to the Championship. They trail current leader Steve Torrence by 46 points with two events remaining.
Leah Pritchett 2019 Dallas results