Brittany Force chose a good way to celebrate her 30th birthday Friday night.

Force, who pilots the Monster Energy dragster for John Force Racing, powered her way to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot with a track-record 3.692-second elapsed time at 325.69 mph at the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

“Running a 3.69, I got out and was shocked we ran that just because it was such a big jump from our first run (3.785),” Force said. “It felt good, I got out and thanked my team and my crew chief and Alan Johnson they are the ones who make it happen. It really is a team effort and every single guy puts everything into that car. Being No. 1 is exactly where we want to be and is the absolute best birthday present ever.”

Force’s elapsed time was the fourth quickest Top Fuel pass in NHRA history.

“We were looking at running in the 70s, so we definitely stepped it up and ran better than we thought,” Force said. “All my team told me when I got back ‘Happy Birthday Britt,’ like that was the plan, that was the birthday gift. They’re bad a** and I’m lucky to have such a great team around me.”

Force and Steve Torrence were the final pair in qualifying Friday night and they had to wait several minutes while NHRA’s Safety Safari cleaned up the track following Leah Pruett’s engine explosion which put oil on the track.

“That’s tough and that’s drag racing,” Force said. “Sometimes you will go out there and make run after run and other times you have a little bit of trouble in front of you and you have to sit and wait. I stayed in my car and there are so many things you want to think about and it’s hard when you’re sitting there because you can’t talk to anybody because you are all suited up and ready to go. You have to kind of relax for a second and then find that again right when you start the car.”

Force said her team acknowledged her birthday from the moment she arrived at the track.

“This was awesome, and (Friday) was very special,” Force said. “My team decorated my whole lounge with balloons and streamers and that just made the day so special. Then to come out here and end the day as the No. 1 qualifier, I couldn’t have written it any better.”

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