LAS VEGAS, NV(October 31, 2014) --- Brittany Force winner of
the 2013 Auto Club Road to the Future Award will race a commemorative Auto Club
Road to the Future Rookie Of The Year Castrol Edge Top Fuel dragster the final
two races of the season. The Top Fuel dragster was designed by Force and the
in-house JFR graphic design team.
Force won the 2013 award on the strength of her season long
improvement capped by a semi-final finish at the Auto Club NHRA World Finals as
well as winning the fan vote earlier in the season for the 2nd annual Traxxas
Shootout.
“This rookie car is as much my crews as it is mine which is
why I decided to dedicate it to the entire team. I wanted something completely
different but something that has meaning to me and relates to my experience as
a rookie driving a Top Fuel dragster. In the beginning of my season JFR put a
canopy on my car and the first time I jumped in it I immediately felt like I
was in a fighter jet. That feeling is exactly where my idea was inspired from.
Working with JFR graphic designer Brandon Baker we created a military jet theme
for my car. The car is silver with a weathered look to it and has the entire
teams names listed on the car. It definitely is bad ass and I can't wait to
race in Las Vegas!” said Force.
The dragster design incorporates the look of a jet fighter
and Force wanted to go with a more vintage, worn looking plane. The
challenge was to tie those concepts together, while making a unique looking
design as this sort of a thing has been done before. The JFR design team
made a template of the entire car and laid out a variety of rivets and
“airbrushed” them in Photoshop. All the logos were “weathered” on the car to
give it that worn and vintage feel. To give it a metal effect the design
team used a brushed metal film and printed directly onto the surface and a
matte over laminate look was used to further enhance the airplane theme.
The entire Top Fuel dragster is three pieces of material,
the hood and two sides. Each side took over nine hours to print.
The entire car, from concept, design, print, and installation, was done
in house at John Force Racing in Brownsburg. All rookie year crew members’
names are on the side of the car and the twelve stars on the hood represent
each crew guy and the driver.
Paul Stoll from PPG was very helpful in critiquing concepts
and adding ideas to the car. He also painted Force a custom helmet that
matches the theme of the car.
“Winning rookie of the year in 2013 is something I am very
proud of. Driving a Top Fuel dragster has definitely been a challenge to adjust
to not only for me but the entire team as well. I feel my rookie team had great
success in our first year, going rounds and making it to a semi round ending
our year strong. Earning Rookie of the Year was a team effort. I don't believe
we would have taken that home without every single one of my crew guys and crew
chiefs,” said Force.
In order to get the special matte vintage look with the
rivets on the die-cast to match Force’s real race car, Lionel has opted to
create the car in a special finish called RAW. These RAW cars
feature a rough, untouched body that makes for a tough-as-nails look with the
barest hint of clear coating to prevent oxidation. These die cast are decaled
with full-color sponsor and team logos that stand out on the cool metal
background. Not for the faint of heart, RAW is a heavy metal finish that we
anticipate will be one of the hottest special finishes of the year.
The die-cast replica of this commemorative Top Fuel
dragster will be available to fans from the John Force RaceStation
(johnforceracestation.com) or Lionel Racing (lionelracing.com) for a suggested
retail price starting at $94.95.
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