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NHRA: Courtney Force sets unofficial fastest Funny Car ET, 3.804 seconds

Charity Screening Of "WINNING: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman" - Red Carpet

HOLLYWOOD, CA - APRIL 16: Drag racer Courtney Force attends the charity screening of ‘WINNING: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman’ at the El Capitan Theatre on April 16, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)

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Ordinarily, NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series testing wouldn’t merit much coverage.

But Courtney Force’s run Friday at the Nitro Spring Training test at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park was no ordinary run.

In fact, Force dropped the hammer in her new Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS for John Force Racing at an unofficial national elapsed time record of 3.804 seconds in the 1,000-foot distance, at 333.33 mph.

“It was a pretty unbelievable run,” Force said in a team release. “It’s all thanks to these guys; I’m just the one piloting the car down to the other end. But it was really exciting hearing them come on the radio and be so excited about it.

“It’s great being out here at Phoenix testing. We’re going to try some new things tomorrow and just see what the car does. So far, we’re definitely happy with it.”

The official record was set last year by Matt Hagan at 3.822 seconds in a Dodge, on August 20 in Brainerd, Minn.

Force’s unofficial record time came after an earlier career best time of 3.847 seconds at 331 mph set earlier in the day.

Lest Courtney be the only speed demon on the day, Leah Pritchett topped the Top Fuel times in her Papa John’s dragster at 3.677 seconds, unofficially tied for the fourth fastest pass in Top Fuel history.

That official record is a 3.671, set by Steve Torrence at Sonoma on July 31 of last year.

A full report on the day’s sessions is linked here via NHRA’s website, while a rundown of the record times is linked here.

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