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Published: 11/14/2022

Brittany Force Wins 2022 Top Fuel Championship in Pomona

Author: THE BLOCK

Photos: AUTO IMAGERY, INC.

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On Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Team Chevy's Brittany Force capped off a dream season by claiming her second NHRA Top Fuel championship, while fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Prock and Greg Anderson sent retiring team members out in style with a pair of storybook wins.

 

On Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Team Chevy's Brittany Force capped off a dream season by claiming her second NHRA Top Fuel championship, while fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Prock and Greg Anderson sent retiring team members out in style with a pair of storybook wins.

 

Brittany Force drove her John Force Racing Chevrolet dragster to her second Top Fuel championship on Sunday in the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

 

Force entered the Auto Club NHRA Finals at the famed Southern California drag strip with the points lead in the Top Fuel category, having vaulted to the top of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series standings with a clutch win in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Her second title was far from assured though, with five drivers still in mathematical contention when the Pomona event got underway.

In the end, her John Force Racing (JFR) team would not be denied.

Force qualified No. 1 for the 10th time in 2022 and the 42nd time in her career, breaking her own national speed record in the process with a Friday-evening blast that reached 338.94 mph. The qualifying effort also padded her points lead.

When Sunday eliminations commenced, Force's challengers began to fall by the wayside in the first round while she advanced, ensuring her of the title before the second round began. With the triumph, Force became just the fourth woman in NHRA history to score multiple NHRA championships. Her first crown came in 2017.

 

Force won a career-best five races in 2022.

"I want people to remember this day here in Pomona with this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team –
David Grubnic, Mac Savage, every single one of my guys," said the 36-year-old native of Yorba Linda, California. "We have been working all season long, we never gave up, and then we struggled in the Countdown and we recovered when we needed to in Vegas and win it here today in Pomona.

"I have to thank every single one of my guys and our sponsors. We wouldn't be here without them today, and I'm just so proud of everybody. It just seems surreal right now. I can't believe it ended up this way."

Force has won a total of 16 races in her career, and her career-high five victories in 2022 helped propel her Chevrolet dragster to the Top Fuel title.

"This year Brittany capitalized on momentum coming out of Las Vegas and her and her team rose to the occasion with speed at the right times all weekend long," said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president, Performance and Motorsports. "We knew it would come down to the last race. When the pressure was on, Brittany and her team delivered in true championship form. It's great to see Brittany and the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac John Force Racing team clinch their second championship. We're proud to race with them."

On Sunday, Force ultimately bowed out in the semifinal round after losing to her JFR teammate Austin Prock, who went on to score the event win in his Chevrolet dragster.

Austin Prock (near lane) drove his JFR-prepared Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster to his second win of the season in Pomona.

Prock qualified in the No. 5 spot and turned in four consistent passes in the low 3.7-second range or better as he marched to his second win of the year and third of his career. He made his quickest run of the day in the final round, laying down a lap of 3.641 seconds at 336.23 mph.

Prock came on strong in the Countdown to the Championship and finished the year third in the Top Fuel standings.

The win was also a fitting send-off for the retiring Rahn Tobler, the legendary crew chief who joined Prock's team this season.

"This has been a dream of mine to win at Pomona," Prock said. "I think I've been in the final three times and to finally get it done for Rahn Tobler – the final race of his career and to go out in the fashion he did just shows what a legend he is. I've been blessed to race with him, blessed with the opportunity to even do this."

Robert Hight came up just a handful of points shy of scoring the Funny Car championship for John Force Racing.

In the Funny Car ranks, Robert Hight entered the Pomona event with the points lead and looked to score his fourth championship in his JFR Camaro SS. However, Hight fell in the second round and came up just three points shy of the title. Nevertheless, 2022 was a wildly successful season for Hight, who scored a career-best eight wins to bring his career total to 61.

Sixteen-time champion John Force came home fifth in the final Funny Car standings after exiting Pomona in the second round as well. Force drove his Camaro SS to one win this year and has a staggering 155 for his career.

In a battle of five-time champions, Greg Anderson (near lane) bested Erica Enders on a holeshot in an all-Camaro final round.

 

In Pro Stock, Team Chevy's Erica Enders wrapped up her fifth title during the Las Vegas event at the end of October on the strength of a career-best 10 wins on the season. There was still one more Wally trophy up for grabs at Pomona though, along with final points positions to be settled.

Sunday's final round came down to an all-Camaro final between Enders and fellow five-time champion Greg Anderson – the two current titans of the class.

Anderson's KB Racing Camaro SS bettered Enders' Camaro SS mount from the Elite Motorsports stable thanks to a holeshot by the KB driver. While Anderson clocked a 6.516-second pass at 210.31 mph to Enders' 6.515 at 210.31, Anderson's .020 reaction time compared to Enders' .061 allowed him to get to the finish line first.

 

Greg Anderson and KB Racing have been winning together for two decades.

 

The win, the 101st of Anderson's career, was also a fitting swan song for retiring team owner Ken Black, who started the team in 2002.

"Ken Black is responsible for every one of my wins," said Anderson, who came home second in the final standings. "He's made all of my hopes and dreams come true. Who knows what my life would have been if it wasn't for him. He gave me this wonderful opportunity 20 years ago, and we tried to make the most of it. It's because of him that we've been able to be a huge success. We have a lot to be proud of because of him."

Throughout 2022 Team Chevy won every Pro Stock race, while upstart Camrie Caruso earned NHRA Rookie of the Year honors thanks to her Pro Stock success behind the wheel of her Camaro SS from Caruso Family Racing.

In Pomona, Chevrolet-powered Sportsman drivers also had a strong weekend. They were led by San Dimas, California's Tim Seymour, who drove his COPO Camaro to a runner-up result in Super Stock.

Additionally, last month Chevrolet won the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown championship for the third consecutive year as David Barton steered his COPO to his second category title and first since 2017. Barton won three events on the season and COPO drivers took five of eight wins in the series spotlighting supercharged factory muscle from the Big Three.

With championships ranging from John Force Racing's nitromethane-powered machines to the factory hot rods of Pro Stock and beyond, 2022 was yet another banner year in NHRA for the Bowtie.

Be sure to keep watching the BLOCK for much more on Chevrolet Performance and all motorsports disciplines.