Whether she’s running four-wide or in the traditional two-wide format, Monster Energy Dragster driver Brittany Force has positioned herself as the early Top Fuel dominator. 

With her half-car-length final-round victory Sunday afternoon over serious title contender Justin Ashley at the final NHRA SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park, Force completed back-to-back victories in the Camping World Drag Racing Series. 

The Las Vegas winner got the last word in her ongoing on-track battle with Steve Torrence. He swiped her provisional No. 1 qualifying berth in last seconds of qualifying Saturday. 

In recording her third Houston victory since 2018, she knocked the current and four-time champion from his No. 1 status in the standings as the Camping World Drag Racing Series moves this coming weekend to zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C., for the Circle K Four-Wide Nationals. 

Force shared the winners podium with hometown heroine Erica Enders, who defeated Camrie Caruso in the first all-woman Pro Stock final round (or, for that matter, the first female match-up in any round in the class’ 905-race legacy). 

Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in the final NHRA visit to this Baytown, Texas, venue that has been on the schedule for 33 years. 

“I love Houston and winning here with our teams over the years,” Force said. “We won in ’18 and ’19 . One [in 2018] followed a terrible wreck of mine, and only four races later did we win. And it was an emotional win for me, because I didn’t know if we would ever get back.” 

“Then we came back in ’19 with David Grubnic and Mac Savage [as crew chiefs] and now I’m with them, celebrating another win. It’s just incredible to be able to do it here in Houston in the final race. This Monster Energy team, we wanted to go out on top, and we did it to close out Houston. To close out Houston with a win is just incredible for us.” 

It’s the facility at which her father, Funny Car legend John Force, notched the milestone 100th of his 154 victories April 14, 2002, and has won an NHRA-record seven times. 

“Luckily, we got the job done in the final round. It wasn’t easy,” Brittany Force said. “It was a lot of me sitting down and trying to figuring my s--- out before going into the final round, because it was a tough day for me. But we battled it out and got it done in the final when it mattered.” 

For the fifth straight race this year and for the 15th time the past 21 events, Force set top speed of the meet. This week she posted a track-record 333.58 mph speed, which overrode her previous mark of 332.18 from 2019. She also leaves Houston with the three-year-old track elapsed-time mark, as well, at 3.661 seconds.   

In Sunday’s final round, she won on a holeshot with a 3.767-second elapsed time (at 321.42 mph) on the 1,000-foot course against Ashley’s quicker 3.763-second pass at 329.58 mph in the Phillips Connect / Vita C Dragster. 

She defeated Josh Hart, Shawn Langdon, and Billy Torrence on her way to her 30th career final-round appearance. 

“I felt confident coming in, and it was an incredible day for our team,” Force said. “Justin is one of the best leavers in the class, so I knew we had to step it up. I really wanted it in the final round, so I had to do my job. Getting back-to-back wins is huge for us, and we’re back in the seat next weekend. So we’ll try to do it again in Charlotte. All the hard work by our team, for it to pay off with two wins in a row, it’s great for them. And I’m really proud of all of my guys.” 

Meanwhile, Winternationals winner Ashley said the same but said he cost his team a second victory of the season. 

“It was a good day. Truthfully, I didn’t do my job in the final round, and that cost us the win. And it’s very disappointing,” he said.” We gave it all that we had today, and the team did a great job. We had a little bit of an issue there in the semifinals, and they were able to turn the car around and make it happen in time, which is just incredible. It’s a testament to the team and the entire group that I have. This one’s on me. We’ll regroup and get to Charlotte to get after the win.” 

Ashley eliminated Doug Foley, Austin Prock, and Steve Torrence to advance to his second final round this season.