Drag Illustrated Issue 130, March 2018 | Page 97

TheHOTTEST2018 “... even if it takes a while to get there, I want to improve on things. I know it’s going to be a process. Some weekends you kill it, some weekends you screw up.” B rittany Force has the most famous last name in drag racing and a major, big-time sponsor in Monster Energy on the side of her Top Fuel drag- ster. But make no mistake, she has never been afraid to do things her way. As recently as a decade ago, she had no inten- tions of racing professionally. She was the last of the Force sisters to make the jump up to the NHRA professional series. Again, it was on her terms and with her goals in mind, and in an area her iconic family had never ventured. Top Fuel became her baby and succeeding in Top Fuel became her passion. The uncharted waters have never been easy, but Force has more than made it work. In winning at Pomona last November, she clinched a Top Fuel world championship in the process, becoming the first female to win in the class since 1982 and the first Force to win in Top Fuel. It was very much a storybook tale, but only because Force was the one with the pen. “I’ve always been very independent,” Force says. “I’m confident being on my own. We’re all very close as a family, but racing in Top Fuel is some- thing I wanted to do. I knew it would not easy and it was going to be a challenge. It’s taken years, but there have been no thoughts in my mind I was going to quit. I loved it and I love being out there. You make mistakes, but you learn from them.” Force is quick to point out that there are still plenty of mistakes to fix as 2018 opens, but to March 2018 DragIllustrated.com | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 97