POMONA — It’s been a long road to recovery for the John Force Racing drivers in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
John Force was involved in a crash in Richmond, Virginia, in June that ended his season last year and put the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion in the hospital with severe brain injuries for months.
His daughter, Brittany Force, an NHRA Top Fuel driver and two-time champion, continued racing for her dad’s team, but at times it wasn’t easy. She, like other members of her family and team, split time between race tracks and hospitals to be with her dad.
Focusing on racing was challenging but Brittany Force finished the season strong, winning her first race in almost two years in Las Vegas. She heads into this weekend’s 65th annual NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals at the In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip in Pomona with confidence and is determined to carry the success from last year into 2025.
She has her dad to thank for that determination.
“He’s a determined man, that’s for sure,” said Brittany Force, who is from Yorba Linda. “He’s been really focused on his physical therapy. Family’s been completely involved in it all since the start and we’ve been proud of him.”
John Force didn’t return to see his teams race until the event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second-to-last race of the season. Prior to the Las Vegas race, in Dallas, Brittany Force reached the final and lost. She said she thought she was going to win that race. Driving to the pits in a tow car with one of her crew members after the final in Dallas, she questioned what went wrong.
Then her mom called her to let her know her dad was going to be at Las Vegas, the first time John Force was going to be at a race since his accident in Virginia.
“The way we won and the way it all happened, it made sense,” Brittany Force said.
“To have him out there, to be with our teams, it just feels right.”
Brittany Force had the fastest time in qualifying in Top Fuel on Friday at 3.641 seconds and 337.16 mph. Josh Hart was second at 3.675 seconds and 332.34 mph. Doug Kalitta was third at 3.684 seconds and 333.16 mph.
CAPPS LEADS FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING
Ron Capps had the fastest qualifying runs at Pomona on Friday in the first two sessions in Funny Car. In the second session, he covered the 1,000 feet in 3.830 seconds at 328.94 mph. Austin Prock was second at 3.857 seconds and 333.25 mph. Jack Beckman was third at 3.855 seconds and 326.40 mph.
The top three drivers were separated by 0.025 seconds.
In the first session in Funny Car qualifying, Capps was fastest at 3.852 seconds and 330.47 mph. Beckman was second at 3.868 seconds and 326.48 mph. Paul Lee, the leader in the Funny Car standings after two races, was third at 3.913 seconds and 329.18 mph.
In Pro Stock qualifying, Cory Reed was fastest in the first session at 6.516 seconds and 210.93 mph. In the second session, Greg Anderson was fastest at 6.495 seconds and 210.01 mph.
The top three drivers in the second session were faster than Reed in the first session. Matt Hartford was second at 6.510 seconds and 209.14 mph. Aaron Stanfield was third at 6.515 seconds and 210.28 mph.
KALITTA WINS TOP FUEL ALL-STAR CALLOUT
Kalitta defeated Brittany Force in the final round of the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout.
The All-Star Callout was supposed to run in the season opener in Gainesville, Florida, but was rained out, and was completed in Pomona on Friday.
Eight of the Top Fuel drivers raced each other in the All-Star Callout. First-round matchups were between Steve Torrence and Tony Stewart; Kalitta and Clay Millican; Shawn Langdon and Antron Brown; and Justin Ashley and Brittany Force.
For the semifinals, Force called out Stewart, leaving Kalitta to face Brown.
In the semifinals, Kalitta defeated Brown and Force defeated Stewart.
In the first round, Force defeated Ashley, Brown defeated Langdon, Kalitta defeated Millican and Stewart defeated Torrence.
LANGDON ENJOYS DRIVING ON GOLF COURSE TOO
Before NHRA Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon arrived at the In-N-Out Burger Dragstrip in Pomona, he played in an LPGA pro-am golf tournament in Arizona.
His group shot 15-under and finished in ninth place in the Global Credit Union Official Pro-Am at Whirlwind Golf Course at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona, site of the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse.
Langdon says he tries to golf as much as he can, but it’s tough to find time during the NHRA season.
“I’ve always enjoyed golfing,” said Langdon, who drives for Kalitta Motorsports. “Oddly enough, it seems like I do better when I don’t play a lot, like when I kind of get away from it, because I think I don’t think about it as much. I just swing the club, what feels natural, and then when I try to try to fine tune my swing, I guess, is when I seem like I get in a lot of trouble.”
Langdon, who is from Mira Loma, is gladly trading fairways and greens for checkered flags and green lights. He is off to a good start in the NHRA Top Fuel season and coming off a win at the Arizona Nationals last weekend. He reached the final round at the season opening Gatornationals in Gainesville.
He’s found success at Pomona in the past too, with four career wins and seven final round appearances.
“I feel good. We have two final rounds and one win. So, the car’s been great,” Langdon said.
“Historically, I’ve always felt really comfortable here, always just felt at home.”