John Force said he failed his daughter Brittany.

She thought she wasn’t going to be ready for the first NHRA race of the year.

But together, with the power of perseverance and some really smart friends, they did more than slog through their mea culpas and misgivings. They have made a strong statement in the Top Fuel class and for John Force Racing overall early this season.

Brittany Force leads the Top Fuel standings in her Monster Energy Dragster on the strength of her back-to-back finals at Chandler, Arizona, and Gainesville, Florida. After four races, Robert Hight and John Force are 1-2 in the Funny Car standings. Brittany and Hight shared the winners circle at the mid-March Gatornationals, marking JFR’s first double nitro victory (at Pomona, Courtney Force clocked top speed. At the second race, near Phoenix, John was runner-up and Hight set low elapsed time and top speed of the meet).

But they didn’t start 2016 confidently.

John said he was feeling embarrassed that he had made the wrong calls regarding his daughter’s dragster.

“I failed my daughter Brittany. I didn’t fail [youngest daughter and Funny Car racer] Courtney,” the repentant father said. “Courtney struggled last year not because she got married. She struggled because our money was changed. We couldn’t test as much. We lost a lot of people. We brought recruits in. We had to train them. I said, ‘Neff, let’s don’t try to win a championship in Top Fuel or Funny Car. Let’s go out there and try – but let’s go learn anything new we can learn.’ And we did that, and we struggled. It’s starting to deliver now. But I didn’t fail Courtney. I did what I had to do with what I had.

“I failed Brittany. I took a Funny Car program and stuck it in a dragster and said, ‘Here – run it.’ It doesn’t work that way. I thought I had the car perfect for her in the cockpit. Robert and I helped design it. And we thought we had everything right. And she didn’t know that it was wrong,” he said.

His advice to her also was through the framework of his considerable Funny Car experience – which isn’t always applicable to driving a dragster.

He would ask her, “It dropped a cylinder? Why didn’t you lift?”

“I didn’t know it dropped a cylinder,” she would reply.

“How can you not know that?!” he would wail.

“In a Funny Car, if you drop a cylinder, it shoves you right or left. But a dragster doesn’t move around when you drop a cylinder – I don’t think – I never drove one. And with a dragster, with the engine behind you, the sound’s different. If it leaves the starting line and drops a hole and it trucks to the other end, you don’t know it’s got a hole out because the initial movement never breaks stride. But here I’m giving her all this [advice] based on a Funny Car,” the 16-time champion said.

That’s what prolific and prodigal crew chief Austin Coil told John, encouraging him to hire somebody versed in dragsters. Mike Neff, Force’s “new Austin Coil,” reached out to tuning wizard Alan Johnson with an offer to consult. Johnson already was consulting for Top Fuel owner-driver Steve Torrence, but he agreed to add JFR to his docket and brought Brian Husen with him.

Husen explained how the structure needed to work: with himself as quarterback and Johnson as coach – and, by intimation, the “J.F.” in JFR as the guy in the cushy skybox. Force got the analogy – and the hint. He told Husen, “If I knew how to run it, I wouldn’t have hired either one of you in the first place.” What Force told his daughter was “I’m sorry. I let you down on so many things I’m going to stay away from your trailer. I’ll be rooting for you. I’ll be your biggest fan. But I’m going to leave this to Brian Husen. I’m going to leave it to the coach and quarterback over there.”

But that solved only part of the equation. The other part was Brittany Force’s discomfort with her car that had been overhauled, Alan Johnson-style.

“We made quite a few changes. Alan Johnson brought his whole system over,” Brittany said. “That’s been difficult to adjust to, because I could feel the car was completely different than I was used to running for four years. And that took some time. We tested in Phoenix, made about 11 passes. And when I first climbed in, I thought, ‘This car is so different – night and day. I don’t think I’ll be ready for Pomona.’

