Photos by NHRA/National Dragster

The trio of David Grubnic, John Collins, and Brittany Force will forever be known as the group of people who changed Top Fuel racing forever. Friday at Sonoma Raceway during the second qualifying session, Force laid down a record-setting 343.16 mph blast, resetting the NHRA speed record with ease.

It’s absolutely insane to think that 340+ mph runs are starting to become common in Top Fuel. Last weekend in Seattle, the Grubnic/Collins tuned machine went 341.85, resetting the record that Force set earlier in the season at Charlotte. Collins has said the wild speed numbers are just a byproduct of the elapsed times they’re trying to run. Needless to say, the team has found something and continues to improve upon it.

The incremental numbers that Force’s dragster laid down during the record-setting run are just nasty. It went .819-seconds to 60-feet and 2.940 seconds at 304.94 mph to 660-feet on its way to a 3.645 at 343.16 mph.  This was done with a 70-degree track temperature and air temperatures in the 50-degree range.

“I have to credit (crew chiefs) David Grubnic and John Collins and the whole team. I’m so proud of them. This is incredible. On that run, it actually moved around a little, and I thought about taking my foot out of it for a second, and then I said, ‘No, I can get it there. I couldn’t hear anything on my radio, and then they repeated the 343 speed, and I thought they were joking.  I’m so pumped and so excited to do this in front of all the fans here.”

Brittany Force has become the Queen of Speed with the sword of horsepower that David Grubnic and John Collins have given her. The question is, how much more can the Queen’s kingdom grow?