Beat by a girl: Brittany Force leads NHRA Top Fuel field into Vegas
Editor’s Note: All of us at FOX Sports wish to pass along our condolences to the friends and family of NHRA Chief Starter Mark Lyle, who passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, March 27.
For the first time in her career, Brittany Force has the NHRA Top Fuel points lead after her first career win just two weeks ago in Florida. With Leah Pritchett defeating Force in the final the race before in Phoenix, female drivers have taken three of the four finals spots in the past two NHRA Top Fuel events.
Additionally, Brittany Force, along with Steve Torrence, are the only Top Fuel drivers who have gone start-to-finish under power on every competitive run so far this season. Notably, they both benefit from the tuning expertise of Alan Johnson and have both pocketed a win this year.
For both Force and Pritchett, the wins marked the first of their careers. While there are several faces who would like to keep the first-time winner streak going, Force hasn’t ruled out the possibility of going back-to-back.
“I am excited to get my first win for John Force Racing, Monster Energy and all our sponsors but I don’t want to win just one race,” said Force. “This is a process and I will keep working on getting better every race. It gives you confidence to go rounds and I have dreamed about winning for so many years. Like Robert (Hight) said in the press conference after the Gatornationals getting the first win was the hardest one and now we just have to try and do it again.”
The NHRA Top Fuel class will be just one of three divisions televised on FOX Sports this weekend, with the Funny Car and Pro Stock stars also in action. All will be competing in the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at The Strip in Las Vegas.
Additionally in Pro Stock, eight drivers will be competing in the K&N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday, with the winner taking home a $50,000 check.
Joining the drivers for that event will be fan vote winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. who, like his Elite Motorsports teammate Erica Enders, has had a rough start to the season. However, Vegas is a track that Enders should have circled on her calendar as an opportunity for a turnaround, as she took both Pro Stock wins here last year.
Jason Line currently has the Pro Stock points lead heading into Vegas, but only by 6 points over Greg Anderson. Greg Anderson has won two out of the three events so far this season, defeating Line in the final both times.
Meanwhile, the Funny Car class has seen a different winner in each event so far this season, with Ron Capps, Tim Wilkerson and Robert Hight all pocketing wins. Hight has just a one-point lead over Capps heading into this weekend’s event.
“Getting the win in Gainesville was huge for us,” said Hight. “We won in Funny Car, and then to see Brittany Force get her first Top Fuel win was special. It was the first John Force Racing double up win and now Brittany and I are each in the points lead and locked into the Traxxas Shootout. The biggest focus for our Auto Club team is to stay focused. We knew we were close to breaking through and now we just have to keep the pressure on and continue to be consistent.”
Behind Hight and Capps, you have to jump back nearly 60 points before you get to third-placed driver John Force, who took the win here last year.
Qualifying for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals will be shown at 11 p.m. ET Friday night on FS1 and 9 p.m. ET Saturday night on FS1. Racing action begins at 5 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1.
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