By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was something Brittany Force had long thought about, but she thought the possbility of sharing the winner's circle with her father, John, might have been an impossible dream.
Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park the impossible came true, with John winning the Funny Car championship and Brittany the Top Fuel crown in the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Brittany and John Force celebrate their wins in Sunday's Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
John Force out-ran No. 1 qualifier J.R. Todd to notch the 154th national event win of his legendary career with his 10th Topeka victory while No. 1 qualifier Brittany knocked off Clay Millican to post her first win of the season and her first at HMP.
It was the first time in Camping World Drag Racing Series history that a father and child duo shared the winner's circle.
“This will be one I'll never forget.'' said Brittany Force, who moved to second in Top Fuel points. "This has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I remember there have been so many close calls where we thought, 'Hey, this could be our day that we're gonna double up.' To win a race is hard enough and then to do it with your teammates, it’s almost impossible. So it's like you almost put it on the backburner.
“To double up with your dad on the same day, where you both run well all weekend long, and then you double up, it just seems impossible. So today, we pulled off the impossible, and it's pretty cool that we'll always share this. This will be a special racetrack for us and it's pretty cool to have that with him.”
John Force, who took over the Funny Car points lead for the first time since 2014, agreed.
“I had a good day,” Force said. “Robert (Hight) was probably my toughest race because it’s hard to beat Robert. I just had a car that was pretty fast, wasn’t the quickest, but I got the win. What was special was to do it with Brittany. With Courtney and Ashley (his daughters), I never got the chance because they were always Funny Car, and usually beat me, but with Brittany I finally got that double up. It means a lot. We’re a family of racers.''
Rookie Dallas Glenn won in Pro Stock, using a perfect .000 reaction time in the final round to top Kyle Koretsky.
It was only the sixth perfect reaction time in a final round in Pro Stock as Glenn earned his second victory.
“It's hard to put this win into words,” Glenn said. "But it's just like this is like a dream come true. This season, it's taught me a lot. I've had a lot of highs and I've had some lows where I've been struggling and we've gotten a little taste of everything this year.
“I felt like I did my job really well and the car is just working really good right now. I'm really excited for the Countdown (to the Championship) coming up here and Indy next because we’ve got a really fast car for it.”
Dallas Glenn hoists his Pro Stock championship trophy after winning the Menards NHRA Nationals Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
FINISHING ORDER
TOP FUEL
1. Brittany Force; 2. Clay Millican; 3. Steve Torrence; 4. Shawn Langdon; 5. Mike Salinas; 6. Billy Torrence; 7. Justin Ashley; 8. Leah Pruett; 9. Alex Laughlin; 10. Doug Kalitta; 11. Kyle Wurtzel; 12. Scott Palmer; 13. Terry Totten; 14. Antron Brown.
FUNNY CAR
1. John Force; 2. J.R. Todd; 3. Cruz Pedregon; 4. Blake Alexander; 5. Ron Capps; 6. Alexis DeJoria; 7. Robert Hight; 8. Matt Hagan; 9. Bob Tasca III; 10. Tim Wilkerson; 11. Paul Lee; 12. Jack Wyatt; 13. Jim Campbell; 14. Chris King; 15. Chad Green.
PRO STOCK
1. Dallas Glenn; 2. Kyle Koretsky; 3. Erica Enders; 4. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 5. Greg Anderson; 6. Matt Hartford; 7. Chris McGaha; 8. Aaron Stanfield; 9. Fernando Cuadra Jr.; 10. Deric Kramer; 11. Kenny Delco; 12. Cristian Cuadra; 13. Alan Prusiensky; 14. Rodger Brogdon; 15. Mason McGaha and Bruno Massel.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS
Top Fuel -- Brittany Force, 3.783 seconds, 324.75 mph def. Clay Millican, 3.830 seconds, 288.58 mph.
Funny Car -- John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.019, 321.04 def. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 4.453, 199.29.
Pro Stock -- Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.681, 205.01 def. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.651, 206.13.
Top Alcohol Dragster -- Rachel Meyer, 5.258, 276.58 def. Jasmine Salinas, Foul - Red Light.
Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Sean Bellemeur, Chevy Camaro, 5.511, 265.64 def. Kris Hool, Camaro, Foul - Red Light.
Competition Eliminator -- Greg Kamplain, Dragster, 6.955, 188.10 def. Travis Gusso, Pontic Sunfire, 8.262, 163.69.
Factory Stock Showdown -- John Cerbone, Chevy Camaro, 7.912, 174.32 def. Leah Pruett, Dodge Challenger, 8.808, 169.76.
Super Stock -- Wyatt Wagner, Chevy Camaro, 9.843, 131.96 def. Justin Lamb, Camaro, 8.418, 144.98.
Stock Eliminator -- Chris Knudsen, Chevy Camaro, 10.910, 105.31 def. Randi Lyn Shipp, Pontiac Firebird, Foul - Red Light.
Super Comp -- Austin Williams, Dragster, 8.944, 164.19 def. Christopher Dodd, Dragster, 8.947, 169.23.
Super Gas -- Collin Becker, Chevy Camaro, 9.901, 163.41 def. Jaron Miller, Chevy Corvette, Foul - Red Light.
Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Dusty Meyer, Chevy S-10, 7.055, 189.68 def. Kyle Firestone, Chevy Bel Air, 6.955, 196.64.
Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Danny Nelson, Dragster, 6.124, 213.30 def. Prescott Dean, Dragster, 6.351, 215.55.
ROUND BY ROUND RESULTS
TOP FUEL
ROUND ONE -- Clay Millican, 3.732, 323.50 def. Doug Kalitta, 3.804, 317.64; Steve Torrence, 3.736, 325.61 def. Leah Pruett, 3.776, 319.75; Brittany Force, 3.774, 328.86 def. Scott Palmer, 3.892, 299.06; Billy Torrence, 3.796, 323.89 def. Terry Totten, 4.170, 246.26; Mike Salinas, 3.756, 324.36 def. Kyle Wurtzel, 3.870, 311.34; Justin Ashley, 3.807, 321.88 def. Alex Laughlin, 3.800, 317.87; Shawn Langdon, 3.900, 307.16 def. Antron Brown, 4.914, 155.78;
QUARTERFINALS -- Force, 3.747, 329.02 was unopposed; Millican, 3.804, 315.19 def. Salinas, 3.789, 303.37; Langdon, 3.812, 313.80 def. B. Torrence, 3.822, 323.04; S. Torrence, 3.787, 320.36 def. Ashley, 3.824, 322.88;
SEMIFINALS -- Force, 3.769, 326.24 def. S. Torrence, 3.814, 317.87; Millican, 4.561, 172.01 def. Langdon, 7.121, 85.03;
FINAL -- Force, 3.783, 324.75 def. Millican, 3.830, 288.58.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE -- Blake Alexander, Ford Mustang, 4.022, 314.97 def. Jim Campbell, Dodge Charger, 5.715, 121.04; Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.811, 190.86 def. Chris King, Toyota Camary, 7.384, 88.94; J.R. Todd, Camry, 5.527, 128.21 was unopposed; Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.936, 323.58 def. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.970, 322.04; Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.920, 323.89 def. Jack Wyatt, Charger, 4.263, 243.28; John Force, Camaro, 3.975, 326.08 def. Paul Lee, Charger, 4.163, 267.16; Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.014, 316.01 def. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.044, 286.68; Ron Capps, Charger, 3.955, 325.92 def. Chad Green, Mustang, Broke;
QUARTERFINALS -- Todd, 3.996, 318.99 def. Capps, 3.994, 317.49; Force, 3.959, 324.36 def. Hight, 4.007, 312.86; Alexander, 4.126, 252.95 def. Hagan, 4.193, 276.13; Pedregon, 4.006, 311.20 def. DeJoria, 4.006, 319.52;
SEMIFINALS -- Todd, 4.040, 315.64 def. Alexander, 5.222, 159.29; Force, 4.005, 321.35 def. Pedregon, 4.063, 303.91;
FINAL -- Force, 4.019, 321.04 def. Todd, 4.453, 199.29.
PRO STOCK
ROUND ONE -- Mason McGaha, Chevy Camaro, DQ and Bruno Massel, Camaro, DQ; Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.630, 206.16 def. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 12.388, 70.82; Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.665, 205.63 def. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.682, 205.66; Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.646, 206.64 def. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.640, 206.48; Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.624, 207.27 def. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.675, 205.22; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.624, 206.57 def. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.713, 204.20; Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.607, 205.22 def. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, Foul - Red Light; Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.620, 206.92 def. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mustang, Foul - Red Light;
QUARTERFINALS -- Koretsky, 6.671, 205.60 def. Anderson, 6.655, 205.66; Glenn, 6.637, 207.11 def. Hartford, 6.655, 205.32; Coughlin Jr., 6.649, 205.04 was unopposed; Enders, 6.633, 206.61 def. C. McGaha, 6.669, 205.44;
SEMIFINALS -- Glenn, 6.659, 206.92 def. Coughlin Jr., 6.683, 204.54; Koretsky, 6.653, 205.51 def. Enders, 6.648, 206.57;
FINAL -- Glenn, 6.681, 205.01 def. Koretsky, 6.651, 206.13.
POINT STANDINGS
Top Fuel
1. Steve Torrence, 1,090; 2. Brittany Force, 748; 3. Antron Brown, 736; 4. Leah Pruett, 611; 5. Shawn Langdon, 587; 6. Mike Salinas, 571; 7. Justin Ashley, 523; 8. Billy Torrence, 510; 9. Clay Millican, 482; 10. Doug Kalitta, 471.
Funny Car
1. John Force, 816; 2. Ron Capps, 787; 3. J.R. Todd, 778; 4. Bob Tasca III, 766; 5. (tie) Matt Hagan, 748; Robert Hight, 748; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 691; 8. Cruz Pedregon, 610; 9. Tim Wilkerson, 574; 10. Blake Alexander, 417.
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, 895; 2. Aaron Stanfield, 741; 3. Erica Enders, 725; 4. Dallas Glenn, 639; 5. Matt Hartford, 622; 6. Kyle Koretsky, 618; 7. Troy Coughlin Jr., 574; 8. Mason McGaha, 550; 9. Deric Kramer, 518; 10. Chris McGaha, 409.
