Catching Up with Brittany Force

           

       Brittany Force is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. The Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future award winner, is now in her sophomore year in the Top Fuel ranks. We talk about everything from her goals for the 2014 season to must-have beauty products!

Now that your rookie year is behind you, what are you focusing on this year? 

BF: Right now, pretty much the same goals I had last year. Qualify at every national event, go after my first win, and just keep improving. To be able to come out here and we ran career best ET, 3.77, that’s really exciting. My guys are pumped, they were excited when that number came on the board so that’s just pushing us. Really to just go after our first win would be my number one goal right now. 

What are you guys doing to help prepare for next year? 

BF:  We’ve had a good time running with Castrol, my dad’s been with Castrol for 28 years. I was excited when they took me on board, it’s just a bummer that it has to end. Castrol’s been awesome, they’ve always been so supportive. To run my rookie season with Castrol Edge on my car was just awesome. I’m gonna fight it out for them this year, and try to bring home a win for them. Unfortunately, we wont be with them in 2015, so right now we’re just shopping around trying to find sponsors. We’re talking to a few people but we don't have anything lined up, so hopefully we’ll get something in the works pretty soon.

Just a few years ago, you were a school teacher. What crystalized your love for drag racing? 

BF: I’ve always loved drag racing. To be out here it’s my second home, my second family, everyone out here, I love being out here. Nothing will ever change that. Whether I went into teaching or some other kind of profession, I’d still be out here on the weekends supporting my family just because I've always had a passion and love for the sport of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing, I love to be out here. My plan was, I graduated school, ended up getting my teaching credential, worked with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders for an entire year, and I loved every second of it. I wanted to get back in my A/Fuel car and really start competing. Then after a few years of that I thought I’ll go back to teaching, was my original plan. I wanted to get back in the seat of my car and really compete, I wasn't able to be as competitive as I was when I was running A/Fuel because I was still going to shcool at the time so I didn't go to every single event. I really wanted to get back in that car and really start competing out there. Then the oppertunity came along to jump in a Top Fuel car. If you would've asked me two years ago if I'd be competeing in Top Fuel car I would've said no. Those things are way too fast, those things are crazy, there's no way. I'm one, I will always try something once. That opportunity came along and I jumped right in. The problem was once I got in, I wasn't coming out, I was hooked. So my whole career path changed and that's crazy because two years ago I would've said no way I would be driving a Top Fuel car.

                  

     

What can you tell as about your new reality TV show? 

BF: You know that’s still in the works, my dad keeps bringing that up. It's definitely a challenge. I didn't love it the first time around, but if it's going to be a way to bring new sponsors to fund our team for 2015, I'm onboard for it. 

What can NHRA do to attract a female audience?

BF: I really think the girls coming into the industry has helped draw in a younger crowd. If I stand at the back of my pits, I have little kids that come up, little tiny ones, and younger girls, all tell me that for some of them it's their first race, some of them say that they want to be racecar drivers so that's really exciting. I really think that the younger generations are all into Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and I think that pulls in the younger crowd. Courtney went and did the ESPN Body Issue, and that pulled in a whole new crowd of fans that we never had before. They suddenly saw her on the cover and thought 'What is this girl doing? Why is she on the front cover?' and maybe it pulled some of them to our races, so any way we can get exposer. For me, I'm new to Twitter and Instagram. I got it last year, I'm not as good as I should be on it, but I enjoy it, it's fun. It's a way to connect with the fans. Most of the fans on my Instagram and Twitter, they're a younger crowd so I definitely think that’ll pull in people.

Do you have any raceday rituals or superstitions? 

BF: No, I really try not to have too many rituals. When I get suited up, I put my right glove on first then my left, I always have the same routine. When I get in my car and everything's suited up, I like to sit in there and people will think I'm going crazy in there because they’ll see me moving around and the whole car’s shaking because I'm moving in there. Really, I'm just checking that my belts are all locked in and my steering wheel's on. Eric Medlen actually went down the track one time and his steering wheel came off, so it's happened before, and that terrifies me. Every run I make no matter what, when I'm in that car you’ll see me in there moving around checking everything, that's something I can't go down the track unless I do. 

