INDIANAPOLIS – Brittany Force’s weekend at the 65th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals keeps getting better, as she broke the Top Fuel track record on Saturday at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis to stay in the provisional No. 1 spot.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the final regular-season race of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
Force put down an impressive blast of 3.645 seconds at 332.26 mph to set the track record in her Advance Auto Parts dragster and remain in the top spot in what is already the quickest qualifying field in Top Fuel history. The 2017 world champion is chasing her first Indy win and stays in line to claim her sixth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 16th overall.
The Torrence family is close behind, as Billy Torrence moved to second after his pass of 3.655 seconds at a track speed record of 333.33 mph, while his son, Steve, the defending world champ and points leader, is third.
“They’ve all felt fast this weekend and consistency is really what we’ve been looking for,” said Force, who has one win in 2019. “That’s the main thing we’ve been struggling with and to put a number like that on the board, that was pretty awesome. I was pumped when they told me what we ran. I knew we were going to push again, but I didn’t know conditions were going to be better. We stepped it up and got around everybody. It’s the biggest race of the season and it’s Indy, and everything is kind of falling together at the right time.”
Funny Car’s Beckman stayed in the No. 1 position, improving on his performance from Friday with a run of 3.861 seconds at 330.07 mph in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. Beckman, who is after his first win of the year, is closing in on first No. 1 qualifier this year and 25th in his career. Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan made a huge leap in the final qualifying session, jumping from 13th to second. John Force is currently qualified third.
In Pro Stock, points leader Butner moved into the top spot in his Jim Butner Auto Group Camaro after going 6.559 seconds at 210.28 mph. He is trying for his third No. 1 qualifier this year and 11th in his career. Butner is also after his first Pro Stock win at Indy, looking to become the sixth straight first-time winner in the class at the prestigious race. Butner’s KB Racing teammate, Jason Line, improved on his top time from Friday but now sits in second. Erica Enders is a spot back in third.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Sampey jumped into the No. 1 position with a 6.816-second pass at 195.53 mph on her Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson FXDR. If it holds, it would be Sampey’s first No. 1 qualifier since 2016 and 50th in her career. The run also helped Sampey’s playoff chances, as the three-time world champion and two-time Indy winner came into the weekend ninth in points. Defending world champion Matt Smith also made a big move on Saturday into second. Points leader Andrew Hines follows in third.