Courtney Force began the weekend on top and stayed there.

And no amount of rain, bad luck, vastly changing conditions, or even an extra day of competition was going to stop her.

Force opened the weekend at Heartland Motorsports Park with the quickest pass out of the gate and never faltered in taking her fifth top qualifier award of the season and followed that up with four round wins spread over two days to earn her third win of the season and second in a row Monday at the rain-delayed Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties.

With two round wins under the lights on Sunday, after heavy rains postponed the start of the annual spring stop in Topeka, Kansas, and two more on Monday, Force outlasted teammate and defending champion Robert Hight in the final to earn her third Wally of the season and 22nd of her career.

Hight got away first in the all-JFR final, but ran into trouble near the 600-foot mark when his tires gave up traction, while Force blasted by with a 3.928-second pass at 329.83 mph in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car to pick up the win. Hight followed her across the stripe with a 4.087 at 265.90 mph in his third runner-up finish of the season.

“Going in (to the final) we were excited. We knew that, no matter what, it was going to be an all-JFR final,” Force said. “I honestly was a little bit shocked when we turned on that win light because that Auto Club car, Jimmy Prock, all of those guys have been running solid all weekend.

“They were right there with me and I guess he spun the tires a little bit down-track. Overall it was a job well done by their team moving up in points, same with our team. No matter the opponent, you still have to go in there with that fight. He is one of the toughest drivers out here to compete against because he is so great on the line and you really have to be right there with him. I think we had a pretty good side-by-side race at the launch and we were able to turn on that win light.”

With the weekend-sweep going to Force for the third time this year – earning both the top qualifier award and race win in the same event – the struggles of 2017, which saw the Advance Auto Parts team earn seven top qualifier awards with zero wins during the season, are quickly becoming a distant memory.

“Everyone is talking about the fact that we had so many number one qualifiers and I didn’t seal the deal, but to be honest, I had such a great team (last year) and I pretty much have the same team this year,” said Force of her turnaround in the win column. “Ronnie Thompson and Dan Hood were tuning my car (last year) and they did a phenomenal job getting us all those number one qualifiers and we came close to a couple of wins. But this year, with Brian Corradi coming on board and joining with Danny, things just shifted and we were able to get these number one qualifiers and seal it with a win and it feels amazing.

“And being in the points lead right now coming off of back-to-back wins is just insane. I got on the radio and told my guys that they are just unbelievable. It’s so much fun driving this racecar right now.”

Force survived a hectic weekend in Topeka to pick up the win, earning big wins over Matt Hagan and J.R. Todd in the second and third rounds respectively. But it was a first-round matchup against Richard Townsend that almost sent the current Funny Car points leader home early.

After a lengthy rain delay that pushed the start of round one to late in the evening on Sunday, both cars lost traction at the hit, but it was Force who was able to pedal it best, earning the round win with a 5.323 at 176.70 mph to Townsend’s 5.929 at 138.39 mph.

“That was nerve racking. You go up there and the conditions are obviously completely different and I could hear the other drivers smoking the tires and having to pedal, so you have to have that mindset knowing that you might have to do the same,” Force said. “I pedaled it and tried to keep it off the wall. I had to pedal it about three times and the motor finally clicked off right as I was going through the finish line. Luckily, I saw the win light come on and I felt pretty good. Unfortunately, we lost lane choice. But when you have crew chiefs like mine, they figured it out and got it down there for the win.”

Thankfully, the following rounds were much less dramatic as Force earned a win over Matt Hagan in a tremendous drag race – a 3.934 to a 3.936 – before weather once again postponed the race, this time to the following day.

On Monday Force picked right up where she left off, eliminating J.R. Todd in the semifinals with the best pass of the entire weekend, a 3.895 at 330.39 mph, before meeting Hight in the final. Hight had wins over Shawn Langdon, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Cruz Pedregon to reach his third final of the season.

“It was a handful out there all weekend. The conditions changed drastically every single day and I have to give a lot of credit to my crew chiefs and every single guy on my team,” Force said. “It was a Sunday morning race that turned into a Sunday evening race with header fire and a cooler track, and we were able to get it done even with a lucky first round win.

“Having to run on a Monday makes for a long weekend, but it feels good to be in the winner’s circle with my team and being able to celebrate for everyone at Chevy, Peak, Auto Club, Monster Energy and Advance Auto Parts.”

Force also extended her points lead as she looks to continue the momentum setup by a strong start to the 2018 season.

“This is a good spot to be in, but obviously we need to find consistency at the other end of the season as well where it really matters,” Force said. “It feels great right now, but we are trying to stay confident and stay focused in the fact that we have to get this car running like this all season long if we want to end up with the championship trophy.”