Brittany Force Reflects On A NHRA Career At Full Throttle And What Comes Next

GAINESVILLE, FL – MARCH 11: Brittany Force (#1 Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster) watches her crew prepare her dragster during qualfying for the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on March 11, 2023 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, FL. (Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

When Brittany Force commits to something, she floors it. After all you don’t become the fastest woman in NHRA history by easing into the throttle. For 13 of her 39 years, she’s strapped into a Top Fuel dragster and launched herself down quarter-mile dragstrips at over 330 miles an hour. That’s not a career you do halfway. But now, after two NHRA championships, a cabinet full of Wallys, record-setting runs, and a lifetime’s worth of moments, she’s turning the page to start a new chapter.

That news isn’t new — Force announced that she would step away to start a family with her husband, Bobby, a few weeks ago. But what’s worth pausing on now isn’t the headline, it’s the meaning behind it. Force isn’t retiring so much as shifting gears, and taking time to reflect on a career she says has already given her more than she ever dreamed.

“If I were to rewind back to 2013, my rookie season, I think I’ve accomplished more than I ever could have imagined,” Force says. “My big focus (then) was I just want to get a win. I wanted to stand in a winner’s circle with my team.”

That focus became her eyes on the biggest prize, an NHRA Top Fuel title. Something her legendary father accomplished an astounding 16 times. Brittany earned not just one, but two NHRA Top Fuel titles.

“I never imagined two championships ever,” she says. “And when that first one came, that’s really when it was, “okay, now we want more’.”

Those two titles came in 2017 and 2022. The first was a milestone — she was the first woman since Shirley Muldowney in 1982 to win NHRA’s Top Fuel crown. The second was validation, proof that the first wasn’t a one-off. And in true Force fashion, both came with different kinds of pressure: fighting for the No. 1 spot in 2017, then defending it in 2022.

“You can’t beat a championship,” she said. “But to be able to do it twice — the first time chasing it, the second time being chased — that was really exciting.”

Yet her career highlights aren’t just etched in the record books. One of her most vivid memories came long before a title — lining up against her father, the legendary John Force, years ago during a test session in Florida.

“I remember looking over and seeing my dad’s Castrol car in the lane next to me, the sunset in the background. It was a surreal moment,” she said. “I grew up watching him, and suddenly I was racing against him. He completely kicked my ass that day, but just to be able to see that was something I never thought I would experience. And it was such a moment that hit me so hard. I’ll never forget it.”

Force has also carried a role she didn’t initially expect: that of a trailblazer. She’s always been candid about the weight and reward of inspiring other women in motorsports.

“I’ve had so many females come up to me and say, ‘You inspired me to chase my own path.’ That’s a win in itself,” she says. “When I started, the sport was so male-dominated. Now you see more women not just driving, but working on teams, in PR, in marketing. It’s opened people’s eyes.”

Which brings us back to her decision. For Force, stepping away wasn’t about slowing down but choosing where to direct her energy. Marriage, starting a family, and her father’s recent accident all put things into perspective. And in doing so, she’s following a well-worn path her sisters once took. Both Ashley and Courtney Force were stars in the sport before stepping away to start families of their own. Brittany, the youngest of the four Force daughters, now carries on that same family tradition — chase the dream at full throttle, then knowing when it’s time to shift into another gear.

“I believe you dedicate everything to driving — to my team, to chasing a championship — or you dedicate everything to starting a family,” she says. “I don’t think you can do both. For me, I knew deep down it was time. I’ve given 13 years to this sport, and I’m ready for a shift.”

Still, this isn’t a hard stop. Force is quick to point out she isn’t disappearing. She plans to remain involved with John Force Racing. And even that has a family precedent; oldest sister Adria Hight built her career outside the racecar as CFO of John Force Racing.

And the door to driving again isn’t locked shut.

“I love NHRA drag racing,” she says. “I’ll definitely still be out at the races. The door isn’t closed on driving — I just can’t make that decision now.”

And as for her legacy? That’s something she doesn’t see as hers alone.

“When you say legacy, it can’t just be mine. It’s my family’s,” she says. “We’ve all shared this passion. My dad carved the path, my sisters drove, and I found success in Top Fuel.”

Force makes it clear that family in this context isn’t just blood — it’s every single person at John Force Racing. The crew chiefs, the crew guys, the people in the shop.

“Not only is it this family, but we are under John Force Racing umbrella,” she says. “We are one family, one team.”

In drag racing, four seconds defines a run. In life, it can take decades to define what truly matters. By stepping back on her own terms, Brittany Force is sending a message as powerful as any record-setting pass: that even in a world built on speed, sometimes the bravest move is slowing down.