Top Fuel star Brittany Force has had a dominating season in the NHRA in 2022, and she shows no signs of slowing down.

Force clocked a 3.685-second elapsed time at 333.49 mph to snare the provisional No. 1 spot at the Lucas Oil Nationals Friday in Brainerd, Minn.

“We were very happy,” Force said. “After the first run, we didn't get the car down there. That was was not what we wanted to do. And then, when the rain came in, you sit there and wait, hoping that it wll clear up, and you get a run in, because there are  no lights here at this racetrack, and we were on a time limit.

“So, they got that track cleaned up quickly, and (David) Grubnic (her crew chief) came over and said, ‘It's a great racetrack.’ So, our gameplan going in, before the rain, was different than what it was after the rain. Track looked great, and we were right on our number. That was what we were aiming to run at that point and we pulled it off.”

If her E.T. holds it would be Force’s sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 38th of her career.

“Yeah. I love night racing. There's nothing cooler than being out at the drag races and watching a night race,” Force said. “There's nothing like it. It's dark out. You see the flames coming out of the headers. It was always my favorite thing, as a kid, sitting in the stands, and watching the night runs. So, to be able to pull up there, you know you're in the prime conditions. It's going to be the best of the weekend, and we're hopeful. We were going in to try to lay down a run, to put us to the top. That was the plan. We saw that 69 out ahead of us, and we knew we could do that. And that was our goal. And like I said, we pulled it off. We ran that 68. So, it was right on our target. It's what we wanted to do. And we currently got the No. 1 spot.”

Force talked about the difference between her first run and second run on Friday.

“That first run it launched and moved quickly over to the right lane,” she said. “So, we got out of the groove, and it spun smoke. And I pulled my foot out, lifted the car, lifted early, and shut the car off. So that run, it was just, our focus was a solid pass down there, and running in the high sixties.”

Force arrived in Brainerd first in the points standings and she’s proud of  what her team has been able to accomplish so far.

“We've come a long way, since last season,” Force said. “Last season, we had a ton of number one qualifiers, but we couldn't produce on race day. And the thing we've really figured out this season is running in the heat. We weren't able to do that last year. We'd run well, in those good conditions, and then race day, when the track would heat up, and the track temp would go up, we weren't able to perform like we wanted to. So that's been the biggest key to this season. The biggest turnaround for us. And our focus isn't so much on number one qualifiers. I mean, we wanted number ones every single time we'd go out, and then we'd lose it on race day. So, for us this year, our focus is making solid qualifying passes. 

"We're lucky we got that number one, and we gained some points. So, we want the points wherever we could get them, and our main focus is Sunday.”

Although Force has had a great season she’s staying in the moment.

“I always look at it, you got to focus, look at one weekend at a time,” Force said. “It gets overwhelming when you think we go right into Indy, the biggest race of the year. And then, after that, it's the Countdown.

“So, for me, it's just focusing on one weekend at a time. We've had success here. We won in 2016, and we're looking to do that again. I love this racetrack. We always lay down good numbers, and we're looking to win this thing."