Brittany Force’s merciless speed-surging performance against the best of the NHRA Top Fuel class at the Denso Sonoma Nationals had to share the spotlight Sunday with jolting news from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR). 

The post-race announcement that Don Schumacher has turned his majority ownership of his multiple-championship-winning team over to business partners Joe and Cathi Maynard doesn’t mean the dissolution of his one-time seemingly unstoppable megateam that has recorded 366 victories and 19 series crowns. 

However, this latest twist in Top Fuel history does usher in a new era for eight-time class champion, 85-time winner, and all-time victories leader Tony Schumacher. Coupled with four-time and reigning champion Steve Torrence’s current struggle to maintain supremacy over an ever-improving cast of contenders, it begs one question. 

Is John Force The Last Emperor of nitro-class drag racing? 

The recipient of crew chief Dave Grubnic’s powerful artillery of engine combinations, Brittany Force routed hopeful teammate Austin Prock, Torrence, Shawn Langdon, and Mike Salinas to seize the points lead from Salinas. She won with a 3.709-second elapsed time at 335.48 mph to crush his robust 3.741, 320.05. 

But her winning speed actually was the slowest Sunday for the 2017 champion. Force already owned nine of the Top Fuel class’ 10 fastest speeds – and she still does. But she scrambled the numbers Sunday, inserting that 335.48 mph, along with a 336.07, a 336.49, and a 337.75. 

While she sealed the deal, her father, John Force – the 16-time champion with 155 victories – fell short of sharing another father-daughter winners circle like they did last August at Topeka. Nevertheless, he’s fourth in the Funny Car standings and gaining momentum, while his John Force Racing (JFR) teammate and company president, Robert Hight, is the runaway points leader. 

So will JFR, seemingly crippled by COVID less than two years ago, rise from its own difficulties and take advantage of others’ to return to the powerhouse it was? 

The answer will become clearer after four more regular-season races and a Countdown to the Championship that promises to become intense once the sanctioning body applies its points adjustments and bunches the fields for the six-race sprint to the title. 

On the Top Fuel side, that makes Torrence – who took positives from his second-round exit at Sonoma – even more determined to recapture his dominating form.

“That’s as consistent as we’ve run since we made all these changes,” Torrence said. “And I think that’s the first time we’ve gone 330 (miles an hour) this year. I can’t wait to get to Seattle, because if we keep giving ourselves chances like we did today, we’re going to get that first win [of the season] sooner rather than later.” 

The Camping World Drag Racing Series returns this next weekend to Pacific Raceways, near Seattle, for the first time since 2019, for the Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals.   

Meanwhile, Torrence’s Capco Dragster covered the Sonoma Raceway 1,000-foot course under power and posted competitive numbers with every run with times in the high 3.6-second and low 3.7-second range. And he earned qualifying bonus points in each session for just the second time this year. His 330.80-mph top speed, in the third and final qualifying pass, was the fastest speed he has clocked since last October (when he hit 333.58 mph at Bristol, Tenn.). 

All that’s to say that it appears Torrence isn’t going to let Force steamroll him. And because he has seen it work this way before, he knows that the rather unpopular points adjustments just might help him this time around. 

Salinas, who powered to his 14th final-round appearance Sunday, has four victories and a 26-8 race-day record. And he still is scrapping with his Scrappers Racing team to carve out his own legacy in the class. He’s only six points off Force’s pace. 

Force has plenty of time to imagine dynasties and even to stay grounded, thinking about the here and now. For at least one evening, she just wanted to drink up the thrill of conquering this racetrack for the first time in her career. 

"Incredible race day for this Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy team. Coming into races, you go off of how you have done in the past. And we’ve always struggled with the Western Swing. Sonoma has always been one I’ve wanted to win. It’s almost a home track for me. I’ve watched my dad as a kid with my sisters, raced Super Comp and A-Fuel, celebrated all the other John Force Racing team wins. I always wanted to win here, and we finally pulled it off,” Force said. 

As for DSR, whose changes become official Monday, July 25, Tony Schumacher will continue competing – under the alphabet-soup-like team name of Maynard Family Racing/Don Schumacher Racing (JCM/DSR). 

“It’s incredible to see how passionate the Maynards are about our sport,” Tony Schumacher said. “Together, we will continue to represent our roster of JCM and DSR partners such as Scag Power Equipment and Okuma to the best of our abilities both on and off the track as we race for a bid to compete in the 2022 NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.” 

Both Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown – who appeared to have dynasties that no one could imagine ending and together boast 11 series titles under the DSR banner – aren’t in the top 10. Brown is 11th and Schumacher 12th in the standings but could be eligible for the Countdown by attending every regular-season event. Still, that’s not characteristic of either racer.

“Make no mistake,” Don Schumacher said. “I love drag racing, and while I may be taking a step back from the Top Fuel team at this time, I have no intention of leaving the sport. Full fields are imperative to the health of NHRA, and we will continue to look for opportunities that will allow us to field championship-contending nitro teams. But for now, this move makes sense.” 

He said he’ll concentrate on his opportunities with DSR Performance “and will continue to engineer and supply leading racing parts to the drag racing community in addition to expanding our defense and aerospace contracts. Earlier this season, we announced the launch of an exciting new project, the DSR 1150 crate engine, but I feel that we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of DSR Performance’s capabilities. By being able to let go of the reins of the Top Fuel team a little bit, we’re able to focus our attention on continuing to develop that side of the business.”