At just 5’2″ and 118 pounds, Brittany Force has become the fastest woman in NHRA history—and one of the most dominant Top Fuel drivers of her generation, male or female. With two championships, 16 career wins, and speeds exceeding 343 mph, she’s rewritten the record books while proving that in drag racing, heart and skill matter more than size.

EARLY YEARS

Born July 8, 1986, in Yorba Linda, California, Brittany Leighton Force grew up in the epicenter of American drag racing royalty. Her father, John Force, is a 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Her sisters, Courtney Force and Ashley Force Hood, also became professional racers. The Force household didn’t just watch racing on TV—they lived it, breathed it, and turned it into a family empire.

Despite the high-octane environment at home, Brittany initially charted her own course. She attended Cal State Fullerton, earning her degree while her sisters were already making names for themselves on the track. Racing wasn’t an inevitability for her; it was a choice she made on her own terms, later than most drivers but with the kind of determination that would define her career.

OTHER INTERESTS

When she’s not strapped into an 11,000-horsepower nitromethane-fueled dragster, Force enjoys a quieter life. She’s a reader, a beach enthusiast, and loves traveling—pursuits that offer a stark contrast to the four-second explosions of speed that define her professional life. She remains single and continues to live in Yorba Linda, California, the town where she grew up.

EARLY SUCCESS

Force didn’t jump straight into Top Fuel. She started in the Super Comp dragster class, earning her license under the tutelage of Jack Beckman at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School. For three years, she competed in Super Comp alongside her sister Courtney, honing her skills and learning the fundamentals of drag racing. From there, she moved up to Top Alcohol Dragster, racing for Jerry Darien and BrandSource. She quickly proved herself with No. 1 qualifying positions at the 2009 SuperNationals in Englishtown, New Jersey, and the 2010 O’Reilly event. Her quickest run during this period—a 3.822-second pass at 323.43 mph—ended in a loss to Brandon Bernstein, but it signaled that she had the talent to compete at the highest levels.

In 2012, Force decided to test a Top Fuel dragster with a simple philosophy: “I’ll try anything once.” She started with short runs—just 60 feet at first—before progressing to full passes. By the end of the season, she made her first full pass down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “I was hooked!” she later recalled. “I knew in that moment that’s what I wanted to do.”

In 2013, Brittany Force made history by becoming the first John Force Racing driver to compete full-time in Top Fuel. She debuted her Castrol EDGE dragster on February 14, 2013, and by the end of her rookie season, she earned the Auto Club Road to the Future Award—NHRA’s Rookie of the Year honor. She was 27 years old and just getting started.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2013: Named NHRA Rookie of the Year (Auto Club Road to the Future Award).
• 2013: Named to Drag Illustrated magazine’s inaugural “30 Under 30” list of influential people in drag racing.
• 2016: Became the first woman to win the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
• May 20, 2016: Set the NHRA Top Fuel elapsed time record with a 3.676-second pass at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.
• 2017: Won four races in a single season—the most of her career—including three during the Countdown to the Championship. Clinched her first NHRA Top Fuel championship in the quarterfinals of the final race, becoming only the second woman ever to win a Top Fuel title (after Shirley Muldowney in 1982).
• 2019: Became the first woman to qualify No. 1 in Top Fuel at the U.S. Nationals.
• July 17, 2021: Reset the Bandimere Speedway track record with a 3.717-second pass at 326.00 mph.
• October 2, 2022: Set the national speed record at 338.17 mph at the NHRA Midwest Nationals, then reset it to 338.94 mph. Also recorded the quickest ET in NHRA history at 3.623 seconds.
• 2022: Won her second NHRA Top Fuel championship.
• 2025: Won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Sonoma, the New England Nationals in Epping, and the Las Vegas fall race. The Las Vegas win made her the most winning female Top Fuel driver in history, with 16 career victories.
• 2025: Qualified No. 1 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, Richmond, Sonoma, Indianapolis, Charlotte 2, and Las Vegas 2.
• 2025: Reset the national speed record in Seattle to 341.85 mph, then again to 343.16 mph. At the U.S. Nationals, she pushed the record to 343.51 mph—the fastest speed in NHRA history. She became the first driver ever to exceed 340 mph multiple times.

INSPIRATIONS

While specific influences outside her family aren’t documented, it’s clear that Force’s path was shaped by the people closest to her. Her father, John Force, built an empire in drag racing, and her sisters, Courtney and Ashley, blazed trails of their own. Jack Beckman, who taught her to drive a Super Comp dragster, gave her the technical foundation she needed. But beyond that, Brittany’s inspiration seems to come from within—a willingness to test herself, to take risks, and to push the limits of what’s possible.

REPUTATION

In the NHRA, Force is known as the “Queen of Speed,” and the nickname fits. She holds the fastest speed ever recorded in NHRA history and has consistently been one of the quickest drivers in the field. Her ability to handle an 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster—a machine that accelerates from zero to over 330 mph in under four seconds and subjects drivers to more than six Gs—has earned her respect across the sport. She’s broken barriers for women in drag racing, but she’s also simply one of the best drivers, period. Her 16 career wins, two championships, and relentless record-breaking speak for themselves.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

At the end of the 2025 season, Brittany Force announced that she would be stepping away from racing to focus on starting a family. It’s a pause, not a retirement—a distinction that matters. “Difficult Saying Goodbye To…” read one headline, but Force made it clear that this is a choice, not a conclusion. She leaves the sport at the top of her game, having just reset the national speed record and secured her place as the most winning female Top Fuel driver in history. Whether she returns to racing remains to be seen, but for now, she’s trading the quarter-mile for a different kind of challenge—one that doesn’t involve helmets or parachutes, but is just as life-changing.

References:

Wikipedia – Brittany Force
CompetitionPlus.com – Brittany Force: Career, Records, Legacy, and What’s Next
NHRA.com – Brittany Force Official Driver Page
WomenInRacing.org – Brittany Force
FOXSports.com – Brittany Force: NHRA’s Queen of Speed Reflects on Career and Next Chapter
Roth.azulik.com – Brittany Force: The Rising Star of NHRA