Brittany Force to race Rookie of the Year Dragster in final two races

YORBA LINDA (October 24, 2014) — Brittany Force winner of the 2013 Auto Club Road to the Future Award will race a commemorative Auto Club Road to the Future Rookie Of The Year Castrol Edge Top Fuel dragster the final two races of the season. The Top Fuel dragster was designed by Force and the in-house JFR graphic design team.

Force won the 2013 award on the strength of her season long improvement capped by a semi-final finish at the Auto Club NHRA World Finals as well as winning the fan vote earlier in the season for the 2nd annual Traxxas Shootout.

“This rookie car is as much my crews as it is mine which is why I decided to dedicate it to the entire team. I wanted something completely different but something that has meaning to me and relates to my experience as a rookie driving a Top Fuel dragster. In the beginning of my season JFR put a canopy on my car and the first time I jumped in it I immediately felt like I was in a fighter jet. That feeling is exactly where my idea was inspired from. Working with JFR graphic designer Brandon Baker we created a military jet theme for my car. The car is silver with a weathered look to it and has the entire teams names listed on the car. It definitely is bad ass and I can't wait to race in Las Vegas!" said Force.

The dragster design incorporates the look of a jet fighter and Force wanted to go with a more vintage, worn looking plane. The challenge was to tie those concepts together, while making a unique looking design as this sort of a thing has been done before. The JFR design team made a template of the entire car and laid out a variety of rivets and “airbrushed" them in Photoshop. All the logos were “weathered" on the car to give it that worn and vintage feel. To give it a metal effect the design team used a brushed metal film and printed directly onto the surface and a matte over laminate look was used to further enhance the airplane theme.

The entire Top Fuel dragster is three pieces of material, the hood and two sides. Each side took over nine hours to print. The entire car, from concept, design, print, and installation, was done in house at John Force Racing in Brownsburg. All rookie year crew members’ names are on the side of the car and the twelve stars on the hood represent each crew guy and the driver.

Paul Stoll from PPG was very helpful in critiquing concepts and adding ideas to the car. He also painted Force a custom helmet that matches the theme of the car.

“Winning rookie of the year in 2013 is something I am very proud of. Driving a Top Fuel dragster has definitely been a challenge to adjust to not only for me but the entire team as well. I feel my rookie team had great success in our first year, going rounds and making it to a semi round ending our year strong. Earning Rookie of the Year was a team effort. I don't believe we would have taken that home without every single one of my crew guys and crew chiefs," said Force.

The die-cast replica of this commemorative Top Fuel dragster will be available to fans from the John Force RaceStation (johnforceracestation.com) or Lionel Racing (lionelracing.com) for a suggested retail price starting at $69.95.

JFR Public Relations