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Zero to 334 Miles per Hour in 3.66 Seconds in Brainerd, Minnesota

Brittany Force rebounded from a forgettable weekend in Kansas last week by arriving in Minnesota and posting two solid and consistent days of qualifying to earn a first-round bye for Sunday's Lucas Oil Nationals.
Brittany Force 6 photos
Photo: NHRA
NHRA Lucas Oil NationalsNHRA Lucas Oil NationalsNHRA Lucas Oil NationalsNHRA Lucas Oil NationalsNHRA Lucas Oil Nationals
She followed up Friday's performance with a Saturday showing that resulted in her winning her sixth low qualifier award this season and the 38th of her career. Her run on Saturday of 3.661 seconds at 334.64 (538.55 kph) tied for her second fastest run this year behind her season best of 3.654 at Richmond in May. She went on to defeat rival Steve Torrence that weekend and hopes to come out on top again Sunday. She needed a final run in Q4 to overcome Josh Hart, who briefly took the lead but finished behind Force in second place.

Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster team leads second-place Mike Salinas in the championship standings by 31 points after 14 of 22 events of the season. She added six bonus points to her score by taking the top spot. Salinas, in his Scrappers Racing car, is having a frustrating weekend, only able to qualify 13th out of 15 cars in the field.

The Funny Car division championship seems to be in the capable hands of Robert Hight and his Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS, but Matt Hagan, in second place 237 points behind, is still running strong. After damaging their MOPAR 85th Anniversary charger in winning the Funny Car top spot, the Dodge Power Brokers Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat team will have to change bodies for Sunday's racing.

Hagan praised the cooler weather in Minnesota after struggling last week in the heat of Kansas. He posted consecutive times of 3.89 seconds earlier on Saturday and finished with a 3.843 seconds 331.36 mph (533.27 kph) run to seal the top spot.

Last week's winner and hottest Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III finished in third and will face Dale Creasy Jr. in Sunday's initial round. John Force, in his Peak Chevrolet Camaro SS, will match up against Ron Capps in the first round. Capps is just ahead of Force in third of the NHRA championship standings.
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