In the days leading up to the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season-opening NHRA Gatornationals, Brittany Force and her Monster Energy Top Fuel team made waves with an eye-popping test run down the historic Gainesville Raceway surface. The two-time Top Fuel world champion posted a 3.644-second pass at 334.40 mph on the scoreboard, but it was Force’ s eighth-mile time that went viral when her incrementals were posted online. Though it’ s not an official record since it happened during testing, Force’ s 302.69 mph was the fastest eighth-mile pass in drag racing history. The performance was a preview of what’ s to come this season, and it earned Force and her team this issue’ s PEAK Performer title.

Photographs by Chris Sears and Luke Nieuwhof