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Brittany lost to her sister Courtney in
the semi-final on July 19, 2009 in Top Alcohol
Dragster. One of the sister's was set to win.
Ashley went to the finals leading the Funny Car
standings but lost and is now second in that
class.
Bio
Rebel With a
Cause
Finding Her Own
Way
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Courtney, Ashley, Brittany, the
Force sisters.
Bio
Rebel With a Cause
Brittany Force's driving career rapidly is picking
up speed.
In fact, the 21–year–old daughter of
drag racing icon John Force will cross the finish
line this year at quarter mile speeds almost 100
miles an hour faster than those she attained in her
first three seasons in the sport.
One of the stars of the A&E Network series
Driving Force which ended a two–year run in
2007, Brittany will split time with younger sister
Courtney, 19, at the wheel of a
BrandSource–backed A–Fuel dragster
prepared and maintained by veterans Jerry Darien
and Ken Meadows.
Identified by Force as his "problem child,"
Brittany is a headstrong California blonde with a
serious "need for speed," a need that hasn't always
been addressed in the most positive manner.
A senior at Santiago Canyon College, she has
learned to channel that need into driving
competitively in sanctioned NHRA Lucas Oil Series
events.
Unlike her older sisters, Adria and Ashley,
Brittany initially eschewed a job at John Force
Racing, Inc., in Yorba Linda, Ca., to work instead
at a pizza café. An even more obvious
manifestation of her rebellious nature was the "I
Love N.Y." T–shirt she wore on her father's
56th birthday while every other woman in the team
compound was wearing "I Love John Force"
apparel.
Like her father and sisters, Brittany is
intensely competitive once she gets to the track
and climbs into the cockpit. Nevertheless, a career
in racing is no certainty. She also loves the
glamour of Hollywood and since she is studying to
become a teacher, all her options remain open.
"She's tough when she's in the car," her father
said, "but she's got to learn to do everything
else, like giving enough time to the sponsors and
the media and the fans. She's always gone her own
way, but if she wants to race, I'll do all I can to
give her a chance (to succeed)."
Source: www.castrol.com/castrol/genericarticle.do?categoryId=82915625&contentId=7016719
Finding Her Own Way
Brittany Force is not what you expect. She is her
own person all the time. This is both a sense of
pride and frustration for her 14-time Funny Car
Champion John Force. She is simultaneously
passionate about racing as well as keeping her
options open for a career outside of racing.
At the season opening test season Brittany made
the two quickest runs among cars competing in the
Top Alcohol Dragster category on the first day of
testing and then that evening she and her mother,
Laurie, boarded a flight to New York City where she
will study at Hunter College, the largest school in
the City University of New York system, until
May.
“It’s kind of like a study abroad
program,” Brittany said of her Hunter College
curriculum. “I’ll be taking courses up
there that will transfer back to (Cal
State-Fullerton) toward my major.
The prospect of moving to New York City did not
faze the youngster from Southern California but it
had a big impact on her champion caliber
father.
“Everyone says, ‘are you scared?’
I say, ‘no, I’m not scared, but I’m
scared for my dad.’ Every single day he begged
me not to go. It’s not like I’m going
away forever. I’m still going to be racing.
I’ll be back for Pomona (and the Kragen
O’Reilly Winternationals). I’m not going
to be able to qualify on Thursday, but I’ll
come in Thursday night and be at Auto Club Raceway
for the rest of the weekend.”
The testing runs to open the season were
exciting and nerve-wracking for the young
driver.
“I hadn’t been in the car since the
Auto Club Finals (last November),” she said,
“so I was a little nervous. That’s always
how it is after not being in the car for awhile.
After the first pass, though, it was fine. It did
shake a little, half track, but I was able to drive
right through it and now I’m looking forward
to Pomona.”
The 22-year-old daughter of the drag racing icon
made the move to Top Alcohol Dragster last season
along with her sister Courtney and continued to
improve as the season progressed.
She qualified at four national events racing a
very limited schedule due to commitments revolving
around her college course work. She won her first
round of TAD eliminations in Seattle.
One of the stars of the A&E Network series
Driving Force, which ended a two-year run in 2007,
Brittany split time with younger sister Courtney,
20, last season at the wheel of a 250 mph A-Fuel
dragster prepared and maintained by veteran Jerry
Darien.
Brittany completed all the necessary A-Fuel
licensing runs in February of 2008 at Firebird
Raceway. The process took a little longer than
anticipated but the pay-off was a relief for
everyone involved.
“It was just a normal run and it felt good.
