Story By: JERRY BONKOWSKI / JOHN FORCE RACING – CHARLOTTE, NC – Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force put a disappointing performance in last week’s Countdown opener far behind her Friday at zMax Dragway where she powered her HendrickCars.com dragster to the provisional No. 1 starting position for Sunday’s 16th NHRA Carolina Nationals with a time of 3.690 seconds at a finish line speed of 334.24 miles per hour.
After qualifying 11th in last week’s Pep Boys Nationals at Reading, Pa., and then exiting in the first round, the second youngest of drag racing icon John Force’s four daughters not only was quickest overall Friday but also quickest AND fastest in both sessions at the wheel of her David Grubnic-and-John Collins-prepared Chevrolet dragster. Her time in session one was 3.721 at a best of the event speed of 335.63 mph.
Nevertheless, she did experience a few anxious moments when she briefly lost to top spot to reigning series champion Doug Kalitta, who stopped the timers in 3.710 seconds early in the second session.
“I saw it on the board,” Force said of Kalitta’s number. “I was just sitting there (waiting for her time to run) and it was, like, ‘ah, crap, we lost (No. 1).’ But I knew we still had a shot to chase it down, so I felt confident again. When I talked to Grubnic, I knew what he was aiming for and he’s pretty good. He usually can pull that off.”
Meanwhile, Austin Prock’s bid to qualify the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car No. 1 for the 12th time this season was at least temporarily put on hold when reigning series champion Matt Hagan snatched away the provisional No. 1 position by a scant .001 of a second.
After Prock rocketed through the 1,000-foot course in 3.833 seconds at 332.84 miles per hour Friday night to move to No. 1, Hagan followed with a run of 3.832 at 333.25 mph. Although everyone will have two opportunities to improve on Saturday, the No. 1 qualifier typically has been determined in the Friday night session in which air and track temperatures generally are cooler than at any other time during the weekend.
“I think we can maintain (the pace),” Prock said. “I think we can keep it up. It’s unbelievable that (the car) hasn’t slowed down, you know. It’s just, honestly, gotten quicker and more consistent the longer the season’s gone on. So, we’ve got to try to keep it up for five more (races) and I’m really hoping that we can.”
Prock’s pit mate, “Fast Jack” Beckman, continued to impress at the controls of the second JFR Funny Car, the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro in which Force won twice this year before his crash at Richmond, Va.
Runner-up to his teammate at last week’s Countdown opener, Beckman extended to six the number of consecutive qualifying sessions in which he has earned at least one bonus point by posting the third quick time in both Friday sessions on the all-concrete surface at zMax. After warming up with a 3.896 at 325.85 mph, the 33-time Funny Car winner improved to 3.850 at 327.27 mph in Friday evening’s more favorable conditions.
“I don’t think tomorrow is going to give us the conditions to step up any higher than third in qualifying,” said the 2012 World Champion who is making his fourth Mission Foods start on Force’s behalf, “but it will yield qualifying bonus points (and) that’s our objective, to go after those 3-2-1 points (awarded to the three quickest qualifiers in each session).
“(Those bonus points) will help tremendously in changing positions in the Countdown,” Beckman said, “but if we’re going to catch Austin, it’s going to take round wins, and lots of them.”