Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
SEATTLE, Wash. (July 18, 2025) – On a track that yielded nothing but frustration to all but a handful of Top Fuel and Funny Car teams during Friday’s highly-anticipated late night qualifying session at Pacific Raceways, Brittany Force and her HendrickCars.com dragster provided fans at the 36th NHRA Northwest Nationals with a moment to remember.
On a concrete-and-asphalt surface on which few before her had reached the finish line under power, the two-time Top Fuel World Champion stopped the timers in 3.703 seconds at a barrier-busting and track record-setting 340.47 miles per hour that briefly placed her in the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.
The fact that she eventually wound up third in the provisional order behind Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon, who ran behind her and to whom she and her team demonstrated what was possible, did little to dampen the 18-time winner’s enthusiasm after the first day of qualifying.
“Running so late at night, it was dark inside that car,” said the former NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year, “but when that amber came on, I stepped on it and it was going. I saw some cars get in trouble ahead of us, so I just wanted a clean solid run to the finish line.
“For whatever reason, I actually could hear my guys on the radio,” she recalled. “They said ‘340 miles per hour,’ so that’s pretty outstanding. Awesome for the fans here in Seattle and I’m just so just excited to be able to do that in HendrickCars.com colors on a track where my dad (16-time Funny Car Champion John Force) and our entire team has had so much success.”
The only to have won as many as 300 competitive rounds in drag racing’s signature category, Force will try to improve on her performance and position in three final qualifying sessions Saturday.
Brittany’s JFR teammates, reigning World Champion Austin Prock and former World Champion Jack Beckman, were among those who ended Friday in frustration on a track that was particularly hard on the Funny Car contingent that ran ahead of the dragsters.
An indication of how difficult conditions were for the shorter wheelbase nitro-burners is Prock’s No. 3 position in the provisional qualifying order with a time of 5.580 seconds at 160.46 mph in a Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS that previously has covered the 1,000-foot distance in 3.793 seconds at a national record 341.68 mph.
“Tough track conditions,” acknowledged the defending champion in the Northwest Nationals. “Just having one run at 9:15 at night and not having a stab at it (before that) really put everybody on a bad foot to get started.
“However, we’re still sitting third,” he said. “I gave it a little pedal job and earned a qualifying bonus point, which is kind of embarrassing that 5.58 will get you a point – but I’ll take it.
“Looking forward to tomorrow,” said the point-leader. “I like these three-run days. It kind of gets you in the groove and gets you in several different conditions that you’re going to race in on Sunday. I think we can still get ‘the pole’ if conditions are good tomorrow.”
If Prock was unhappy with his 5.58, Beckman was even more so after crossing the finish line at just 84 mph after an 8.402 second effort in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy SS in which he has won twice already this year.
“It’s frustrating,” said the 37-time Funny Car winner. “It’s the first time I’ve been here for one scheduled Friday session and three Saturday sessions. Nobody did anything wrong. You can’t fault the crew chiefs, the track, the facility or the prep crew out there.
“It’s just (that) the temperature and dew point got close together when the sun went down and it made our margin of error extremely small out there,” explained the cancer survivor and U.S. Air Force veteran. “You could still run quick, but it seemed to be even tougher for the Funny Cars to fire a dart anywhere near the bullseye and the crew chiefs are still looking (to see) where we missed it.
“The car was really quick early and in trouble early,” said the 2003 NHRA Super Comp World Champion who took over the reins of the PEAK Chevy last August. “That’s a tough one, but I know we will regroup. We have three shots at it tomorrow and I think there’s still enough room for us to get the top spot. I think it’s just going to be data collecting on Saturday and trophy hunting on Sunday.”
