(Image/NHRA)
Brittany Force raced to the Top Fuel victory for her first win of the season Sunday at the fifth annual NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.
Matt Hagan in Funny Car, and Erica Enders in Pro Stock, also notched victories in their respective categories at the ninth of 24 events on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Force earned the fourth victory of her career and first of the season with a pass of 3.716 seconds at 328.62 miles per hour in her dragster to defeat Antron Brown who ran a 3.728 at 327.98 in the final round.
“We figured things out in Topeka and I felt like we had our team back so we knew our first win would be right around the corner,” Force said. “The key to it all is our team sticking together and not giving up, and it definitely paid dividends today.”
Force qualified second for the event and defeated Steve Chrisman, Troy Coughlin Jr., Shawn Langdon and Brown on her way to the victory. Force now sits at sixth in the points standings and is the fifth Top Fuel winner of the season. Brown defeated Shawn Reed, Scott Palmer and points leader Leah Pritchett before reaching his fourth final round of the season.
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Hagan Nabs 3rd Funny Car Win of 2017
Hagan powered to the 25th victory of his career and third of the season with a 3.897 pass at 332.59 in his Dodge Charger Funny Car to defeat Courtney Force who ran a 3.927 at 332.34 in her Chevy Camaro. “I knew we had a great racecar today and the conditions were great so we knew we were better than our qualifying times,” Hagan said. “Everything went the way it should have today, and things seemed to fall in place for us.”
After qualifying fourth, he defeated 16-time world champion John Force, Del Worsham and teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. before facing off with Courtney Force in the final. Hagan won the first two events of the season in Pomona and Phoenix and currently sits second in the points standings behind teammate Ron Capps who ended a four-race win streak when he fell to C. Force in the semifinal round.
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Enders Gets First Pro Stock Win Since Las Vegas 2015
Two-time Pro Stock world champion Enders secured her 22nd career victory and first since the fall Las Vegas event in 2015 with a 6.534 at 213.16 in her Chevy Camaro to defeat rookie Tanner Gray who ran a 6.550 at 212.06 in his Camaro.
“Today is a culmination of everything that happened over the past year and a half, since 2016 was tough for us,” Enders said. “It’s so awesome to have a team that has my back and it is absolutely the reason why I am able to drive the way I drive.”
Enders now sits at sixth in the standings and is the seventh different Pro Stock winner of the season. After qualifying second, Enders defeated reigning world champion Jason Line and points leader Bo Butner before knocking off Gray. Gray lined up against Val Smeland and Drew Skillman before reaching his third final round of the season.
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The 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season continues June 8-11 at the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ.
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NHRA Pro Stock Point Standings
1. Bo Butner 750 2. Tanner Gray 715 3. Greg Anderson 682 4. Jason Line 630 5. Jeg Coughlin 627
NHRA Funny Car Point Standings
1. Ron Capps 827 2. Matt Hagan 748 3. Courtney Force 564 4. Robert Hight 561 5. John Force 555
NHRA Top Fuel Point Standings
1. Leah Pritchett 809 2. Antron Brown 775 3. Steve Torrence 746 4. Tony Schumacher 712 5. Doug Kalitta 571
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Point Standings
1. Eddie Krawiec 306 2. LE Tonglet 291 3. Andrew Hines 230 4. Jerry Savoie 204 5. Scotty Pollacheck 196
Drag Race Central and NHRA contributed to this report.
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