Brittany Force: A Force To Be Reckoned With

The 2017 NHRA Champion, holder of all top 10 fastest Top Fuel Speeds in history, is making her mark on the 2022 Season by claiming the 2022 NHRA Championship.  

The 2022 NHRA season has wrapped with an incredible final race in Pamona. The 2017 NHRA Champion and 2022 Champion, Brittany Force, has used this season to prove that once again, she and her team are truly a force to be reckoned with. To bring it to the next level, Brittany has achieved legend status by holding all of the top 10 fastest Top Fuel speeds in NHRA history.

But with all these achievements, Brittany focuses in on one main point: drag racing is not an individual sport. There is no Brittany Force without her team.

After claiming the championship, this Women of Speed told us all about her team, improving herself, and unleashing the beast both on and off the track.

It’s Her TEAM.

“This Monster Energy team is like no other team I've ever worked with.”

This team came on with me in 2019, and we’ve already had so much success in just those few years. These guys are a unique group and the team bond we share is very special. We compete 22 weekends in our season. We are constantly on the road, in and out of different hotels and living out of a suitcase. When you spend that much time with a group who all rely and put their trust in the guy standing next to them, they become your family.

Who Is Brittany Force’s Team?

My crew chief is David Grubnic, followed by co-crew chief Mac Savage, along with seven other crew members. We have 2 guys in the clutch department, a guy on superchargers, a guy on racks & bottom end, a guy on short blocks, a guy on cylinder heads and one guy on fuel.

No one job is more important than the other. When one guy is done with his work load, he's helping the next guy finish his. Crew chief decisions are made with the involvement & opinion of the crew and driver. And that is something very rare in drag racing.

The Success Is With The Team.

When I say team effort, it takes every single guy to make this thing work. If one slip up or fault is made on any of our parts, you will see it in our performance on the track. If faults are made by an individual, we all feel and carry that gut ache. We put it behind us, with a lesson learned, and move forward. We take our beatings as one team and our victories as one team.

In Dallas, we lost the event because I was slow off the starting line. My team always has my back, especially through those tough days. Every one of them said something along the lines of “we’ll get ‘em next weekend”, “We didn’t want to win that one anyway”, “we will get it back”. They reminded me we are one team and that we will recover and get back on top.

We went to Las Vegas the next weekend and won the event and gained the points lead back.

The Fans Bring The Force

If you haven’t seen Brittany’s Instagram, her fans are cheering her on in every post.

My fans are amazing! They are the most loyal, supportive fans anyone could ask for. Reading through those positive comments on social media mean the world to me. They are there to tell you they are rooting for you weekend after weekend. And they help pick you up after those tough racing days.

After our Dallas loss, I posted to Instagram that I will improve & get back on track. Some of the comments said “We have your back” or “We're going through this with you.” To read those comments means the world to me. I’m very lucky to have so much support around me.

Lower Body Explosive Movement. Ever Heard Of It?

I have to put in the effort everywhere to see a slight improvement. Sometimes it's only a small improvement, but that little bit can make all the difference in the end.

I feel my reactions have improved since last season. I’ve had a couple hole-shot wins this year, which I’m very proud of.

I’ve stepped up my training in a variety of ways. I’ve continued circuit training (weights with bursts of cardio) with more focus on lower body. I do lower body explosive movements (quick off your feet exercises) for stepping on that throttle pedal. Anything from frog squat jumps to burpees, box jumps, jump ropes, jumping lunges to short meter sprints. I do these workouts with Blaze Pods for improving reactions.

I also continued training with my martial arts instructor. My crew chiefs last year came up with this idea to try a different type of training that would help sharpen my reflexes.

She’s Breaking Records Left & Right

This has been the strongest season in my career. Our team has 9 No. 1 qualifiers and 5 wins. We own both ends of the NHRA national ET and MPH records. In 2019, we locked in the National ET record in Reading, PA with a 3.623 pass. In St Louis this year, we set the National MPH record with our 338.4 mph run. In fact, this Monster Energy team owns the top 10 fastest passes in NHRA history. We’ve accomplished so much as a team, but the ultimate goal is winning another championship.

On Friday night in Pomona (finals): We qualified 1 and we also hold the new National speed record at 338.9 mph.

One Step At A Time

For me, I have to focus on one day at a time. When I start looking too far ahead, it's too overwhelming. I put my focus one round at a time, one goal at a time. We set a goal going into qualifying and then going into race day. I can’t be thinking about Sunday race day & how many rounds I need to go to stay ahead, when I’m still in the middle of qualifying. I have to focus on where I’m at, in that moment. That mindset works best for me, it eliminates added distractions. And you can't have distractions when you're trying to focus and win a race.

Brittany’s Mindset Going Into Finals

The final race of the season at the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, CA this weekend began with us sitting in the No. 1 position after our Las Vegas win but, only by 7 points. We could have lost that lead just in qualifying.

Our game plan was to pick up points in qualifying with solid runs and gain extra points with a No. 1 qualifier. And on race day we planned to attack. We looked to stay out ahead with a Pomona win and end this thing with another championship. And we did just that! This weekend was not easy, but we are faught it out until it was over!

Brittany and her team are putting in the work, and the results are insane. The championship was on the line, and she took it by a storm. This season has proved that Brittany truly is a force to be reckoned with. Brittany’s ability to remain focused, taking each race one step at a time, working with her team, and learning from her mistakes, is the reason she’s the champion today.