GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 10, 2023) – Picking up right where they left off, Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team were quickest of the session Friday at the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. John Force and the BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car sit No. 2, Robert Hight and the Flav-R-Pac / Cornwell Tools / AAA Camaro are No. 5 and Austin Prock has the Montana Brand / RMT dragster in seventh. Inclement weather would cut the day short before a second session could be completed.
Brittany Force and her Monster Energy team came out of the box to lay down an impressive 3.699-second pass at 336.99 mph. The speed landed in the top five fastest runs in NHRA Top Fuel history. The David Grubnic tuned dragster earned three bonus points for being the quickest of the session.
“It felt really good just to come out here first race, first run, and go to the top. It’s pretty incredible,” said Force who picked Clay Millican as her first-round opponent in the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Callout being contested during Saturday qualifying. “That’s David Grubnic, though, and all these guys. We spent a lot of hours testing, a lot of days testing but it looks like we picked up right where we left off. We’re in that same groove and we have the same team and it’s a good start. That run motivated us not just for this weekend but for the whole season. We always want to improve, get more wins and ultimately end the season with another championship. Not that we’ve all done it together, we know what it feels like, and we want to do it again.”
Photo: Fred Hanyon
Newly inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, John Force handled the BlueDEF PLATINUM Camaro to a 3.898-second run at 335.07 mph in their first try at the Gatornationals to earn two bonus points. Force will start the second day of qualifying from the No. 2 spot.
Robert Hight and the Flav-R-Pac Camaro landed in the fifth spot after going 3.911 seconds at 331.28 mph. Hight will look for improvement with two more qualifying sessions on Saturday.
Entering the year with a new crew chief combination of Chris Cunningham and Joe Barlam, Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team went 3.779 at 324.44 mph putting them in the top half of the field. Prock will take on Josh Hart in the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Callout.
The Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway will continue with two qualifying sessions Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. with the Pep Boys Call-Out taking place throughout qualifying Saturday. Eliminations on Sunday are slated for 10 a.m. Television coverage of the event begins with a qualifying show Saturday at 11 a.m. ET and a dedicated Pep Boys All-Start Callout show on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Sunday race day action will be at noon ET on FOX Broadcasting Network.