John Force Racing will once again field four teams in 2013 – the difference: it’s three Funny Cars and a Top Fuel dragster.
Brittany Force, the third of Force’s four daughters, will make her debut in the Top Fuel division in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and compete for the Auto Club Road to the Future Award as Rookie of the Year, an award previously won by her brother-in-law Robert Hight, older sister Ashley Force Hood and younger sister Courtney Force, who won the award in 2012.
26-year-old Force, a graduate of California State University – Fullerton, will drive a dragster powered by the Ford BOSS 500 nitro engine developed by JFR in collaboration with Ford Racing and sponsored by Castrol Edge; the dragster will be maintained by long-time JFR crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli and assistant crew chief Eric Lane.
“It really is a big honor to be the first to drive a Top Fuel dragster at John Force Racing,” said Force on NHRA.com. “This team has done so much over the years to evolve, and adding a Top Fuel car into the mix I believe will help us continue to grow as a team.”
“Being able to drive the first JFR Top Fuel dragster with my dad’s support and with Castrol Edge as my sponsor is still very surreal to me, but I think it’s something we’re all excited about, and I’m going to do the best job that I can.”
As mentioned, JFR will still only field four teams, as Mike Neff will return to the tuner’s role on John Force’s Castrol Ford Mustang in 2013. Neff finished third in Funny Car points in 2012.
“I never planned on driving for very long,” said Neff, who has two titles as a crew chief – 2005 with Gary Scelzi and 2010 with Force. “The first couple of years I drove (2008 and 2009), I felt unsatisfied. I didn’t win like I wanted to, and I just didn’t feel like it was a success. Getting the opportunity to drive again (after Force Hood stepped out of the cockpit to start a family) was totally different. I’m proud of what we accomplished. We won Indy twice (2011 and 2012) and led the points for most of the season (in 2011). It was just a great experience.”
Find out more about John Force Racing at johnforceracing.com.
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