When she left last year’s NHRA Virginia Nationals after a second-round loss to Tony Stewart, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force wasn’t sure if or when she would race again in the wake of the 300-mile-per-hour crash that sent her dad to VCU Medical Center with a Traumatic Brain Injury.
Nevertheless, 12 months later, the 38-year-old is back at Virginia Motorsports Park at the wheel of her Chevrolet Accessories dragster and John Force is back, too, as the manager of the team he founded more than half a century ago.
“After a devastating departure from Richmond last season, I’m eager to leave something good behind this time around,” Brittany said of her return to a venue at which three years ago she set track records for both time (3.654 seconds) and speed (335.82 mph) enroute to the winners’ circle.
“Although emotions were running high, our team had a solid outing last year,” she recounted, “winning our first (Mission Foods) 2Fast2Tasty challenge on Saturday and making a second-round appearance on Sunday.”
Despite a forecast of horsepower-sapping heat, the 18-time tour winner expects to contend for the championship Sunday in a 340-mile-an-hour race car prepared by David Grubnic and John Collins.
“We’re still adjusting our hot weather tune-up and the forecast is (for) high 80s to low 90s,” she said, “so that will give us the perfect opportunity to make some good runs in the heat.”
The 2013 Rookie of the Year has gleaned more positivity from the fact that her national record-holding dragster is wearing Chevy Accessories livery for the first time this year.
“The last time Chevy Accessories was our major sponsor was at Las Vegas in the fall (of 2024) – and we won the race,” she said, “so we’re looking to do well for all our sponsors this weekend and get back in the winner’s circle like we did a few weeks back in Epping (N.H.).”
The only woman to have won as many as 300 racing rounds in the sport’s signature category, Brittany is also excited about supporting a new philanthropic initiative launched by brother-in-law Graham Rahal and sister Courtney through the Graham and Courtney Rahal Foundation (GCRF) and Graham Rahal Performance (GRP).
Funds from the campaign, which will span the remainder of the season, will support the expansion of the Optimal BrainHealth for Warfighters program at the University of Texas-Dallas, which, in partnership with Virginia High Performance, addresses specific brain health issues of members of the military.
This story was originally published on June 19, 2025.
The post Brittany Force Looks to Rewrite Narrative One Year Later After Father’s Crash in Richmond first appeared on Drag Illustrated.