DATE OF BIRTH:
July 08, 1986
HOMETOWN:
Yorba Linda, Calif.
CAREER WINS: 0
CAREER FINAL ROUNDS: 0
CAREER BEST E.T.:
0
CAREER BEST SPEED: 0
Stepping Up and Keeping Racing Options Open
Brittany Force is not what you expect. She is her own person, no matter the circumstances. That makes her both a source of pride and one of frustration for her father, 15-time Funny Car Champion John Force. She is simultaneously passionate about racing and conscious of keeping open her options for a career outside the “family business.”
In fact, the 25-year-old graduate of Cal State-Fullerton already has satisfied all the requirements to begin a career as a schoolteacher. That said, she still is drawn to an inherent “need for speed” that this year will act as test driver with Dickie Venables as crew chief in a new three-rail JFR BrandSource dragster, in the sport’s ultimate category, Top Fuel.
One of the stars of the A&E Network series Driving Force, which ended a two-year run in 2007, Brittany raced for several seasons with and against younger sister Courtney, 23. The two first drove Super Comp dragsters before graduating to A/Fuel BrandSource sponsored dragsters prepared and maintained by veteran Jerry Darien.
Always more rebellious than older sisters Adria and Ashley, while in college Brittany initially eschewed a job at John Force Racing, Inc., in Yorba Linda, Calif., to work instead outside the family business.
Like her father and sisters, Brittany is intensely competitive once she gets to the track and climbs into the cockpit. Nevertheless, a career in racing is no certainty. She also loves teaching. Right now, she’s content simply to keep all her options open while enhancing her growing reputation and living up to the moniker her students gave her as “the world’s fastest” female schoolteacher in their town when she was behind the wheel of her 270+ mph BrandSource A/Fueler.
Still seeking her first national victory, Brittany was the No. 1 qualifier in the Top Alcohol Dragster division at the NHRA SuperNationals at Englishtown, N.J., in 2009 and at the Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., in 2010. She lost to sister Courtney in the semifinals of the 2009 Northwest Nationals at Seattle, Wash.
Although the three-rail BrandSource dragster was built to race Top Fuel utilizing the JFR-developed Ford BOSS 500 nitro motor that currently powers four JFR Mustangs and Bob Tasca III’s independently-campaigned Ford, it could be retro-fitted to run in the Top Alcohol Dragster category in 2013. Brittany led by returning JFR veteran tuner Dickie Venables will be a test driver of sorts as she takes this chassis through its paces as part of the expanding John Force Racing technology and safety programs which has the support an interest of all sponsors at JFR from Ford Racing to Castrol to Auto Club to Mac Tools.
At the end of this season Brittany will evaluate where she wants to take her career. She will have a number of options that could include more testing and the necessary financing to take the next step to Top Fuel in the Full Throttle series or if she heads back to the classroom she could continue to get fill her need for speed on the Lucas Oil Series as her schedule allows. Continuing a trend she has followed her whole life she’ll keep the pedal to the metal and her options open.
Dean “Guido” Antonelli Crew Chief
For the better part of two decades, Dean “Guido” Antonelli has been strapping a member of drag racing’s first family into the cockpit of a race car emblazoned with one of the distinctive logos of BP Lubricants’ Castrol motor oil brand.
First, it was John Force, drag racing’s biggest winner, with whom the Arizona native celebrated 10 NHRA Funny Car championships as the hands-on facilitator for Hall of Fame crew chiefs Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly.
Then it was Ashley Force Hood who, under his tutelage, earned the Auto Club’s Road to the Future Award as the NHRA Rookie of the Year and became the first woman ever to win an NHRA Funny Car race (Atlanta, 2008).
So, when 26-year-old Brittany Force announced that she was putting an anticipated teaching career on hold this season to drive the team’s Castrol EDGE Top Fuel dragster, there was little doubt as to who would get the crew chiefing assignment.
Although he spent 18 years working on John Force Racing Funny Cars, Antonelli got the Top Fuel job because of his attention to detail, his commitment to safety and his personal relationship with Force’s daughters, whom he and wife Kelly, JFR’s Marketing Director, have nurtured since they were pre-teens,
Fortunately, the veteran has taken to the Top Fuel dragster like a duck to water, marveling at how much more aggressive a crew chief can be with a rear-engined car sitting on a 300 inch chassis (instead of a front-motored Funny Car on a 125-inch frame).
