Brittany Force said her Top Fuel team has been eager to get back to a racetrack after a second 2021 runner-up finish at Norwalk, Ohio.

“Our team is ready for a win,” she said.

But she also said she has “never done really well” at Bandimere Speedway in the Denver suburb of Morrison, Colo.

After trumping Top Fuel dominator Steve Torrence in the final qualifying session here for the Dodge//SRT Mile-High NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil, Force’s fortune on Thunder Mountain might be turning in her favor.

She drove her Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Dragster to a track-record 3.717-second elapsed time on the 1,000-foot course Saturday to swipe the top qualifying position. Torrence had led through two sessions of time trials but took the No. 2 qualifying spot with a 3.778-second E.T.

His track speed record – 330.31 mph – remains intact.

Leah Pruett’s 2017 track E.T. mark fell as she ran in the opposite lane from Force Saturday night.

Force’s third No. 1 starting berth this year and 23rd overall gives her a first-round bye when eliminations begin Sunday morning. In the quarterfinals, she’ll meet either Clay Millican or Shawn Langdon. 

Force said she hadn’t known what to expect from Bandimere Speedway at the start of the weekend: “We’re on the mountain, so it’s tricky here. I’ve never really done well here.”

And Friday night she and her dragster overpowered the racetrack and had to sit on a 5.955-second, 106.16-mph, provision No. 5 performance overnight. She said Friday that she is “glad to be here in Denver. Unfortunately, that first run was a little disappointing. We pushed the car a little too hard, and it chattered and went into tire smoke.” But she kind of looked past Saturday’s two chances, saying, “We’ll figure it out and be ready for race day.”

She got that extra boost of confidence Saturday: “To be able to come out on Q3 and go to No. 1 by a stretch is pretty outstanding. A 3.71 – we’ll take it. That’s [crew chief] David Grubnic and this entire Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team.”

And she said she could sense her nighttime run was going to be special.

“I’ll tell you – it left like a frickin’ rocket,” Force said moments after her run. I knew it was on a good run if we could just hang in there till the finish line, and we did. I feel like I’m confident going into race day tomorrow. Haven’t seen the ladder yet – don’t know who we’re running, but I feel good.”

Force said she was energized by the full grandstands, too.

“When you pull up there and see the stands packed with people, there’s nothing more motivating than that to get your car down there and haul some butt. It felt good to do that,” she said. And alluding to a brief late-afternoon rain shower, she said, “Appreciate the fans coming out, sitting through the rain, and returning with NHRA and John Force Racing.” – Susan Wade