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B. Force, Hight and M. Smith Cap Off Virginia NHRA Nationals with Victories

220516 Force, Hight double for JFR in Virginia; Smith wins Pro Stock Motorcycle grudge final (678)

DINWIDDIE, VA – May 16, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Brittany Force finished off a dominant weekend that included track records and a No. 1 qualifier with an impressive Top Fuel victory on Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park, helping John Force Racing to a Top Fuel and Funny Car sweep at the Virginia NHRA Nationals.

Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the seventh of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Force never trailed in the final round against four-time defending world champion Steve Torrence, going 3.770-seconds at 334.07 mph in her 11,000-horsepower Flav-R-Pac dragster to win for the third time this season. After the Top Fuel points leader set both ends of the track record in qualifying, she knocked off Shawn Langdon and Mike Salinas to reach the final round, finishing off NHRA’s first race at Virginia Motorsports Park since 2019 with her 14th career win. It was particularly rewarding to finish off the JFR sweep, extending her points lead to 81 over rival Torrence.

“This has been our greatest season yet,” Force said. “To come on strong with this many wins, I’m so excited. We’ve never won here in Virginia, so it was very cool to get this win. This Wally (trophy) is for (crew chief) David Grubnic because he makes the impossible happen. Any win is special, but to qualify No. 1, set the track record and then get the win, it’s great. Robert and I seem to have a lot of luck together, and it was great to see him win. Our whole team has come a long way and we’re already ahead of ourselves from last year.”

Torrence reached his first final round this season and 78th in his standout career thanks to wins against Scott Palmer, Tony Schumacher, and Austin Prock. He also moved into second in points.

Hight helped ensure a nitro sweep for JFR, delivering a 3.907 at 328.86 in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS in the Funny Car final round against…

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