BAYTOWN – After suffering a horrific crash at the NHRA Winternationals Top Fuel driver Brittany Force is on the road to recovery and is ready to earn her first win of the 2018 racing season.

Brittany Force. NHRA photo

This weekend Force returns to Texas to compete in the 31st annual NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway.  However, two months ago her racing season and career almost came to a sudden end.

“It has been a whirlwind season,” Force said.  “We pulled out a brand-new car in Pomona and that was my team’s dream car. We loved it and, unfortunately, we wrecked it.”

About 30 minutes after receiving her NHRA Champion’s jacket and ring for winning the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel World Championship, Force was involved in a devastating crash during the opening round of eliminations at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway.

The 31-year old Force, who is the daughter of 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, was matched up against Terry Haddock in the first round.  Shortly after leaving the starting line, her Monster Energy dragster veered right and then shot to the left crossing in front of Haddock.

The car slammed into the left wall, spun and the tangled parachute caught the nose of the car which then hit backward into the right wall and flipped on its side.  Finally, it ended up skidding to a stop past the finish line and shortly after she was transported to the hospital to be evaluated.

“It definitely has been an emotional rollercoaster,” Force said.  “We went from the biggest high in my career to winning the championship and wrapping that up in Pomona to the ultimate low and that was wrecking the car.”

Brittany Force. Photo by National Dragster Photography.

Since the wreck Force has been climbing back to the top and back into championship form. Two weeks ago at the inaugural Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals she raced to the No. 3 qualifier.  Prior to that she hadn’t had a first round finish since the crash.

“We have been running our 2017 race car the last few races while we built this dragster,” Force said.  “We got it together and I spent the last week in Indy getting fitted for it.  “Qualifying was testing for us. Alan Johnson, Brian Husen and this Monster Energy team are pretty incredible to be able to come out and on the second run with this car go to No. 1. That is amazing.”

On Friday night in only her second trip down the track in the new dragster, Force set the track elapsed time record with her 3.701-second pass at 313.80 mph in the second qualifying session.  Force said that a brand new car and a solid run down the track gives her the confidence that she can put the accident behind her return to her winning ways.

Brittany Force. NHRA

“It’s tough to put that behind you and climb back into the seat,” Force said.  “It is not easy to do that. In drag racing that is the inevitable.  You just know it’s going to happen.  I know that it was going to happen one of these days but I didn’t know how bad it was going to be.  I am glad it was behind us and I wouldn’t want to do that again.”

Since the wreck Force has undergone hours of physical therapy for the injuries that she received during the incident.

“I feel great compared to where I was months ago,” Force said. “After Pomona I had two weeks off to really heal up.  I am still in therapy trying to get my arm and shoulder back to normal.  I took quite a beating.  The fact that I came out with only bumps and bruises and only tore a few things, I am pretty lucky.”

Force added, “I tore a lot of things in my shoulder and back and I just can’t do a lot of things that I used to be able to do.  I can’t quite do all of my workouts that I used to be able to do before Pomona.”

Force said that during a normal week she spends countless hours working out and staying in shape in order to be able to manhandle a 300-mile per hour Top Fuel dragster.

“Physical therapy is helping me get back to that point,” Force said.  “I am starting over with really light weights and bands because that is the lightest thing to start with.  I’ve had my moments and it’s frustrating because I want to jump right back into what I am used to doing but I physically can’t.   It’s a work in progress and it takes time compared to where I was.”

Force said that her physical therapy sessions will end soon and then she can continue work on her recovery and do her workouts on her own.

“I have a few more sessions and then I am about done,” Force said.  “I will carry on everything that I have learned and do it in the gyms out here on the road.  I can also do that home and take everything that I have learned and keep that going until I get back where I was.”

Force said the accident was a definite learning experience.

“You learn from everything,” Force said.  “Every time I get in that car I learn things.  You definitely learn from your biggest mistakes.  I believe that wreck in Pomona makes me a better driver and a stronger driver.”

Two weeks after the wreck Force was able to return to the track at the Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

“Getting back in the car in Phoenix and making those first few runs was probably one of the toughest runs that I have ever made in my career,” Force said.  “It was tougher than that championship run in Pomona during that second round.”

Force added, “That for me was more of a challenge and to me that just proves how strong I am.  It proved that my heart is in the right place.  I love this sport and I know that’s out there and that’s going to happen.  I love it so that’s why I got back out there.”

Force said that she feels confident about winning and is looking forward to scoring her eighth career victory.

“The next win is going to be a big one,” Force said.  “I definitely think that one is going to hit hard because of what our teams have gone through last season.”

Force added, “Wrecking in Pomona was on all of us.  Not just me but my guys as well because they had to build a whole new car.  They had a lot of work.  They were the greatest support system and were at the hospital with me and I just love them. They are incredible.  With Pomona behind us we are back in the game and after another championship.”