Except for the differences in length and orientation, though, it’s business as usual for Antonelli, whose new assignment introduces the JFR-created Ford BOSS 500 motor to a new category.
Antonelli was uniquely prepared for a career in drag racing.
While it’s true he had great racing genes as the son of the late Joe Antonelli, who drove some of the most cantankerous vehicles on the planet, among them the “Nanook” fuel altered, he had other assets.
One was experience gleaned from his job as a “destruction engineer” at the U-Haul Technological Center and Test Laboratory in Tucson, Ariz..
“We’d take trucks designed to carry 2,000 pounds and fill them with 6,000 pounds of concrete,” Antonelli said. “Then (we’d) try to roll them over.”
That isn’t so unlike his current job. The challenge in both is to find the limit. What is too much weight? How much is too much clutch or too much fuel or just too much horsepower?
Once involved in the sport, Antonelli benefitted immensely from the 12 year apprenticeship he he served under Coil and Fedderly. Ten times in his 12 years as Team Leader on Force’s Castrol GTX Funny Car, the 48-year-old celebrated a championship.
So, when Ashley moved up from the Top Alcohol Dragster class in 2007, Antonelli was Force’s first choice to supervise her development. Now, he’s applying lessons learned in his four seasons with Ashley to her sister’s rookie year.
Under Antonelli’s direction – and that of co-crew chief Ron Douglas, Force Hood appeared in 16 final rounds in four seasons, twice set the NHRA national speed record, started 15 races from the No. 1 qualifying position and won back-to-back titles in the sport’s biggest single event, the U.S. Nationals at (Indianapolis, Ind.).
Antonelli’s biggest regret is that his friend, Eric Medlen, the promising young JFR driver who lost his life in a 2007 testing accident, isn’t here to share in his success.
“Eric had been here almost as long as me,” Antonelli said, “His dream was to drive and he was one of the biggest supporters of me being a crew chief. I miss him a lot.”
“‘Guido has been with me for more than 18 years,” Force said. “He and Robert (JFR president and 2009 Funny Car Champion Robert Hight) worked together on my race car back when we won 10 titles in a row and there’s nobody I trust more with teaching Brittany the pro game.
“I’ve got great people. That’s how John Force Racing succeeds.”
-www.johnforceracing.com-
For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit us at Castrol.com/US.
Eric Lane Assistant Crew Chief
Nickname (If any): Hopsing
Birthdate: 8/16/1973
Hometown: Baldwin Park, CA
Current Residence: Avon, IN
Married: Yes
Year hired at John Force Racing: 2001
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: volunteered at Gary Densham Racing
Background (education/work/racing experience): He graduated from Mt San Antonio College and UTI; worked with Gary Densham for 3 years
Team Responsibilities: Assistant Crew Chief
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/working at JFR: the people he gets to work around
Career Highlights: Indy win
Favorite Track/Race: Sonoma Race
Hobbies/Interests: motorcycles, street rods, bowling with his crew
Brian Benedict Team Leader
Nickname (If any): Fire Arms
Birthdate: 08/16/1976
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Current Residence: Brownsburg, IN
Married: No
Year hired at John Force Racing: 2007
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: His best friend, Joe Hartley
Background (education/work/racing experience): Worked for Joe Hartley Racing and Mike Troxel Racing prior to coming to John Force Racing
Team Responsibilities: Team Leader
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/working at JFR: being a part of D-Team
Career Highlights: Winning Atlanta and the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship in 2008; winning the US Nationals back to back with Ashley
Favorite Track/Race: Las Vegas
Hobbies/Interests: being a father; theme parks; going out; traveling; racing
Aaron Cave
Birthdate: 12/22/1986
Hometown: Spotsylvania, VA
Current Residence: Avon, IN
Year Hired at John Force Racing: 2011
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: He grew up around the sport and knew that’s what he wanted to continue to be around.
Background (education/work/racing experience): Before he actually worked in the automotive field, he spent his time doing construction at the airport near his hometown and working on a coal mine. He then spent his time working on Bunny Burkett’s car in the IHRA before joining John Force Racing.
Team Responsibilities: bottom end and short blocks
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/ working at JFR: He enjoys being a part of a championship caliber team and working with a great group of guys
Career Highlights: getting a job at one of the most respected teams in drag racing and winning in Denver with John
Favorite Track/ Race: Bristol
Hobbies/Interests: cars, racing, dirt bikes, spending time with family and friends
Joe Diasio
Birthdate: 09/28/1989
Hometown: Parma, OH
Current Residence: Indianapolis, IN
Year Hired at John Force Racing: 2009
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: When he was growing up, he was always into cars and he built his own car at 16. He continued to have a passion for cars and decided that racing is where he wanted to be.
