Who holds the NHRA Top Fuel ET record? All you need to know

The Top Fuel Dragster is the fastest category in the world of NHRA Drag Racing, with cars reaching close to 340 miles per hour. The record for the fastest NHRA Top Fuel ET (Elapsed Time) is currently held by Brittany Force, who set it in 2019. Interestingly, the top speed when crossing the line was nowhere close to the record speeds.

The NHRA drag races were traditionally run on a quarter-mile track. However, following Scott Kalitta's fatal crash, the race length was reduced to 305 meters (1000 ft) in an attempt to curb the top speed at which the cars crossed the lines. While it did manage to limit the top speed for a while, the elapsed time records started shattering every other race weekend.

Over time, with research and development, the teams managed to get the Top Fuel dragsters crossing the 1000 ft finishing line faster than they did when the track was a quarter mile long. Brittany Force also holds the record for the fastest Speed recorded at the end of a Top Fuel race.

While one may assume the fastest elapsed laptime and top speed run were set during the same run, the same wasn't the case with Brittany Force. She set the fastest elapsed lap time of 3.623 seconds in 2019 at Maple Grove Raceway near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, USA. However, her top speed while crossing the line was just 331.61 mph.

The top speed record held by Brittany Force was set during the NHRA Finals in Pomona, California. She crossed the line with an elapsed time of 3.641 seconds and a record-breaking top speed of 338.94 mph. The fastest Speed record was previously held by Brittany, who ran a 338.48 mph at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri.

“I want people to remember this day”: Brittany Force after setting the NHRA Top Fuel speed record

Brittany Force is the daughter of motorsport legend John Force and drives for her father's racing team, John Force Racing, in the Top Fuel Dragster category. Her sisters, Courtney and Ashley, were also involved in NHRA, racing in the Funny Car category. Speaking with Chevrolet after setting the world speed record in Pomona, Brittany Force said,

“I want people to remember this day here in Pomona with this Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team – David Grubnic, Mac Savage, every single one of my guys. We have been working all season long, we never gave up, and then we struggled in the Countdown and we recovered when we needed to in Vegas and win it here today in Pomona.”

“I have to thank every single one of my guys and our sponsors. We wouldn't be here without them today, and I'm just so proud of everybody. It just seems surreal right now. I can't believe it ended up this way," she added.

Courtney Force retired from Drag Racing in 2019 at the age of 30 while Brittany Force continues to race in the Top Fuel category.