Brittany Force drove the Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel dragster to the quickest time of the weekend Saturday, stopping the timers in 3.693 seconds at 333.08 miles per hour to strengthen her hold on the provisional No. 1 qualifying position for Monday\u2019s 70th annual U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.<\/p>\n
Force, the two-time World Champion, picked up five more qualifying bonus points Saturday to add to the four she earned on Friday.\u00a0She can add even more in two final qualifying sessions Sunday that will set the field for the final event in the 14-race regular season.<\/p>\n
After becoming the only driver to break the 3.70 barrier during the first two days, Force \u201cslowed\u201d to 3.790 at 330.39 mph on her second Saturday lap, but that still was fourth quickest of the round.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Runner-up at \u201cThe Big Go\u201d two of the last three years, Brittany shared the Saturday stage with John Force Racing teammates Austin Prock and Jack Beckman who will start Sunday\u2019s final sessions in the No. 1 and No. 3 qualifying positions, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just shows our strength as a whole,\u201d Brittany said of qualifying.\u00a0\u201cAustin\u2019s been performing killer all season long.\u00a0My dad had a great season going and then Jack Beckman stepped in and he\u2019s doing an awesome job in the PEAK Chevy.\u00a0We\u2019re all qualified in the top three, which is great.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always that up-and-down battle, but to see where we are right now, I think it just motivates all of us to see us all do well,\u201d said the former NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year.\u00a0\u201cThe Chevy Accessories team is currently number one.\u00a0We\u2019ve earned qualifying bonus points every time down the track.\u00a0We just need to do it again tomorrow and then go rounds on Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prock sent the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to the top of the Funny Car ladder with a time of 3.855 seconds at 328.38 mph in Saturday\u2019s first session.\u00a0Beckman, filling in for the injured John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro, was third in Saturday\u2019s first session at 3.877, 329.10 mph but quickest in the second, 3.895 seconds to Prock\u2019s 3.899.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an outstanding weekend so far,\u201d Prock said.\u00a0\u201cYou know, everybody\u2019s just been having fun in this Cornwell Tools pit and I feel like we\u2019ve got a good attitude going into (Monday\u2019s race) and going up into the playoffs.\u00a0I\u2019m over getting amped up; getting beat up.\u00a0Just go out there and do the job and that\u2019s my mindset for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Beckman, he continues to become more comfortable with each run.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cQ1, we were third best and I thought we looked good and got bonus points,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cQ2, we went out there, third best, we looked good and got bonus points.\u00a0Q3, we go out there and it was the first time I\u2019ve been in the left lane since 2020 (when he won the race), and we went out there and got all the bonus points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep learning every run because I drive differently and I weigh a different amount than John,\u201d said the 33-time Funny Car winner.\u00a0\u201cThe PEAK team is learning and getting better every time we step on the throttle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prock, who already has clinched the No. 1 starting position for the NHRA\u2019s Countdown to the Championship, added another accomplishment to his resume Saturday when he was presented the overall 2024 championship trophy for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Series after winning seven times.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo lock up that #2Fast2Tasty championship says a lot about this race team and how consistent this race car is with the job that they\u2019re doing,\u201d Prock said.\u00a0\u201cSo, I\u2019m very proud of that.\u00a0Those 23 (bonus) points will be very valuable going into the Countdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday, he\u2019ll try to put the Cornwell Camaro on the drag racing equivalent of the \u201cpole\u201d\u00a0for the 10th time since taking the reins this season from three-time World Champion Robert Hight, who has been sidelined with a medical issue.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on August 31, 2024. <\/p>\n
The post Brittany Force Improves, Remains Provisional No. 1 After Saturday Qualifying at the 70th U.S. Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brittany Force drove the Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel dragster to the quickest time of the weekend Saturday, stopping the timers in 3.693 seconds at 333.08 miles per hour to strengthen her hold on the provisional No. 1 qualifying position for Monday\u2019s 70th annual U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Force, the two-time World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}