Monster Energy driver Brittany Force earns No. 2
qualifying spot for Sunday’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals
SONOMA, Calif. (July 29) – Brittany Force earned the No. 2 qualifying position in the Top Fuel category for Sunday’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway, the second race of the Western Swing and 15th race on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Force’s best pass came in the second round Friday, when she ran 3.689 seconds at 330.63 mph midway through the session in the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster. While she celebrated the strong run Friday, the car struggled Saturday.
The team failed to make a full pass, with mechanical issues in the third round resulting in a slow pass. An oil leak ahead of the fourth round kept her from making a pass at all, as the team pulled the car off the starting line moments before the Christmas Tree turned green.
“Today was really frustrating,” said Force, who is looking for her first career victory at Sonoma. “That first run we didn’t even get past the Christmas Tree. We blew the tires off the thing trying to push it too hard. We were trying to make a run in the heat, which is where we have really been struggling. That is the most important thing going into Sunday, so it was frustrating to lose that run.
“Then on the last run we had an oil leak on the starting line. They had to shut the car off and you don’t want to end qualifying on that. It’s tough, especially losing that Q4 run because it’s not night out, it’s still warm and it will be comparable to tomorrow. We really needed that.”
But the overall qualifying result is reason enough for optimism. It marks the third time this season Force has qualified No. 2, and the eighth consecutive race she has qualified in the top half of the bracket. The No. 2 effort pits Force against Steve Chrisman, whom she has faced only once – in the NHRA New England Nationals early last month. In that event, Force defeated Chrisman in the opening round, en route to winning the race. Ironically, she also qualified No. 2 for that race as well.
“The way I look at it is that you just have to throw (Saturday’s) runs away, throw them behind you, you can’t do anything about it and you have to keep moving forward,” Force said. “We have an awesome Monster Energy team and we are just going to throw down tomorrow. We will figure it out because I have (tuning consultant) Alan Johnson and (crew chief) Brian Husen and we will come together as a team.”
Elimination rounds begin at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, with live television coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
4-Second Reads:
Qualifying Round 1 (Left Lane): 4.222 seconds/198.58 mph; strong launch but car went into smoke about half-track (No. 10 of session and No. 10 overall; no bonus points in session)
Qualifying Round 2 (Right Lane): 3.689 seconds/330.63 mph; straight down the track for the quickest pass of the session at that point (No. 2 of session and No. 2 overall; two bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
Qualifying Round 3 (Left Lane): 10.528 seconds/67.12 mph; car into smoke almost immediately after the light went green (No. 14 of session and No. 2 overall; no bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
Qualifying Round 4 (Right Lane): No attempt; car was pulled from starting line with an oil leak (no bonus points in session and two bonus points overall)
This marks the third time this season and fifth time in her career Force has qualified No. 2. The last time Force qualified No. 2 was in June at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. She is looking for her second career victory and third career final round from the No. 2 position.
This marks the first time Force has qualified No. 2 at Sonoma Raceway. Her career-best remains No. 1, which came in 2014.
Force’s matchup against Steve Chrisman marks only the second time the two will compete against each other, with the last meeting coming in June at New England Raceway in Epping, N.H. Force won that other matchup, giving her a 1-0 advantage all-time.