What could we find you doing outside of the racetrack? 

BF: I’m a big movie fan, I see every movie that comes out, I'm just like my dad. I'll go to the movies a few times a week just to catch up on my favorite movies. I love going to the beach with my sister, but just the normal SoCal girl things, but movies are my favorite thing to do. I love to travel, as much as I'm on the road I still love to travel. Courtney and I, last year on our offseason went to Thailand which was awesome. We tried to plan a trip this year, it just didn't happen. 

Where would you like to go next? 

BF: There are so many places I want to go to. I’d like to go to Egypt, I want to go to Morocco. I want to go to Germany, there's so much to do. I love traveling, seeing new cultures, trying different food, and the whole experience of it all. We went to Thailand and like I said, it's amazing, so that's something that I love to do, is travel. 

What's your favorite movie? 

BF: Favorite movie? I also like to read. Right now I'm reading 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'. Favorite book ever would be 'The Hunger Game' series, and I love the movie. Twilight! I'm such a nerd, I watched all of those. Courtney and I are obsessed with those movies. I love the movie, The Social Network. Honestly, it's hard to pick one movie, because there's so many good ones. Comedy, I guess 'What's Your Number?'. That's one of my favorite ones with Anna Faris, it's one of my favorite all time movies. 

What's one makeup product you can't go with out? 

BF: I guess I'd have to go with two, it'd be chapstick and mascara.  

Follow Brittany Force on Instagram & Twitter: @BrittanyForce

-Dallas Hollins

www.insidepitrow.blogspot.com

Find us on Instagram & Twitter: @InsidePitRow

Catching Up with Courtney Force

We caught up with one of the most popular and personable stars of the NHRA, Courtney Force, driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car. We discuss everything from her raceday superstitions to John Force Racing’s plans for the future. 

How is the chassis different this year? 

CF: We built it in house at John Force Racing, which we did last year’s too. It’s just the new design, kind of new and improved. My dad was running it last year when he won the championship, so I’m running the same design on mine now.

What are your top three goals for this year?

CF: My top goals, well we want to pick up another win. I’ve definitely got my eyes set on Indy, I would really love to do well there. You know we want to get into the top ten for the Countdown to the Championship and we’d love to get that ultimate championship at a the end of the year. I mean i think thats everyones goal out here. I’m obviously still a new driver but you know what, I think we have a great car and a great team and I think if we try hard enough we’ll get close. 

Over the years there have been more females in the world of motorsports, what do you think the NHRA needs to do to attract a younger female audience? 

CF:  Well you know, I have quite a few fans that are young females that come up to me at the ropes that are interested. I think the coolest part is that they can get involved going into the Jr dragster field and they can start pretty young. I think it’s just a matter of time for the young kids to look at the sport and see how great it is, and show that you can be a girl and you can be in a sport that goes over 300 miles per hour if you want to. I think it’s kind of cool to be apart of a male dominated sport and I just think it’s fun. It’s only a matter of time. 

You sister Brittany is doing quite well in Top Fuel, would you ever consider driving another class? 

CF: I don’t know, I love driving my Funny Car. I always tell her that I would love to jump in her Top Fuel dragster and take it for a spin. She’s been doing a great job, she actually just ran her career best at 3.77 ET. which is pretty amazing. We’re proud of her, she’s improving every time she’s out there and it’s a lot of fun watching her. I don’t know if I could get in that, I’m definitely set on the Funny Car class but it would be fun to compete against her.

                         

Do you have any raceday superstitions? 

CF: I don’t know if I have too big of a superstition, but I’m always liking to put on my left glove or my left boot first, before my right for some reason. You get the same fist bumps from the same crew guys every time and you don’t want to screw that up. I listen to music before my run and I think that kind of helps relax me. I guess those are my main superstitions. 

