Courtney Force looks to bounce back in NHRA Countdown

Dallas suburb Ennis, Texas, hosts the second race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship — a six-race title run among four classes. During the Countdown, sisters Brittany and Courtney Force will share stories from the road with Paste BN Sports. Brittany has qualified for her first Countdown in just her second season in Top Fuel. Courtney, in her third season, is vying for the Funny Car title. Both drive for father John Force, a 16-time Funny Car champion who also has qualified for the Countdown.

The Countdown to the Championship has officially begun! Now that the top 10 drivers in the points have locked in, we have six races remaining to battle it out until the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Champion is crowned.

Since I'm competing in the Funny Car category against my dad, 16-time champion John Force, and my teammate/brother-in-law, Robert Hight, I've got some tough competition just in our own camp.

However, my Traxxas team went out to Charlotte for the first race of the Countdown to the Championship and had consistent laps throughout qualifying, while making improvements each run. We qualified in the top half of the field, but with our luck, we had to face my dad in the first round on race day.

Dad and I have faced each other many times before, but this was not how our teams wanted to start the Countdown. It's tough as a driver to keep your focus, keep your fire up and leave out the personal stuff, but that's what you have to do if you want to win.

While in the staging lanes, I pulled on my firesuit, put on my helmet, making sure it was tight, put on all the rest of my safety gear and tried to get myself in the zone. ESPN cameras surrounded our two teams and dad walks up to me to give me a hug and wish me luck. His last piece of advice? To race "that green car" not "my dad."

This is the moment you put your personal feelings aside and put on your game face. My dad is one of the best drivers in the NHRA, and although it's tough to block out the fact that he's family and just race him as a competitor, I find that even with 16 championships, he struggles with that as well. But we both want to win this season and there can only be one champion.

We pull up to the line and I do my normal routine, blocking out that it's dad in the other lane and pretending he's the meanest competitor around. Dad rolls his car in a little bit deeper and we launch off the starting line. We both make our best runs of the weekend, with one of the closest side-by-side races of the day. Although I was out ahead of him, by about half track, his car made a move around me and he edged me for that win light at the finish line. Our cars were both running about 315 mph.

Although I was crushed we didn't get the win, or the points, for the first race in the countdown, I was proud of my team because they gave me a great running car that would have beat just about any other person we raced. Not only that, but we have found some consistency in it, which is what we need in the Countdown.

We had to pack up early from Charlotte, but have nothing to be ashamed of. We gave my dad a run for his money, and it was an eye opener for me. He still messed with me on the starting line, and I can't wait for a re-match. My dad and I are tied up now; 6-6 in previous match-ups, but it's time for the Traxxas team to take our lead back.

I'm going to take this loss with a grain of salt. I find myself learning something new from my dad at each and every race. Our Traxxas team is excited heading into Texas and we'll work hard to gain some of our points back so we can continue to have a shot at this Championship. It's still early in the game, but there's no time for mistakes. We're ready and up for the challenge this weekend.