Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force made the most of her Saturday return to the Cornwell Tools “Night Under Fire,” pushing her blue-and-black Cornwell dragster to the night’s quickest time and fastest speed (3.840 seconds at 320.20 miles per hour) en route to a momentum-building victory at Summit Motorsport Park.
John Force Racing missed a double-up win in Funny Car when mechanical issues slowed Jack Beckman and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to 8.766 seconds at only 85.51 mph in a final round loss to Dale Creasy Jr.
“Bill Bader’s events are always a highlight of the season (and) competing in them is such a privilege,” Brittany said. “We ran the quickest ET in the first round (but) in the final, our car started to spin (the tires). Fortunately, it was good enough for the win which gives us momentum heading into Brainerd (Minn., site of the Aug. 16-18 Lucas Oil Nationals, next event in the NHRA’s Mission Foods Series).
Meanwhile, despite the final round disappointment, Beckman was pleased with the overall direction of his first week filling in for John Force, who continues to recover from a TBI suffered in a June 23 crash in Richmond, Va.
“I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that it’s actually me sitting in John Force’s car,” said the 33-time NHRA tour winner. “(JFR president) Robert Hight did a conference call on Friday and I got to speak to John for the first time since his accident. That was medicine for the soul.
“(Then), John called me (Saturday) before I got in the car. He said, ‘just go out there and do what you know how to do. There’s no pressure,’” recounted the former NHRA national record holder. “And he was right. I actually came out here to get licensed and wound up having a ton of fun in the process.
“I got to know (the members of) John’s PEAK team. I’ve known a few of them, but I got to spend more time with the rest of them and, I guess, under the circumstances, you could not have asked for a better way to get indoctrinated to the car and the team,” he said.
After a set-up run of 4.007 seconds at 308.28 mph on Friday, “Fast Jack” was the No. 1 qualifier Saturday with a first round time of 4.047 at 309.34 mph. Unfortunately, his final round troubles enabled Creasy Jr. to win in a pedestrian 6.395 seconds at 107.10 mph.
“We had a couple of electric gremlins, which is always frustrating,” said the man who taught more than 7,000 students the mechanics of the sport as an instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School, “but it could have been worse. If it would have happened in Brainerd, it could have (really) put us behind the eight ball.
“We got to step on the throttle a bunch of times,” he said. “I got the runs I needed to get my license (renewed) and we probably learned a couple things about the car. Remember, John and I don’t weigh the same (and) our driving styles are a little bit different. The crew and I are going to have to meld our styles together to where everything is predictable again for them (like) it was when John was driving.
“The biggest thing is now I know how to go home and visualize exactly what this car looks like, feels like, sounds like and responds like. I’ll be better when we get to Brainerd. You have to remember, it’s a brand new car. (It) had never been down the racetrack before, so I think we checked off all the boxes.”
