Brittany Force in top spot in Top Fuel qualifying in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brittany Force took the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel qualifying in the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Force had a final qualifying run of 3.732-seconds at 320.66 mph in her dragster for her first No. 1 qualifier of the year and 21st of her career. The former world champion sat out most of last season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It just shows this team has picked up right where we left off,” Force said. “We had a long time being away from the races, and coming back to Gainesville (last month), we found our routine pretty quickly. Coming here and taking this No. 1 qualifier (spot), we’re pumped. We want to go out and win this thing and bring home our first win of the season.”

Robert Hight in Funny Car, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle also took top spots in their respective categories at the second race of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Eliminations are Sunday.

Hight made it a clean sweep in nitro qualifying for John Force Racing, earning his 69th No. 1 qualifier thanks to a run of 3.882 at 331.85 in his Camaro.

Anderson earned the top spot for the second straight race and 108th time overall by going 6.638 at 205.85 in his Camaro.

Smith, the defending world champion, went 6.890 at 196.59 on his EBR to qualify No. 1 for the 44th time in his career.