When Brittany Force graduated from Cal State-Fullerton and took the necessary steps to earn her California teaching credentials, she could not in her wildest dreams have imagined that eight years later she would be defining the concept of carpe diem for a class of 30-and-40-somethings.   Nevertheless, that’s the situation in which the 31-year-old refugee from the world of academia found herself last fall. Presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Brittany boldly “seized the day” and secured a historic NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel championship for John Force Racing team and herself.

As the first woman in 35 years to win drag racing’s ultimate prize, the second youngest of John Force’s four daughters addressed a plethora of misconceptions, the biggest of which was that she lacked the intensity and motivation to succeed at the highest levels of the world’s most extreme motorsport.  In point of fact, while Brittany may not share her father’s over-the-top personality and while she may be less demonstrative than younger sister Courtney, she showed in the six-race Countdown to the Championship that she has everything necessary to answer the challenge including what her father has called “the eye of the tiger,” the razor focus that allows one to react positively even under intense pressure.

Although Brittany was only sixth in points with one win in two final round appearances entering the playoffs, the petite blonde was unstoppable thereafter, guiding her 10,000 horsepower dragster to four final rounds while winning three of six races. She lost only three of the 21 two-car matches in which she was involved and sealed the deal with a dominating performance in the season-ending Auto Club Finals at Pomona, California.  In that race, she qualified number one, posted the quickest time of eliminations, set track and event records and became just the 12th pro driver to end a championship season with a wire-to-wire victory in the final event.