BRITTANY FORCE Calls Time on Historic Career After 343 MPH Speed Record

September 12, 2025

by JENNA FRYER // from apnews.com

GRRL! SUMMARY:

BRITTANY FORCE is stepping away from NHRA Top Fuel at season’s end to start a family, but not before absolutely demolishing the record books one more time. The Queen of Speed just clocked 343.51 mph at Indy – the fastest run in NHRA history – because apparently she wasn’t content leaving quietly. At 39, she’s making the same impossible choice her sisters Ashley and Courtney faced: elite racing career or motherhood, because the sport still hasn’t figured out how to make both possible.
Let’s talk about what we’re losing here: FORCE holds nine of the ten fastest Top Fuel runs ever recorded, has 18 career wins (tied with legend SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY), and won championships in 2017 and 2022. She’s made ten runs over 340 mph since April alone – speeds that literally didn’t exist in this sport before 2024. Her 2017 title was the first by a woman in Top Fuel in 35 years, breaking barriers that had stood since Muldowney’s era.
The timing connects to a broader story about women navigating NHRA careers around family planning. LEAH PRUETT just announced her 2026 return after stepping away to have a child with Tony Stewart, showing there’s at least a roadmap back. FORCE hasn’t closed the door on returning either, but her departure means no Force family member will be actively competing for the first time since John Force’s 1971 debut – ending a 53-year streak of Force family dominance.