Lincoln Electric is a proud partner of
John Force Racing.
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Brittany Force raced to her second victory of the season Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods, and became the first female driver to win the unique event.
Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the distinctive NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event where teams compete in a four-lane format. Force held off the two-time defending winner of the race, Antron Brown, along with class veterans Doug Kalitta and Clay Millican to take the historic win at zMAX Dragway. Force powered her Monster Energy dragster to a final round performance of 3.764 seconds at 319.98 mph, while defending world champ Brown finished second with a 3.779 at 316.75 in his Matco Tools dragster. “People say winning the first one is the toughest and it came in my fourth season,” Force said. “The second one came easier, but I wouldn’t say easy. Every single guy on this team is the hardest worker I know and I was so happy that we were able to pull it off. It’s insane. I am proud to be teamed up with (tuning consultant Alan Johnson and crew chief Brian Husen) and having a car that’s so consistent builds my confidence going into the season. The season is still getting started, but we are definitely off to a great start.” Force was also quickest in her first two quads. She beat Brown, Pat Dakin and Leah Pritchett in the opening round and then raced past Brown, Richie Crampton and J.R. Todd in round two. She produced three straight 3.7-second runs to take the victory and extend her series points lead. In addition to being the first woman to win a Four-Wide race, she’s also the first female to win in a nitro class at zMAX Dragway. She says all of the accolades coming her way are just surreal. |
“I keep hearing these things,” Force said. “It’s big enough that we won, but to do it at the Four-Wide where it wasn’t easy for me. It was a struggle. I didn’t sleep last night. I had nightmares coming off (the final qualifying round) and you know you have to clear your mind and come into it. So to be able to overcome that and have a decent light in the final round when we really needed it, it feels good.”
Force, who advanced to seven finals before she finally won her first race last month in Gainesville, Florida, says she’s now ready to go for a third win next weekend in Houston. However, she admits that winning two of three finals in five races this season and leading the points for more consecutive weeks than any other female in a nitro class is beyond her wildest dreams.
“It didn’t seem real until they handed me the Wally,” Force recalled about her breakthrough victory at Gainesville last month. “It’s an incredible feeling and a proud feeling. All those years and all that hard work, it really made it worth it. For the second one to come this quickly, it’s just amazing. Standing behind my team -- they are bad-ass and are capable of doing anything. They put a car together that ran consistently every single run. I am so proud of all of them.”
Wilkerson powered to his second Funny Car victory of the season and 20th of his career with a final-round performance of 3.967 at 315.56 in his Levi Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang. He was followed across the finish line by Cruz Pedregon with a 3.995 at 313.37 in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry, and the trailing Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Chargers of NAPA Auto’s Ron Capps and Mopar’s Matt Hagan.
In Pro Stock, Line won his third race of the season in his fifth consecutive final round, posting a winning time of 6.565 at 211.33 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro and finishing in front of teammate Bo Butner, who trailed with a 6.591 at 210.77 in his Jim Butner Auto Camaro. Drew Skillman and Chris McGaha, also driving Camaros, were third and fourth in the quad final.
It was Line’s first Four-Wide Nationals win and the 40th victory of his career.
Lincoln Electric is a proud partner of John Force Racing.