What’s on your raceday playlist? 

CF: Honestly, I listen to a lot of different stuff, I mean country or even house music. A long song, but with good motivating words and it’s enough to kind of block out everything else that’s going on around you and kind of get in the rhythm and kind of forget about everything else. 

What would we find you doing away from the track? 

CF: During the offseason I’ve been pretty busy doing a lot of appearances and interviews. we were on The Queen Latifah Show which was a lot of fun. We are busy just trying to be out here and promote ourselves and sell our sport and looking for new sponsors. So that was our offseason, that’s what we kept busy doing. I also got to make it out to a few other different type of races as well. 

 what is John Force Racing doing to help the team for next season onward once Castrol and Ford leave? 

CF: We’re definitely getting ourselves out there to talk to other sponsors, new ones. We just signed on with PEAK Antifreeze, we just announced it. We’re obviously talking to a lot of new people, but won’t be announcing anything until next season, if we have something big to announce. We’re just kind of getting out there and talking to as many people as we can and seeing what we can get. 

Follow Courtney Force on Twitter & Instagram: @CourtneyForce

-Dallas Hollins

www.insidepitrow.blogspot.com

find us on Twitter & Instagram: @InsidePitRow

The Future of Motorsports

       

     The young guns of motorsports are making their way to the top. In all forms of auto racing, the drivers are getting younger and younger. Many of the drivers in sports such as NASCAR, Indycar, and Formula 1 got their start in go karting. Drivers such as Dario Franchitti, Sebstian Vettel, Josef Newgarden, and Danica Patrick all got their racing start behind the wheel of a go kart. Young aspiring racers who wish to pursue a career in an open wheel or oval discipline can start around the age of five. There are thousands of kart tracks around the world, many of which have arrive and drive services that allow those curious about driving karts to test the waters before making a commitment. NASCAR drivers have also been known to get their start on the dirt. Bandolero and quarter midget cars have also become quite a popular path for those who want to end up racing stock cars.

         For those that live a quarter mile at a time. You have the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Jr Drag Racing League. Kids ages eight to seventeen can drive half scale versions of Top Fuel dragsters down the eight mile at speeds up to eighty five miles per hour in just under eight seconds. The Jr Drag Racing League has started the careers of professional drag racers such as, Erica Enders-Stevens, Morgan Lucas, Leah Pritchett, Shawn Langdon and many others. In the sportsman ranks of NHRA, there are seven divisions (regions) with hundreds of nhra member tracks that run throughout the United States. Those racing will compete against those in their own division and age bracket. At certain events, drivers who win their age class get to bring home a Wally, just like the professionals. The Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals are prime examples of races that have a huge payout and Wally for the winners. Jr drag racing is notorious for family bonding and the teaching of good sportsmanship.  

A New Beginning

       For Southern California drag racers these past couple years have been a doozy. Two major drag strips were closed down. Autoclub Dragway at Autoclub Speedway in Fontana and Irwindale Dragstrip in Irwindale closed up shop. Those affected were the sportsman and junior drag racers. There were only a handful of tracks left open, and the majority of them were only made to run 1/8th of a mile. Many drivers lost their entire racing season due to the shutdowns. Those financially sound were able to travel to Northern California, Arizona, and Nevada to compete in Division 7 and track races. Unfortunately, many Southern California drag racers had to pack it away and hope for a turn around. In 2012, Irwindale drag strip announced that they would reopen and run a limited schedule. News dropped in fall of 2013 that Autoclub Dragway would begin building a sound wall in order to reopen the track in early 2014. The drag strip is set to have an open house night on February 15th. Racing will resume a week later on the 22nd. Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School will make its return to Southern California, and SCEDA will run their series out of Autoclub Dragway as well. For the drag racing community, specifically those in Southern California, this is the best news anyone could ask for. With a full schedule set in place, it should get the blood of the SoCal drag racing community pumping.