Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 25, 2025) – Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force recorded the fastest speed in drag racing history Friday, accelerating her HendrickCars.com Top Fuel dragster to 341.59 miles per hour on the second of her two first day qualifying runs for Sunday’s 15th NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway.
In becoming the first Top Fuel driver to break the 340-mph barrier, the 38-year-old eclipsed her own NHRA record of 338.94 mph which she set at the World Finals in Pomona back in 2022.
Nevertheless, despite those fireworks, the second youngest of Force’s drag racing daughters finished the first day in the provisional No. 3 qualifying position at 3.667 seconds, just a tick behind Shawn Langdon (3.665) and Doug Kalitta (3.646). She’ll have two more opportunities to improve her position on Saturday.
“We’re off to a great start,” beamed the 2016 Charlotte 4-Wide winner. “In Q2, this HendrickCars.com dragster went 3.667 and 341.59 mph. I didn’t know until I was mid-interview (with the FOX TV crew) at the top end that we ran that kind of mile per hour and it’s just something really exciting for every single one of these guys on this HendrickCars.com team.
“They work so hard,” she said. “My crew chiefs, David Grubnic and John Collins, and every member of this crew, and for us to be able to accomplish that together and hold on to that, I hope we hold it for a long time. It’s pretty special.”
While Brittany was breaking barriers in Top Fuel, reaching a speed of 301.00 mph at 660 feet on her record run, her JFR teammates were putting themselves in position to challenge for the Funny Car title.
Prock finished Day 1 in the provisional No. 2 position after coaxing his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS through the 1,000-foot course in 3.844 seconds at 336.49 mph and “Fast Jack” Beckman held the No. 5 spot at 3.865 seconds, 328.30 mph in the HendrickCars.com Chevy SS.
The 29-year-old Prock is trying to win his second four-wide race in three weeks an add a Funny Car victory to the Top Fuel title he won at this race in 2023, his last season in a Top Fuel dragster.
“We struggled in Q1,” Prock said after his Chevy lost traction shortly after its initial launch. “It seems to take a little bit different approach here, so we made some big changes going into Q2 and it paid off. We’re currently sitting second right behind Paul Lee, so we’ve got a good run to work with for tomorrow.
“The crew chiefs (his dad Jimmy, brother Thomas and Nate Hildahl) seemed happy with how everything looked and hopefully we can make two nice passes on Saturday, earn some more points and get a little cash from the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge.”
The defending 2Fast/2Tasty Funny Car Champion, Prock will be the only JFR representative in this week’s Challenge, looking for his first win of the new season but the eighth of his career.
Beckman, who got a 2Fast/2Tasty win last month at Pomona, Calif., was pleased with the way his PEAK Squad rebounded after an off week at the west coast four-wide in Las Vegas where he lost in the first round for the first time since taking over the reins of the Chevy tuned by Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi last August.
“We were second low in the first session (3.879 seconds) and fifth low in the second session,” said the two-time former World Champion. “So we got two more qualifying bonus points. This car has just been gobbling them up all year long.
“No Funny Car has even come close to us in consistency and quickness overall in qualifying, and that’s great,” said the U.S. Air Force veteran. “But that doesn’t win you races; that just puts you in a position to win races. So that gives us tomorrow to fine tune our race day tune-up and try to get some more of those qualifying bonus points.
“But that’s not even what I’m most excited about,” beamed the 36-time Funny Car winner. “Rick Hendrick is showing up tomorrow and we’re going to get to hang out with a car guy.”
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 25, 2025) – Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force recorded the fastest speed in drag racing history Friday, accelerating her HendrickCars.com Top Fuel dragster to 341.59 miles per hour on the second of her two first day qualifying runs for Sunday’s 15th NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway.
In becoming the first Top Fuel driver to break the 340-mph barrier, the 38-year-old eclipsed her own NHRA record of 338.94 mph which she set at the World Finals in Pomona back in 2022.
Nevertheless, despite those fireworks, the second youngest of Force’s drag racing daughters finished the first day in the provisional No. 3 qualifying position at 3.667 seconds, just a tick behind Shawn Langdon (3.665) and Doug Kalitta (3.646). She’ll have two more opportunities to improve her position on Saturday.
“We’re off to a great start,” beamed the 2016 Charlotte 4-Wide winner. “In Q2, this HendrickCars.com dragster went 3.667 and 341.59 mph. I didn’t know until I was mid-interview (with the FOX TV crew) at the top end that we ran that kind of mile per hour and it’s just something really exciting for every single one of these guys on this HendrickCars.com team.
“They work so hard,” she said. “My crew chiefs, David Grubnic and John Collins, and every member of this crew, and for us to be able to accomplish that together and hold on to that, I hope we hold it for a long time. It’s pretty special.”
While Brittany was breaking barriers in Top Fuel, reaching a speed of 301.00 mph at 660 feet on her record run, her JFR teammates were putting themselves in position to challenge for the Funny Car title.
Prock finished Day 1 in the provisional No. 2 position after coaxing his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS through the 1,000-foot course in 3.844 seconds at 336.49 mph and “Fast Jack” Beckman held the No. 5 spot at 3.865 seconds, 328.30 mph in the HendrickCars.com Chevy SS.
The 29-year-old Prock is trying to win his second four-wide race in three weeks an add a Funny Car victory to the Top Fuel title he won at this race in 2023, his last season in a Top Fuel dragster.
“We struggled in Q1,” Prock said after his Chevy lost traction shortly after its initial launch. “It seems to take a little bit different approach here, so we made some big changes going into Q2 and it paid off. We’re currently sitting second right behind Paul Lee, so we’ve got a good run to work with for tomorrow.
“The crew chiefs (his dad Jimmy, brother Thomas and Nate Hildahl) seemed happy with how everything looked and hopefully we can make two nice passes on Saturday, earn some more points and get a little cash from the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge.”
The defending 2Fast/2Tasty Funny Car Champion, Prock will be the only JFR representative in this week’s Challenge, looking for his first win of the new season but the eighth of his career.
Beckman, who got a 2Fast/2Tasty win last month at Pomona, Calif., was pleased with the way his PEAK Squad rebounded after an off week at the west coast four-wide in Las Vegas where he lost in the first round for the first time since taking over the reins of the Chevy tuned by Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi last August.
“We were second low in the first session (3.879 seconds) and fifth low in the second session,” said the two-time former World Champion. “So we got two more qualifying bonus points. This car has just been gobbling them up all year long.
“No Funny Car has even come close to us in consistency and quickness overall in qualifying, and that’s great,” said the U.S. Air Force veteran. “But that doesn’t win you races; that just puts you in a position to win races. So that gives us tomorrow to fine tune our race day tune-up and try to get some more of those qualifying bonus points.
“But that’s not even what I’m most excited about,” beamed the 36-time Funny Car winner. “Rick Hendrick is showing up tomorrow and we’re going to get to hang out with a car guy.”
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