Background (education/work/racing experience): While in high school, he attended a 2 year vocational school for auto mechanics. He enjoyed the work in his auto classes, so he decided to further his education in that particular field. He attended another 2 year program at Ohio Technical College specializing in high performance.
Team Responsibilities: team welder, racks, manifolds, clutch assistant, tires
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/ working at JFR: great facility with great people, everyone is very helpful, being with the best team in the NHRA
Career Highlights: being team welder, having the privilege to work with John Force, winning his first race after blowing up in Denver
Favorite Track/ Race: Norwalk, OH
Hobbies/Interests: Building imports, playing video games, welding, fast cars
Justin Jones
Nickname (If any): JJ, Davey Jones
Birthdate: 08/21/1986
Hometown: Doerun, GA
Current Residence: Brownsburg, IN
Year Hired at John Force Racing: 2012
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: He started working on the Monster Energy funny car
Background (education/work/racing experience): He attended UTI and then worked as a BMW and Mercedes Technician before coming to the racing world. He previously worked at DSR.
Team Responsibilities: Blowers and Rear End
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/ working at JFR: working on the car, traveling, and being a part of the team
Career Highlights: wining the first 4-wide race, winning back to back races on 2 occasions
Birthdate: 01/14/1985
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Current Residence: Brownsburg, IN
Year hired at John Force Racing: 2008
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: While he was in school, he decided that it was his career of choice because he was familiar with the motors and wanted to travel.
Background (education/work/racing experience): He graduated from the University of Northwestern Ohio with a degree in High Performance Technology. In 2006, he worked with Walsh Bros Motorsports in the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League. In 2007, he went to work at Worsham Racing building cylinder heads.
Team Responsibilities: D Team transporter driver; clutch
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/working at JFR: the people he works with and the traveling
Career Highlights: winning first national event in Houston 2008; 1st #1 qualifier in Reading 2007; winning back to back Mac Tools US Nationals with Ashley; getting John the career #1 qualifier record
Favorite Track/Race: Bristol and Gainesville
Hobbies/Interests: anything with wheels or an engine; fishing; his boxer puppy, Blazer
Jay Ryskey
Birthdate: 06/01/1985
Hometown: Marenisco, MI
Current Residence: Brownsburg, IN
Year Hired at John Force Racing: 2013
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: His friend got him a job in hospitality for Schumacher Racing
Background (education/work/racing experience): He has worked on race cars since he was 14 years old. He mostly spent his time around dirt racing. After he worked hospitality at DSR, he was given the opportunity to work on Spencer Massey’s dragster.
Team Responsibilities: bottom end and short blocks
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/ working at JFR: the fast paced, high pressure situations of rebuilding the motor between rounds
Career Highlights: setting the speed record in Charlotte, NC 3 times and winning 8 top fuel national events
Favorite Track/ Race: Bristol and Charlotte
Hobbies/Interests: racing, music, basketball, golfing, hunting, snowboarding
Michael Kuth
Birthdate: 03/28/1989
Hometown: Chardon, OH
Current Residence: Kernersville, NC
Year Hired at John Force Racing: 2013
Which Team (s): Brittany Force (Castrol EDGE Top Fuel Dragster)
How did you get involved in drag racing: He was first introduced by his father and friends when he was a kid than was later reintroduced by some friends at Lincoln Welders.
Background (education/work/racing experience): He attended Lincoln College of Technology. After he finished school he was hired at Kasey Kahne Racing. After he worked for Kasey Kahne, he decided to have a change of scenery and joined the drag racing world. He was clutch assistant on a funny car at DSR.
Team Responsibilities: floater, bottom end assistant, tires, parachutes
Favorite part about being involved with drag racing/ working at JFR: getting paid to do something he loves to do; working with a great group of people who are motivated to win
Career Highlights: working for Kasey Kahne Racing, Don Schumacher Racing and now JFR at such a young age and being able to see a lot of the world
Favorite Track/ Race: Seattle, Denver, Vegas, Charlotte
Hobbies/Interests: all motorsports, hunting, fishing, skydiving, white water rafting, drag racing, auto cross
