The semi-final rounds of the Countdown to the Championship at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona were filled with excitement. Having entered the Championship in last place as the sixth-seeded driver in Top Fuel, Brittany Force stepped up her game. When she eliminated Richie Crampton in the second round after season-favorite Steve Torrence had just lost to Antron Brown, the Mello Yello Top Fuel championship was hers. Force joins Shirley Muldowney (1982) as the second woman in NHRA history to win the championship, and gave John Force Racing its first Top Fuel crown.
In Funny Car, Robert Hight continued to show why he is one of the fastest drivers on the planet defeating Tim Wilkerson with a 3.839 pass at 332.51 mph in the first round of eliminations. When his nearest competitor, Ron Capps smoked the tires on his NAPA Dodge Charger leaving the tree, Hight clinched the NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series Funny Car world championship for 2017. However, the excitement continued to the semi-final round where Hight lined up against teammate Courtney Force.
Hight was well ahead at the finish when his turbo charger blew at over 326 mph. The explosion lifted the bodywork making it impossible for Hight to activate his cute. Some nice driving and a fast trip through the kitty litter ended in the catch fencing. The team rolled the Auto Club of Southern California / California Highway Patrol Chevy Camaro backup car out of the trailer but lost in the final round to Tommy Johnson Jr.
It was Hight's second world title during a season where he posted four national wins and set two Funny Car speed records. During the 2017 season, Hight set the elapsed-time record for Funny Car with a 3.793-second pass at Sonoma followed by a run at 339.87 mph earning the John Force Racing Team driver two more spots in the NHRA record books. The winning weekend was the first time in team history where two JFR cars won in the same season bringing home the eighteenth and nineteenth World Championship titles.
Congratulations to our E3 Spark Plug racing partners at John Forcing Racing for bringing home World Championship wins in NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions.
