NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Two weeks after announcing that she would be stepping away from full-time Top Fuel competition to focus on starting a family, the fire to win is still burning strong for Brittany Force. The driver of the HendrickCars.com dragster, out of the historic John Force Racing stable, arrives at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals ready to make a strong push for a third world title.

"We're still in the hunt for this championship," said Force, who is 108 points out of first after moving up to No. 6 in the standings at the Four-Wide Carolina Nationals. "Our team needs to carry over the consistency we found last weekend, and our goal is to qualify in the top three, pick up qualifying points, and go rounds on race day. We need to finish strong at the Midwest Nationals if we want to make that jump up in points."

Force, the World Wide Technology Raceway track record holder for speed with a 338.43 mph pass clocked at the facility in 2022, has not yet won in St. Louis. That being said, she has a car that is completely capable of getting the job done, as shown when she earned a fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 57th of her career just one week ago in Charlotte. Her David Grubnic-led team has shown great power throughout the season, and the quickest and fastest driver in the history of drag racing  enters St. Louis seeking a 19th career win and second of the year. Her most recent win came in Epping at the New England Nationals.

Force has been wildly fast – the fastest of all ever, in fact, on multiple occasions – and at the U.S. Nationals she reset the national record for speed to an astounding 343.51 mph. But to the skilled driver and her team, those records aren't what they've been aiming for.

"We weren't chasing those mile-per-hours; they just happened to come up on the board," Force told the media as zMAX Dragway after locking down the pole. "Grubnic has made a lot of changes the last two seasons on the car, and it's really that 500-600 feet to that 1,000 foot that puts me back in the seat. That's how we're seeing those speeds, but they were just the cherry on top. That wasn't our game-plan.

"We've had team meetings, where [Grubnic] sat down and asked the entire team, myself included, 'Do we want to chase mile per hour? if that's what we all want to do, I'll tune the car up. If we want to chase national e.t. and mile per hour, we can do that.' And everyone was in agreeance: No, we want four win lights on race day."

Consistency has been the challenge for the HendrickCars.com/Monster Energy team, though. Between enormously powerful speed runs and starting in the top three in 10 of the first 16 races, they've found themselves oft-stunted on Sunday. The New England Nationals win was a high point, and a runner-up in Seattle gave them another boost, but the frustration has abounded.

When asked if there was an extra push to win the championship this season after announcing a soon-to-be shift in focus, Force seemed, rightfully, taken aback.

"There is always that push to be the champion," she said emphatically. "That would be like saying a few years ago we were just halfway pushing. No, we're always pushing. Why else would we be out here if we weren't pushing for that? If you come out here with a team that's, 'Oh, if we win, okay awesome – if we don't, oh well, we'll pack up and go home,' then you're with the wrong group of people.

"We come out here every single weekend with the goal in mind to turn on four win lights and, ultimately, chase down that No. 1 spot. We never doubt this team. We never doubt ourselves. We're always pushing to go to the top."

With six rounds between her and the top spot and a gang of tough competitors between, Force is aware that she has a tall hill to climb if she is going to bring home another series trophy to add to the ones she collected in 2017 and 2022. Bonus points are increasingly valuable, and on the heels of six strong runs in Charlotte, the team knows they need to go after them. Warm weather has been particularly challenging for the team, but in Charlotte, they were able to overcome the obstacle. That could bode well for them in St. Louis.

"Qualifying [in Charlotte] was outstanding for us," she said. "We had four solid and consistent runs down the dragstrip, and we were in the heat both daysWe were all very happy. Pomona is too far down the road, so I have to focus on qualifying top three to top five, really picking up bonus points, and going rounds on race day. That's where we keep struggling, but we have a great car, and I'm feeling confident."