Brittany Force, Monster Energy team look to claw
their way from the No. 16 spot in Atlanta

Photo Credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – Brittany Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team are more determined than ever to claw their way back to the top, despite a series of misfortune that continued to the NHRA Southern Nationals this weekend at Atlanta Dragway.

After falling in the first round at Charlotte last weekend, Force’s team returned to the John Force Racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., to work on her dragster. A new front half was constructed and built into the car in an effort to help Force find some consistency.

Force was excited to race in Atlanta, but the team lost two rounds of qualifying on Friday because of rain. Saturday, the development of the car continued, though Force smoked the tires twice. She qualified No. 16 for final eliminations with a top pass of 9.391 seconds at 70.68 mph.

“It’s definitely been a tough day, a tough few weekends,” Force said. “But this Monster Energy team has put everything in this car. After Charlotte, these guys have not stopped. They drove the car back to Indy, put a new front-half on it, drove to Atlanta, and we only got two qualifying passes. It’s not a whole new car, but it’s a new front half, and you need some runs on it to work with that.”

Force will face No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher in the first round Sunday, and she and her team are determined to battle as hard as they can.

“To have to go into race day the No. 16 qualifier, it’s tough for us,” Force said. “We were all super excited about this new change, but we didn’t have enough time to make it work yet. The only place we can go is up. We’re No. 16, but we’re going to fight through and push and claw until we get to where we want – and that’s the winner’s circle.”

Elimination rounds for the NHRA Southern Nationals begin at 11 a.m. Eastern. Fox Sports 1 begins its coverage at 6 p.m. Eastern.

4-Second Reads:

Qualifying Run No. 1: 9.391 seconds at 70.88 mph; 16th quickest of session
Qualifying Run No. 2: 10.025 seconds at 62.00 mph; 13th quickest of session; 16th quickest in qualifying
This marks the first time Force has qualified No. 16 in her career.
Force’s most recent victory came Aug. 21, 2016, in the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
Force’s matchup against Tony Schumacher marks the 13th time the two will compete in an elimination round and third this season; they’ve split the previous two meetings. Overall, Schumacher holds a slim 5-7 advantage in 12 matchups.
Brittany Force, Monster Energy team look to claw
their way from the No. 16 spot in Atlanta

Photo Credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6) – Brittany Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team are more determined than ever to claw their way back to the top, despite a series of misfortune that continued to the NHRA Southern Nationals this weekend at Atlanta Dragway.

After falling in the first round at Charlotte last weekend, Force’s team returned to the John Force Racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., to work on her dragster. A new front half was constructed and built into the car in an effort to help Force find some consistency.

Force was excited to race in Atlanta, but the team lost two rounds of qualifying on Friday because of rain. Saturday, the development of the car continued, though Force smoked the tires twice. She qualified No. 16 for final eliminations with a top pass of 9.391 seconds at 70.68 mph.

“It’s definitely been a tough day, a tough few weekends,” Force said. “But this Monster Energy team has put everything in this car. After Charlotte, these guys have not stopped. They drove the car back to Indy, put a new front-half on it, drove to Atlanta, and we only got two qualifying passes. It’s not a whole new car, but it’s a new front half, and you need some runs on it to work with that.”

Force will face No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher in the first round Sunday, and she and her team are determined to battle as hard as they can.

“To have to go into race day the No. 16 qualifier, it’s tough for us,” Force said. “We were all super excited about this new change, but we didn’t have enough time to make it work yet. The only place we can go is up. We’re No. 16, but we’re going to fight through and push and claw until we get to where we want – and that’s the winner’s circle.”

Elimination rounds for the NHRA Southern Nationals begin at 11 a.m. Eastern. Fox Sports 1 begins its coverage at 6 p.m. Eastern.

4-Second Reads:

Qualifying Run No. 1: 9.391 seconds at 70.88 mph; 16th quickest of session
Qualifying Run No. 2: 10.025 seconds at 62.00 mph; 13th quickest of session; 16th quickest in qualifying
This marks the first time Force has qualified No. 16 in her career.
Force’s most recent victory came Aug. 21, 2016, in the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
Force’s matchup against Tony Schumacher marks the 13th time the two will compete in an elimination round and third this season; they’ve split the previous two meetings. Overall, Schumacher holds a slim 5-7 advantage in 12 matchups.