Story By: JERRY BONKOWSKI / JOHN FORCE RACING – EPPING, NH – Coming off her first DNQ since 2014, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force didn’t have to look far for motivation in preparing herself and her Monster Energy Chevrolet team for this week’s 11th NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.
The 37-year-old national record holder (3.623 seconds, 338.94 miles per hour) was reminded that her dad, John Force, drag racing’s biggest all-time winner, suffered a similar fate 25 times in his Funny Car career, most recently in 2018 when he failed to qualify for the no-longer-contested Spring Nationals at Houston, Texas.
“My dad taught us that when you get knocked down, you learn from the experience and you get right back up,” said the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year. “That’s the mindset of everyone on this team. We know what we’re capable of doing.
“This weekend will be a pivotal time for our Monster Energy Chevrolet team,” predicted the woman who is the current track record holder for time, speed or both at 10 of the 17 tracks in the Mission Foods series.
“We are coming out of one of the toughest, most heartbreaking weekends of my career, the toughest since not qualifying for the Finals in 2014,” she said. “But, moving forward from Chicago has taught everyone on this David Grubnic-run team to dig even deeper and stay positive.
“I know we will get back on top,” said the woman who earned her teaching credentials before opting for a less traditional career outside the classroom. “We won Epping in 2017, so we have some good history, and it’s a market with fans that I love.
I’m really excited about the prospect of getting back on track, literally and figuratively.”
She also gets a big confidence boost knowing that New England Dragway is an all-concrete track, one on which she not only has won before, but one on which she set the speed record (334.90 mph) with Grubnic power just two years ago.
Furthermore, despite the disappointment at Chicago, the 16-time pro tour winner kept her John Force Racing dragster in the Top 10 in series points with the regular season not yet half over.