Brittany Force completes first Funny Car test

Brittany Force, who has four Top Fuel wins to her name, completed three passes at LOR – none of them the complete 1000 feet – and declared the flopper a “whole different animal” from her usual rail.

As the driver of the first Top Fuel car to be run from the famous JFR stable, Force said the Funny Car test was because “we don’t know where we stand with sponsorships next year, so it’s good to have options down the road.”

Force has ended the ‘regular’ NHRA season in sixth pace on the Top Fuel points table, but stayed on at Lucas Oil Raceway following the U.S. Nationals to try a new Chevrolet Camaro FC as raced by her JFR teammates – father John, sister Courtney and brother-in-law Robert Hight.

Said Brittany: “I had a blast… It’s a lot of fun to feel the difference between a dragster and a Funny Car. We made some runs and am still working on getting licensed. But I love my dragster – that’s home for me

“[The Funny Car] responds much quicker than a dragster,” Force said. “I’m used to turning the wheel, and it takes a moment to get caught up. In this one, it responds immediately. That’s definitely different.

“Burnouts are a lot of fun. You’re sitting on top of the thing, and the view looking down the track is completely different than a dragster.”

Brittany’s first pass in the Funny Car was 4.401 seconds at 205.63 mph, and she shut it off about 400 feet. She ran to about 900 feet the second pass –3.863 at 307.23 mph, then 800 feet and ran 3.916 seconds at 297.81 mph.

“You need to learn how to drive it – this is different,” John Force said. “She’s got to focus because she’s got to get back in her dragster in Charlotte. They tell me you’ve got to slow down the way you steer these cars.

"But I’m proud of her because she understands that it is about sponsorship. She even asked me, ‘What are we doing?’ I never had a game plan in my life. I’m waiting to see financially which way is the best direction to go.

“She loves Top Fuel, and that’s what she wants to do. If we can keep her there, that’s what we’ll do. … Deals are made in the middle of the year, and I can’t wait until next January to take her to Phoenix to test in a Funny Car. You need to get ahead of it, and I wish I was a year ahead.”