Brittany Force Has Reason to Feel Most Pressure at NHRA U.S. Nationals

• Brittany Force has no 'gimmes,' can’t rely on ‘perfect attendance rule’ this year to make the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
  

• With nothing to lose, Josh Hart prepared to challenge Force at the NHRA U.S. Nationals for the final playoff spot.

• NHRA’s marquee event will award points-and-a-half, plus up to 20 qualifying bonus points in the course of five sessions.

Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, Justin Ashley, Steve Torrence, and Antron Brown have filled the first half of the NHRA’s Top Fuel field for the Countdown to the Championship.

But the real drama at this weekend’s Toyota U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis will come from the bottom of the elite-10 list, where Brittany Force hopes to shake her millstone of mediocrity and keep her No. 10 position for the start of the six-race playoff. She won’t be able to take advantage of the “perfect attendance rule,” for she opted out of the Norwalk race in June to be with her family following dad John Force’s serious accident at Richmond.

No. 11-ranked Josh Hart (and No. 12 Shawn Reed) can make the Countdown field through his perfect attendance, but he’d rather aim for a stellar U.S. Nationals and possibly vault to as high as seventh place when the Countdown begins Sept. 13th at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, Pa. In doing that, he would bump out Force, the two-time class champion.

This event awards points and half for round-wins and a maximum of 20 bonus points through five qualifying sessions. Hart trails Force by just 55 points, and she needs 57 points to pass No. 9 Billy Torrence.

Looking at the points chart, a perfect weekend—winning the event (150 points), being the top qualifier (10 bonus points) and four points for lowest time in each of the five qualifying sessions (20 bonus points max)—is worth 180 points.

Fresh off what he called “some of our best runs of the season” at a Brainerd, Minn., test session last week, Hart said he’s realistic but optimistic. Besides, he has a seemingly magical knack for reeling off improbable performances. (“I have to remind myself sometimes that we have recorded some amazing wins,” the two-time Indianapolis winner in the Top Alcohol Dragster class said.)

“We’ll have to fight to stay in the Countdown at the biggest race of the season,” Force said after losing in the first round at Brainerd’s Lucas Oil Nationals, where she had said, “Doing well is going to be critical.”

She had confidence from winning the “Night Under Fire” exhibition extravaganza the week before at Norwalk, Ohio, but it eroded. That left her in 10th place, a “risky position this late in the regular season,” she said. “We need to move up into a safer spot before the Countdown resets. I’m very confident in this David Grubnic/John Collins-run team. We have a lot of work to do, but it will be worth it when we get there.”

Funny Car Picture

In Funny Car, Paul Lee is in a similar situation as Force.

The Seattle runner-up—who skipped the Epping, N.H., event—hopes to hang onto the 10th and final performance-based Countdown slot. Alexis DeJoria, on Lee’s heels 16 points back, has automatic entrance into the Countdown for having competed in every event, as do the next four non-top-10 drivers: Cruz Pedregon, Buddy Hull, and Dave Richards.

But in the mix still are DeJoria and Pedregon, a three-time U.S. Nationals winner who promised, “We're planning to throw it down and see who's standing at the end. We like our chances."

And in Pro Stock

The most vulnerable of dropping from the top 10 in Pro Stock is No. 10-ranked Eric Latino (who has attended all races this season). Just 97 points separate him and No. 14 David Cuadra (who has no provisional).

Also jockeying for a better start to the Countdown are guaranteed entrants Mason McGaha (11th), Matt Hartford (12th), and Chris McGaha (13th).

Qualifying begins this Friday night with one session. Two more sessions are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday eliminations will finalize Countdown fields in Top Fuel, as well as in Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.