LAS VEGAS, NV – October 28, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Brittany Force made the quickest run in each qualifying session on Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, powering to the provisional No. 1 position in Top Fuel at the 22nd annual NHRA Nevada Nationals.
Robert Hight (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 21st event in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the fifth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Looking to sweep both races in Las Vegas this year and stay in the championship hunt, Force went 3.665-seconds at 337.24 mph in her 11,000-horsepower Flav-R-Pac dragster. That gave her the best runs in each of the two sessions on Friday as she looks to pick up her ninth No. 1 qualifier in 2022 and 41st in her career. She closed to within 77 points of leader Justin Ashley heading into final qualifying tomorrow, knowing she’ll need another big performance in Las Vegas to keep her title aspirations alive.
“Today’s been awesome. It’s exactly what we’ve been wanting to do,” Force said. “We need to grab points where we can because this thing’s going to come down to Pomona and it’s going to come down just a number of points, so we need to grab them wherever we can. We need a long day on race day. and we’re starting off well this week. And we’re already in a good position to solid runs. That was our goal and picking up bonus points. So, we’re right on track.”
Mike Salinas was the only other car in the 3.60s, going 3.697 at 334.73, while defending event winner and four-time world champ Steve Torrence is third with a 3.705 at 332.51. Ashley is fourth after his 3.716 at 331.85.
Robert Hight helped ensure a dominant Friday for John Force Racing in the nitro categories, posting identical runs of 3.857 in the two sessions in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS. It was an impressive showing for the points leader, who also went 331.77 and is after his sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 77th in his career. He entered the weekend 10 points ahead of defending world champ Ron Capps and picked up some much-needed bonus points during the first two sessions. It was also a huge momentum boost for the three-time world champion, who was eager to get back into action this weekend after a semifinal loss in Dallas.
“Those two runs, those were huge. We need every point we can get….
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