GAINESVILLE, FL – March 11, 2023 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Reigning world champ Brittany Force opened the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season in impressive fashion, racing to the provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday at the 54th Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the first of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. The second qualifying session in Top Fuel and Funny Car on Friday was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Force, who posted 10 No. 1 qualifiers in her championship season a year ago, went 3.699-seconds at 336.99 mph to kick off the season in her 11,000-horsepower Monster Energy dragster. Force’s first career victory in Top Fuel came in Gainesville in 2016 and she’s eager to repeat that to start her championship defense.
“It felt really good to come out at the first race and the first run of the season and go to the top,” Force said. “It was incredible. We spent a lot of hours and a lot of days testing this off-season, and we kind of picked up where we left off last year. It’s the same group of guys and it’s a great start to the season.
“We always want to improve and that’s our motivation. We had five wins last season and we want more, and ultimately, we want a back-to-back championship. I look at that championship as motivation because we want to do it again.”
Selections were also made for the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, which takes place on Saturday in Gainesville. Force picked Clay Millican with her first selection, while Steve Torrence, the defending Callout winner, chose Doug Kalitta and Justin Ashley picked Mike Salinas, making Josh Hart and Austin Prock the final matchup. The opening round takes place at 1:20 p.m. ET on Saturday.
In Funny Car, Tasca went 3.888 at 330.72 in his 11,000-horsepower PPG Ford Mustang to jump to the top spot. If it holds, it would be his 10th career No. 1 qualifier. With new crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara in place for the 2023 season, it was an impressive showing for Tasca, who posted solid results in testing and has big hopes for the upcoming year.
“We lost all but two people on our team and we brought in Todd Okuhara and Aaron Brooks, and it’s exactly what my program needed,” Tasca said. “We didn’t do enough at the beginning and end of…
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