ENNIS, Texas – Brittany Force continues to pave the way for female athletes in motorsports.
In just her 12th season in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, her qualifying time of 3.667 seconds at 338 miles per hour marked her 50th number one seed heading into Sunday’s elimination races at Texas Motorplex.
“Just to hear 50, it was such a big achievement,” said Force after her Top Fuel qualifying run in the 39th Annual Texas NHRA FallNationals. “It’s a big achievement by all of John Force Racing. It’s so many sponsors throughout the year, so many crew chiefs throughout the years, crew guys, so many [people] throughout the years to get us to that 50.”
The milestone brought back a precious family memory when she earned her first career pole in Top Fuel in Kansas back in 2014. Her sister, Courtney Force, marked her fifth career No. 1 qualifying time in Funny Car as the two would lead their respective divisional brackets. John Force, father of Brittany and Courtney, set a track record at Heartland Park for Funny Car the day before.
“When I look at the list, my first number one qualifier was 2014 in Topeka, I believe it was alongside my sister,” reflected Brittany. “We both went No. 1 qualifier. She went on and ended up winning the race, but that was a special one in Kansas for us.”
With three races left in the 2024 season, Force sits eighth in the championship standings, 173 points behind the top spot. While the title is a far reach, she looks at the little things closing out this season to start focusing on a championship run next year.
“Our focus this year is just improving on last season,” shared Force about 2023’s seventh place points finish. “We came out of a tough season. It’s been tough for us this year and just setting goals for ourselves, trying to achieve them and then we get set back and we’re trying to achieve another one. So really our focus is on our lane, in our pits, [and] what we can accomplish.
“That’s not what everyone else is doing around us. That doesn’t seem to help us. We could use it as motivation, but it’s what the guy in the lane next to us is doing. It doesn’t affect how we’re setting up our car or how we’re running. We stay focused in our lane and really move forward with that.”
Force looked back at other female dragsters and their milestones, including fellow Top Fuel competitor and National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee Shirley Muldowney. While Force continues to expand her resume, she humbly remembers that racing is still a team sport.
“The cool thing is it was a collective thing,” she continued. “It wasn’t just done with one team. It was done with so many teams and so many different crew chiefs who I’ll always look up. They all taught me things along the way that I still use to this day. So I’m very thankful to them that they’re part of my whole career in getting that 50.”
Well after the season ends, however, it may still take time to sink in for Force and her family’s legacy.
“50. It seems like an impossible number. Just hearing the number 50, like, ‘Wow, we’ve really done that.’”