Brittany Force, a two-time Top Fuel World Champion, made the most of her Saturday return to the Cornwell Tools “Night Under Fire,” driving 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.
Mechanical troubles delayed Jack Beckman and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to 8.766 seconds at 85.51 mph in a final round loss to Dale Creasy Jr., preventing John Force Racing from winning both Funny Car races.
“Bill Bader’s events are always a highlight of the season (and) competing in them is such a privilege,” remarked Brittany. “We had the fastest ET in the first round, but in the final, our car began to spin (the tires).” Fortunately, it was good enough for the win, giving us momentum heading into Brainerd (Minn., home of the Aug. 16-18 Lucas Oil Nationals, the next event in the NHRA’s Mission Foods Series).
Meanwhile, despite the final round disappointment, Beckman was satisfied with the overall direction of his first week standing in for John Force, who is still recovering from a TBI sustained in a June 23 incident in Richmond, Virginia.
“I’m still getting my head around the fact that I’m sitting in John Force’s car,” said the 33-time NHRA series winner. “(JFR president) Robert Hight held a conference call on Friday, and I got to talk with John for the first time since his injury. That was spiritual medication.
“(Then) John contacted me (Saturday) before I got into the car. He answered, “Just go out there and do what you know how to do.” “There’s no pressure,” explained the former NHRA national record holder. “And he was correct.” I came out here to become licensed and ended up having a lot of fun.
“I got to know the members of John’s PEAK team.” I knew a handful of them, but I got to spend more time with the rest of them, and, given the circumstances, you couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to get acclimated to the car and the crew,” he explained.
After a 4.007-second run at 308.28 mph on Friday, “Fast Jack” was the top qualifier Saturday, clocking 4.047 at 309.34 mph in the first round. Unfortunately, his final-round issues allowed Creasy Jr. to win in 6.395 seconds at 107.10 mph.
“We had a couple of electric gremlins, which is always frustrating,” said the guy who taught the sport’s mechanics to over 7,000 students as an instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School. If it had happened in Brainerd, it might have really put us behind the eight ball.
“We got to step on the throttle a bunch of times,” stated the driver. “I completed the runs required to renew my license, and we probably learned a few things about the automobile. Remember that John and I don’t weigh the same, and our driving techniques are slightly different. The crew and I will have to merge our techniques so that everything is predictable for them (like it was when John was driving). “The most important thing is that I can now go home and imagine exactly how this car looks, feels, sounds, and responds. I’ll feel better once we get to Brainerd. Remember, this is a brand-new automobile. “(It) had never been down the racetrack before, so I believe we checked all the boxes.”
