B. Force, Beckman, Butner, Sampey Lead Indy NHRA Qualifying
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| Brittany Force |
| NHRA |
Brittany Force’s weekend at the 65th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals keeps getting better, as she broke the Top Fuel track record on Saturday at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis to stay in the provisional No. 1 spot.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the final regular-season race of the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. It is the 18th of 24 events in 2019.
Force put down an impressive blast of 3.645-seconds at 332.26 mph to set the track record in her Advance Auto Parts dragster and remain in the top spot in what is already the quickest qualifying field in Top Fuel history. The 2017 world champion is chasing her first Indy win and stays in line to claim her sixth No. 1 qualifier of 2019 and 16th overall.
Funny Car’s Beckman stayed in the No. 1 position, improving on his performance from Friday with a run of 3.861 at 330.07 in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. In Pro Stock, points leader Butner moved into the top spot in his Jim Butner Auto Group Camaro after going 6.559 at 210.28.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Sampey jumped into the No. 1 position with a 6.816 at 195.53 on her Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson FXDR. If it holds, it would be Sampey’s first No. 1 qualifier since 2016 and 50th in her career.
Qualifying continues at 1:15 p.m. ET on Sunday with the final two sessions at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. Television coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday on Fox Sports 1 (FS1), and continues with live qualifying action on FS1 at 4 p.m.