“Just the set-up he has is different than what we had been running. For instance, pushing the clutch pedal in … Before, I had a stop, and you’d feel it. With this car, there is no stop – you just have to find it. That was really tricky for me. I went the last four years – a year in testing and three years in competition – where I got used to that way. Now, to completely change it and take away that thing that I was used to made it a little more challenging,” she said. “I knew with some seat time that I would be perfectly fine. Now, going back the other way would probably be difficult.”

Acknowledging that most people are creatures of habit, she said, “It’s just getting used to it. Sometimes change is nerve-wracking because you’re accustomed to one thing. It changes my whole routine on race day. It’s completely different than what I used to do. At Pomona, you probably saw me stuttering up there a little bit. You could probably see it and tell that I wasn’t 100 percent confident. And, I still don’t feel like I am. I’m not where I was last season. Yeah, you’d have your weekends where you’d screw up. You’d have your weekends where you’d do awesome. But pretty much, every time I’d climb in the car, I’d feel pretty confident, like, “I can do this. I’ve had the training. I’ve had some experience.’ And you feel comfortable where you’re at. Now, with all these changes, I’m still not 100 percent there, just because we did make so many changes. My routine was wiped out. If you looked closely at Pomona you could see. I climbed in like a rookie driver.”

Brittany, ever the independent and bold one, spoke up.

“I told Alan and I told my dad, ‘I’m not going to be ready for Pomona. I’m not going to be where I was last season by Pomona. It’s going to take me quite a few races.’ Some people can – I’ve never been that way. Back in school, college, I’m not one to pick something up immediately. It takes me time to grasp it and really get the hang of it. Some people could jump in and say, “Oh! Change! I’ve got it figured out! We’re done!’ I’ve never been that person,” she said. “I’m still working at it. It’s tough when you have a race and then two weekends off. I think once the season picks up, I’ll be good. We’ll be on.”

She doesn’t have to wait until summertime. She’s “on” right now.

She credits Husen and Johnson because of their mantra: Don’t deviate from your routine.

“What I’ve learned with Alan Johnson and Brian Husen is keeping your same routine. The second you step out of your normal routine (and mostly I mean staging and trying to have a good light – because I lost in Phoenix because of that) … the second you change up anything that you normally do every single run is the second you’re going to screw up,” she said.

Despite her preseason doubts, Brittany has found a groove. Curiously, it took her 75 events to earn her first victory – the same number (but fewer seasons) as it took her father to get his first.

Brittany said sharing the winners circle at Gainesville with Hight “was the icing on the cake” in a whirlwind of “firsts” for her that day.

“There were so many big things. The first win, that was huge. Then they announced that I was No. 1 in points. I was like, ‘OK – slow down – one thing at a time.’ Then I was in the Traxxas Shootout. First John Force Racing double-up: Robert won,” she said, still amazed at all she accomplished by defeating Terry McMillen in that final round.

“It made everything that much more special, to be able to have Robert right there. It was just all John Force Racing in the winners circle. For all of JFR, it was such a proud moment, and we’ll never forget. It was the first time for me and Robert to share all of that, and it was very special, especially because Robert has taught me and helped me out so much in my career. Back when I was 16 or 17 and first coming into Super Comp, he was there since the very beginning and very involved. He definitely helped me out, so it was cool to be able to share.”

With a degree in education from Cal State-Fullerton, Brittany is certified to teach in California. She said she misses the traditional classroom environment and the opportunity to work with students but said, “I’d miss this way more if I were over there. So I know I made the right choice. I love what I do. It feels good to have a career where I know I’m in the right place. I’ve never second-guessed my decision. I know exactly this is where I want to be.

“I’m still proud of my earning my teaching credential, because it wasn’t easy. I loved the whole journey of it. If way down the road this all falls apart or it doesn’t work out, I always have that to fall back on,” she said. “But I’m happy here. This is family. This is home. It’s my passion. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

The only place Brittany might want to go is back to the winners circle.