Courtney Force rolled in Houston Raceway Park with two goals; continue to develop her driving skills and have fun. By all accounts she was successful on both counts. She was attempting to qualify for her second NHRA national event after missing the cut at the Phoenix divisional race earlier this month.

The 19 year-old Santiago Canyon College student made three straight passes down the track but with each pass dropped cylinders hampered her Jerry Darien owned A/Fuel Dragster’s performance. High heat and humidity combined to create unfavorable track conditions for the former star of the A&E television show, Driving Force.

On Friday her first qualifying pass of 6.177 seconds, 225.45 mph had her in the show qualified 13th but in the afternoon session as temperatures rose her performance slipped when she laid down a 6.282 second, 210.77 mph run that left her first run as her quickest of the event. She ended day one sitting in 18th, two spots outside of the top sixteen. Again dropped cylinders stood as a roadblock to improved performance.

After being out of the car for a few weeks just getting back into the racing mindset was almost as important as on-track success for the daughter of the winningest driver in NHRA history, John Force.

“Everything came back to me. It was nothing to worry about. After the first run I was qualified but then after the second run I knew that I wasn’t qualified. I didn’t get too excited either time. I am trying to just stay calm and learn,” said the rookie TAD driver. “There is no pressure and I am telling my crew guys that they are doing a good job. There isn’t anything that we have to get done. We are all still learning and getting better as a team. We are just taking it one round and one race at a time.”

In her final qualifying attempt on Saturday a meager 6.492 second, 214.76 mph pass ended her weekend and left her with the 19th quickest pass of the twenty-two Top Alcohol Dragsters entered in the 21sy annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

“I felt more comfortable in the car every pass that I made. This is still a learning experience for me. I would have liked to have qualified but the important thing is I am still learning,” summed up Force.

Courtney Force will turn over the reins of the Top Alcohol Dragster to her sister Brittany for the 9th annual SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 10-13.