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Brittany Force Rumbles to Top Fuel Qualifying Lead in Denver

After celebrating her 36th birthday just under ten days ago, the California State Fullerton University graduate is looking for a belated present in the form of a win at the Mile-High Nationals in Denver.
Brittany Force 7 photos
Photo: NHRA
Denver NHRADenver NHRADenver NHRADenver NHRADenver NHRADenver NHRA
The altitude may have played tricks on Force and her Flav-R-Pak team on Friday as they struggled to put meaningful runs together and lagged behind Friday's leader Leah Pruett. On Saturday, Force piloted her bright yellow racer to an impressive 3.758 seconds run, besting second place qualifier Justin Ashley by .007. Leah Pruett fell to third after leading Friday, but did manage to improve her time by four-thousandths of a second clocking in at 3.771.

With 17 cars in the mix, the Flav-R-Pak team aimed to be in the top 5 going into race day. Sunday's have not always been good for Force as she is often a solid qualifier, but fails to excel when it matters most. She has never won at Denver, nor has she ever won on NHRA's Western Swing. Given a forecast calling for some of the hottest weather of the week, getting to the winner's circle may be more challenging.

Saturday saw Matt Hagan, the defending Denver champion holding on to the top spot in the Funny Car division by posting a 3.908 time. Less than six-hundredths of a second separates the top eight drivers in the division. Trailing Hagan is Robert Hight (3.929), John Force (3.930), and Bob Tasca III (3.963).

In the Pro Stock division, Aaron Stanfield earned the time spot with a 6.946 run in his Janac Bros/J3 Energy Camaro followed by Erica Enders and her Elite/Melling team. Enders briefly took the lead with a run of 6.938, but Stanfield responded by posting a 6.934 time.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle division qualifying was dominated by the husband and wife duo of Matt and Angie Smith who scored the two top spots. Mike ran a time of 7.090 and set a track record of 189.79 mph (305 kph). Angie, meanwhile, rode her pink Denso Buell to a time of 7.150.
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