Brittany Force won NHRA’s Top Fuel world championship in 2017. Now, she is trying to rally to capture world crown No. 2 in 2022.

Force entered the Nevada Nationals this weekend in second place in the points standings – 82 points behind leader Justin Ashley.

Force, behind the wheel of the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, flexed some muscle taking the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot Friday with a 3.665-second elapsed time at 337.24 mph.

“(Friday) was awesome, it was exactly what we have been wanting to do,” Force said. “We need to grab points where we can because this thing is going to come down to Pomona (Calif., the last race of the season, Nov. 10-13). It. Is going to come down to a (small) number of points. So, we need to grab them wherever we can. We need a long day on race day, and we are starting off good this weekend. We made two solid runs and that was our goal, and we are picking up bonus points, so we are right on track.”

If Force’s time holds it would be her ninth No. 9 qualifier of the season and the 41st in her career.

“Coming into a track like this you are already motivated because we have done do well here in the past,” Force said. “We have had success here in the past. In 2019, we set the speed record and we won in 2019 and we won in the spring earlier in the season at the Four Wide. We have done really well here so that gives you confidence coming in. You are motivated. You are pumped. You have done it before, and you can do it again.”

Considering how much success Force has had in her career in qualifying in recent years, she never doubts her crew chief David Grubnic.

“I put all my confidence in David Grubnic and every single one of our Flav-R-Pac guys,” she said. “They know what they are doing and Grubnic when he tells you what he’s going to run, he is not far off. He is usually pretty right. I didn’t talk to him before the run on that one, so I wasn’t sure (what to expect), but just the feeling of that run it was more through halftrack that really throws you back in your seat with that continual pull.

“They told me over the radio what we ran, but it is just pure static, I can’t hear anything. But I could tell they were excited I knew it was a good run. I knew we definitely stepped it up and improved. It was a killer run for our team.”

Force ended Friday 77 points behind points leader Ashley, who is fourth on the provisional ladder with a 3.716-second run.

“It is going to come down to the wire in Pomona,” Force said. “It is going to be a dogfight. It is going to be won by just a few points I believe. Our focus right now is this weekend. We are not looking ahead to Pomona yet. It is looking at (Saturday), our two runs to do exactly what we did (Friday). Pick up bonus points and then we reset going into raceday and we have to do killer on race day. We have to go rounds and end up in that winner’s circle.”

The first four races in the Countdown to the Championship have been a bit of roller-coaster ride for Force and her team, but she believes they are headed in the right direction.

“After the two runs (Friday), especially that last one in Q2, I feel like we are back on track,” Force said. “We have had a great season and we kind of fell off right in the Countdown, right when it mattered, but I feel like just two runs gives all of us confidence. I feel like we are in a good place now. We figured out what was going on with our car and fixed it coming into this weekend.”