Brittany Force was no slouch in Saturday's final Nitro Spring Training testing at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park testing.. After registering consistent low-3.7-second elapsed times Friday and capping her day with a 3.704, she roared back Saturday morning in the Monster Energy Dragster with a 3.695-second E.T., 319.22 mph. She ran a 3.708, 324.90 later in the afternoon.

“I know as a driver there are certain areas that I want to work on, focus on more. Same as last year, same as the year before,” she said.

“The nice thing going into this next year is, you know usually with each new season, we throw a whole lot of change into the mix, whether it’s a completely new car, new team, or a new crew chief, and that gets a little chaotic in itself. And finding a new routine and adjusting to it, figuring it out, it takes a few races to get in that groove. So it’s nice that our team’ has pretty much stayed the same since last year,” Force said. “We’re kind of picking up where we left off going right into next season, which I think will help us out.”

Force’s name is in the preseason championship conversation, but she said that’s no worry for her.

“I don’t see it like extra pressure. I see it as motivation,” she said. ”That’s what the whole Monster team wants. That’s what our sponsor wants. They want o see us in the winners circle, and that’s where we want to be. And at the end of the year, our ultimate plan is to have that championship. That’s what we’re going for.

“We had a great season last year, but it’s nice that that first win’s kind of off our back. We don’t have the drama that comes with that, and all the added pressure that comes with that,” Force said. “Now we’re out here ready to get in this car. We know we can do it, because we’ve done it. We did it three times last year and it’s nice to have that attitude. You know you can do something and now you’re going after it more times than last year.”

Force won at Gainesville and the Charlotte Four-Wides as part of her No. 1 ranking in the standings, then later in the season, at Brainerd. She also was runner-up at Phoenix and Reading, Pa.

“I definitely learned from all of it,” she said, not differentiating between winning and earning a runner-up finish. “There’s been so many times where you’re at that final round and you’re almost there, and then finally winning the thing. So every run you learn something different. You pick up something out of it, whether it’s actual learning from the race car or just how to keep your attitude positive no matter what. So you learn all the time from them. Every situation is different. Nothing is ever the same out here. And you pick up the pieces and figure it out and use it the next time.”