I was definitely nervous and sweating it out before
I got in the car. My dad is excited now to have us
all licensed. I am excited to have my A-Fuel
license since now we can continue to move
forward.”
Identified by Force as his “problem
child,” Brittany is a headstrong California
blonde with a serious “need for speed,” a
need that hasn’t always been addressed in the
most positive manner.
Unlike her older sisters, Adria and Ashley,
Brittany initially eschewed a job at John Force
Racing, Inc., in Yorba Linda, Calif., to work
instead at a pizza café. An even more
obvious manifestation of her rebellious nature was
the “I Love N.Y.” T-shirt she wore on her
father’s 56th birthday while every other woman
in the team compound was wearing “I Love John
Force” apparel.
Like her father and sisters, Brittany is
intensely competitive once she gets to the track
and climbs into the cockpit. Nevertheless, a career
in racing is no certainty. She also loves the
glamour of Hollywood and since she is studying to
become a teacher, all her options remain open.
“She’s tough when she’s in the
car,” her father said, “but she’s
got to learn to do everything else, like giving
enough time to the sponsors and the media and the
fans. She’s always gone her own way, but if
she wants to race, I’ll do all I can to give
her a chance (to succeed).”
Source: www.brittanyforce.com
Saturday June 4, 2005 - Raceday 1
In the 64 car Super Comp field that showed up at
California Dragway, Megan McKernan was able to
claim the No. 1 Qualifying spot. After several
rounds of racing Megan made it to the 5th round out
of 6 rounds. This was quite an accomplishment after
her first competitive day of racing.
Brittany took her Super Comp dragster
into the 2nd round before losing with a malfunction
in the car. Courtney is racing the dragster that
her older sister Ashley got her racing start with.
A new Victory Race Cars dragster is being built for
Brittany and Courtney will take over driving
this car in about a month.
With day one behind them, both Brittany
and Megan prepared themselves for day two race on
Sunday.
John Force was very impressed with how well
California Dragway - track manager, Dave Danish and
his crew prepared the racetrack and ran the races
both days. Force commented, “these guys do a
great job and the really make it fun to race at
this local hometown track. It gives a lot of racers
a great place to race and pit at a first-class
facility”.
Sunday June 5, 2005 - Raceday # 2
Sunday’s race was a big Force family reunion,
as Ashley and her mom Laurie flew in from Memphis
where Ashley had been racing her Castrol/Hot Wheels
dragster to see the “Next Generation”
girls go a few rounds; along with their other
sister Adria and the newest Hight/Force newborn
– Autumn.
Everyone took the day in stride as Megan lost in
the first round and Brittany was able to take her
car into the 3rd round before being eliminated. The
high point of the day was Brittany’s
perfect reaction time in the 2nd round of .000.
John Force commented, ‘that’s why
we’re training these girls early so
they’ll be perfect on the tree when they take
on the funny car boys someday in the
future!!!”
Not only were the girls racing that weekend,
they were also the main attraction of a new
“reality TV show” featuring the Force
Family that is being pitched to several networks at
the present time. Brent Travers was on hand with a
small film crew to capture the day of racing with
the two youngest Force daughters.
June 8, 2005 - Super Comp Update
The John Force Racing’s “Next
Generation” racing program continues to take
shape with the youngest Force daughters –
Brittany & Courtney, and Megan the
daughter of Auto Club of Southern California
president - Tom McKernan. These three young,
talented and beautiful girls were testing and
racing their Super Comp dragsters last week at the
California Dragway in Fontana, CA.
John Force rented the dragstrip on Thursday to
give all the girls plenty of seat time and practice
before the weekend’s Lucas Oil Super Comp
Association point’s race. Brittany,
Megan and Courtney all logged in about 12 runs each
that day and showed great promise. They were able
to get individual runs, as well as plenty of
side-by-side runs to prepare Megan and
Brittany for the Saturday and Sunday
races.
Roger Conley is the head crew chief and tuner
for all three cars with Jack Beckman as assistant
crew chief. Jack is not only racing himself in the
NHRA events this year, but he’s also a Frank
Hawley Drag Racing School instructor that taught
all three girls to drive their Super Comp racecars.
Also part of the race crew was the Force
girl’s uncle – Robert Hight along with
Shane Whaling and Eric Boutchyard from the CNC
Machine Shop at the Force Racing facility in Yorba
Linda. John Force watched on with fellow
“proud” father Tom McKernan as each of
the girls took instructions, and listened intently
before and after each pass down the quarter mile.
All three had great reaction times, and ran very
close to the 8.90 second index for this class.
* * *
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