Courtney Force has had a whirlwind few weeks, spending time in Nashville as a presenter at the CMT Music Awards, watching husband Graham Rahal finish 10th at the Indianapolis 500 and squeezing in sponsor events from Chicago to Florida.
And that’s on top of putting together the most dominant stretch of her racing career.
Force, 29, has won three of the past four races in the NHRA’s Funny Car division, building a sizable lead in the standings over second-place Jack Beckman and third-place Robert Hight, who is Force’s teammate and last year’s division champion. She will go for her fifth win of the season this weekend at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee.
“It’s my team, it’s the guys who are working on my race car,” Force said. “They’ve all jelled together really well, and they have their routine. They’re putting together that car exactly the same every weekend, and you need consistency on our race car on all ends.”
Her quest to become the first woman to win the division title is even more impressive because of her prodigious off-the-track schedule. Force and Rahal, who is sixth in the IndyCar standings, almost always spend any breaks in their schedules at each other’s races.