NHRA's Brittany Force stays up top after Saturday qualifying at Kansas
After running the quickest Top Fuel run in drag racing history Friday night, Brittany Force sealed the deal on Saturday with her first No. 1 qualifying effort of the season at the NHRA Kansas Nationals in Topeka, Kan.
The leaderboard remained unchanged after two sessions and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) will head into Sunday's eliminations as the top-seeded entries in their respective divisions.
Force's top qualifying effort was delayed when the timing system malfunctioned after she and Steve Torrence completed their burnouts. Torrence and Force returned to the pits where their crews serviced their cars and returned 45 minutes later to conclude the qualifying session.
“You know, it’s definitely tough when something like that happens," Force said. "You are up there ready to go, ready to step on the gas and get the car down the track. Then they come over, and they tell you to shut the car off. It’s a little bit of a letdown, but we needed that run. So we pulled the car back and let the Funny Cars run for a little bit, and we pulled back up there."
Force lost traction in the delayed run and as a result failed to improve on Friday's record-setting 3.676 second elapsed time.
“We are definitely very anxious for tomorrow," said Force. “This track is always a good one for us and we seem to do pretty decent here. And then to put a number on the board like we did yesterday and come away as the number one qualifier with the National ET record is pretty exciting.”
Points leader Doug Kalitta was second quickest while Steve Torrence qualified third.
Like Force, Funny Car racer Hagan was unable to reproduce Friday's record-setting performance yet earned his first No. 1 qualifying effort of the season.
Hagan topped the timers with a 3.862 second elapsed time at 335.57 miles per hour. He will face No. 16 qualifier Brian Stewart in Sunday's final eliminations.
"We wanted to see what it would take to get down the racetrack to be ready for tomorrow and have our set-up ready for race day," Hagan said. "Dickie started to focus on getting our racecar ready for Sunday, and that's what counts the most. Friday night was more for bragging rights."
Hagan trailed by teammate Jack Beckman, who qualified second while two-time season winner Tim Wilkerson ended the day as third. Courtney Force was fourth.
The incredible domination by KB Racing continued as the three-car Pro Stock team has now led 31 consecutive qualifying sessions.
For the third time this season, Line will head into eliminations as the No. 1 seeded entry after Friday's 6.578 at 210.37 remained the quickest in the 16-car field. Teammates Bo Butner and Greg Anderson rounded out the top three.
“That’s the first good thing I’ve ever done at Topeka so I feel great about that,” Line said. “We have a great car right now and our Chevy Camaro is bad to the bone. The chances of winning tomorrow is pretty good. It would be a big deal. It’s always nice to do well at a place that’s been a problem for you in the past. If I do a good job tomorrow we are going to have a heck of a good shot at winning. I’ve always liked the track, it just doesn’t like me. I just haven’t done well here, and I couldn’t tell you why.”
Line has advanced to the final at every race this season while a member of KB Racing has won every event.
***
Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus
