Brittany Force ended a 39-race winless streak, claiming victory in Top Fuel at the 24th annual Ford Performance NHRA Nationals on Monday, defeating reigning champion Doug Kalitta in the final.
Force clocked a time of 3.703 seconds at 332.54 mph in her Chevrolet dragster, marking her first win since the fall race in Las Vegas in 2022. The victory coincided with her father, John Force, returning to the track after a June crash, adding to the emotional weight of the event.
After qualifying No. 1 and running three times in the 3.60s, Force continued to flash the form that led to a world title two years ago. She defeated Josh Hart, Shawn Reed and Clay Millican to reach the finals and then powered the win in the final round, culminating in an emotional celebration on the top end and a John Force Racing double-up.
“We’ve been piecing this together since the Countdown began and we were seeing this progress with No. 1 qualifiers and going rounds on race day. We knew it was coming,” Force said. “We knew we were closing in on it and we were getting close, and I had a good feeling about Vegas. We’ve been successful here in the past, and it’s one of my favorite tracks on the circuit and my whole family was here. My dad was here. I just had a good feeling about it, and to come here and win, our team needed that. We’ve always stayed positive, always stayed confident, but it does hurt when you go two seasons without winning.
“Having my dad here for the first time since his crash, it wasn’t pressure, it was more heart behind every single person on the team. We always want to come out here and win, but with him being here this weekend, after everything he’s been through, there was definitely more heart behind it. We wanted to get him in that winner’s circle.”
Kalitta advanced to the finals for the sixth time this year and 118th in his career after defeating Ida Zetterstrom, Antron Brown and Shawn Langdon. Justin Ashley remains in the points lead and he’ll take a 44 and 45-point advantage over Brown and Langdon, respectively, into the finale.
Austin Prock secured his eighth win in Funny Car with a run of 3.830 seconds in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. Prock, who is on the verge of clinching his first world title, leads his teammate Jack Beckman by 188 points heading into the season finale.
Prock qualified No. 1, breaking Force’s single-season Funny Car record for No. 1 qualifiers, and lived in the 3.80s all weekend, rolling past Tim Gibbons, Cruz Pedregon and Blake Alexander. That set up the matchup with Lee, who was seeking his first career Funny Car win, but Prock and his team made their best run of eliminations, handing Prock his 12th career win.
“It was a long weekend, an odd weekend, for sure, but a great weekend to have John back,” Prock said. “We heard he was coming this weekend, and all you want to do is put a smile on his face, make a good team effort, and we did exactly that. All three of our John Force Racing race cars were on fire this weekend. I won three races before I ever got in this car this year, and now I’ve got eight in one season. It’s pretty crazy.
“The job’s not finished until the [championship] trophy is in our hands and when it gets to my hands, it’s going straight to my dad’s hands, but we’re getting really close, so I’m excited that we won today. We still haven’t won the championship and that’s our main goal this year. When I got in the race car at the beginning of the year, my dad said he wanted to win a world championship and this team has just been lights out this year, outstanding job by each and every one of them.”
Lee advanced to the final round for the second time this year after defeating Steven Densham, Daniel Wilkerson and Beckman.
In Pro Stock, Aaron Stanfield captured his sixth win of the season, defeating Greg Anderson with a holeshot victory, clocking 6.606 seconds at 206.13 mph. Stanfield takes over the points lead, holding a 32-point advantage over Dallas Glenn following Glenn’s early exit from the event.
“When Dallas went out ahead of me in round one and I knew it’s time to time to take advantage of the situation, I missed the tree a little bit and got away with it,” Stanfield said. “I got a little pissed off after that and got my head back together and drove well for the rest of the weekend.
“The pressure meter is maxed out, but pressure is a privilege and I’m not afraid of it. I feel like the majority of the time I do well under pressure, and we did exactly what we needed to do this weekend. We had some luck go our way, and we took advantage of it.”
Anderson advanced to the finals for the fifth time in 2024 and 181st time overall thanks to round wins against Chris McGaha, Camrie Caruso and Cristian Cuadra. Anderson trails Stanfield by 56 points heading into Pomona.
Gaige Herrera, the Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader, secured his 10th victory of the season, defeating Angie Smith with a weekend-best run of 6.798 seconds at 197.16 mph. Herrera heads into the finale at Pomona with a 123-point lead over Matt Smith, positioning himself for a second consecutive championship.
“To run that 6.79 in the final, the bike’s just been on rails. It has been all season, and as long as I do my job, Andrew [Hines, crew chief]and the guys always do their job to a T,” Herrera said. “They’re always about being perfect as possible, which pushes me to do the same.
“If I’m able to win the second championship — and anything can still happen — this one would mean a lot more than the first. I had to earn it a lot more this season. We kind of ran away with it last year, but this year it was definitely a lot tighter racing, and there wasn’t much room for error. It’s going to mean a lot more for sure.”
A. Smith reached the finals for the second time this season and the ninth time in her career after defeating Ryan Oehler, Geno Scali and Chase Van Sant.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will conclude the 2024 season from Nov. 14-17 at the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona Dragstrip in California.
