By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel Dragster driver Brittany Force picked her first win in two years. She defeated reigning Top Fuel Dragster champion Doug Kalitta on Monday in the final round of the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at the dragstrip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She was emotional after the win. Her last win before Monday came during the fall race during the 2022 season at this venue.
Force went 3.703 at 332.59 mph. Kalitta; on the other hand, went 6.147 at 25.29 mph.
“This is definitely a special one, and it’ll always be a special one in our book.” the 2x NHRA Top Fuel Champion said, “Not just for me, but all of John Force Racing. It’s been a difficult season for us all. And I’ve been out of the winner’s circle for two years since this event here in Vegas. I felt good coming into this race. You know, our team’s really been pushing hard, and we’ve been seeing the progress on the track. It’s just incredible for our entire Chevrolet team, and all our sponsors. Monster Energy, Cornwell Tools, HendrickCars.com, all of them.
“To get them back in that winner’s circle is incredible, and a really special one because it was my dad’s first race back since his wreck. To be able to celebrate with him in the winner’s circle and a double up, I mean, this is one of the biggest wins in our camp, for sure.”
It was also the first race that her father, John Force, was in attendance since his devastating crash in June at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Force is now seventh in the Top Fuel championship points with 2,357 points. Kalitta is fourth with 2,390 points.
Before this final round, Kalitta held a 17-16 advantage over Force in previous meetings. Yet, this was the first time that they faced each other in the final round.
Force was previously 5-8 in final rounds as the No. 1 qualifier. In 2022, she was also the No. 1 qualifier when she won.
Dragracecentral.com says that the No. 1 qualifier was 6-4 in the previous final round at this event before the Force-Kalitta matchup.
Kalitta, the Michigan native, had a small starting line advantage. However, shortly thereafter, he had problems and hazed his tired.
The California native went straight down the track. She had a clean pass for her 17th Top Fuel Dragster win.
“We’ve been piecing this together since the Countdown began and we were seeing this progress with No. 1 qualifiers and going rounds on race day. We knew it was coming,” Force said. “We knew we were closing in on it and we were getting close, and I had a good feeling about Vegas. We’ve been successful here in the past, and it’s one of my favorite tracks on the circuit and my whole family was here. My dad was here. I just had a good feeling about it, and to come here and win, our team needed that. We’ve always stayed positive, always stayed confident, but it does hurt when you go two seasons without winning.
“Having my dad here for the first time since his crash, it wasn’t pressure, it was more heart behind every single person on the team. We always want to come out here and win, but with him being here this weekend, after everything he’s been through, there was definitely more heart behind it. We wanted to get him in that winner’s circle.”
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