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Force, NASCAR's Busch compare championship strategies

10 Sep 2016
NHRA News
News

 


NHRA's Brittany Force and NASCAR's Kurt Busch met the media to preview their championship chases.


Force, far lane, beat Busch in a two-of-three match race in matching COPO Camaros.


Busch then took Force for a high-speed ride around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval.

NHRA Top Fuel standout Brittany Force and NASCAR star Kurt Busch saw their high-speed worlds collide in show-stopping fashion on Wednesday at zMAX Dragway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the two hot shoes engaged in a thrilling preview of playoff racing at the world’s only venue to host both an NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship race, the Sept. 16-18 NHRA Carolina Nationals, and a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup event, the Oct. 8 NASCAR Bank of America 500.

Force returns to zMAX Dragway as the track’s most recent winner, having claimed the Top Fuel title at the April 22-24 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods, but her return trip to "the Bellagio of dragstrips" was to beat Busch in a best-of-three battle aboard brand-new Chevrolet Camaros, then take a three-lap ride alongside the 2010 Coca-Cola 600 winner. Busch – a drag racing enthusiast – prevailed in the match between two Monster Energy-sponsored racers and offered Force a firsthand view of the adrenaline-fueled excitement that comes with racing on the iconic 1.5-mile superspeedway.

“This is my second home,” Busch said. “There’s a pride factor when you race at Charlotte. When you get a win and you take home one of those trophies, you know you’ve accomplished something.

“What [Force] does on the dragstrip and what I do on the oval, we have a lot of fun with it. … It’s fun to get out of our comfort zones and just go fast.”

Force – who called her introduction to NASCAR “insane” – believes similar feelings will return when she goes for a Top Fuel title and a season sweep at zMAX Dragway.

“I’m definitely pumped,” Force said. “That was a big win for us, especially for me as a driver. … To get to come out here and race Kurt, who is one of my Monster Energy teammates, that was really awesome. It’s a day I’ll never forget for sure.”