Ashley Force WINS!!!

[SVT666]

Ashley Force makes Funny Car history in Atlanta
Racing series   NHRA 
Date  2008-04-27

By Anne Heckman - Motorsport.com

Ashley Force is the latest woman to write her name in the motorsports history books. Force became the first woman in history to win an NHRA Funny Car event and she did so by defeating her father, John, in the finals at the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, GA. Antron Brown, Mike Edwards and Andrew Hines also collected event wins.

"I guess the third time's a charm," said Force who reached her third straight final this weekend. "We just knew that if we kept getting to the finals, we'd eventually get [a win]. I kinda hated that it had to be against dad but I'm just happy to win an event.

The script couldn't have been written better. The Funny Car final matched John Force, going for his 1000th round win and 126th career win, against his daughter Ashley who was going for history. As the two Ford Mustangs pulled up to the starting line, they were followed by not only the entire John Force Racing contingent but drivers and crew members from teams in every NHRA racing category. Fans in the stands used every last flashbulb in an attempt to capture history in the making.

When the tree lit green, John struck the tires, leaving him to watch Ashley sail down the quarter-mile with a 4.837 second run, the second quickest of the day, and blast her way at 320 mph into history as the first woman to win a national event in Funny Car.

"Being a female, that's exciting for the record books and everything, but my team, we just wanted to get our first win. We went a whole year last year and the biggest win I had was off the track," joked Force who was voted AOL Sports' World's Hottest Athlete. "To finally get it done here in Atlanta, where I beat dad last year [in the first round] was special."

While her dad was disappointed not to have landed his 1,000 career round win in his 500th NHRA event, he was very proud of his daughter: "It's good for her; as a father, I'm proud of her. She did her job. She didn't do anything stupid on the starting line, go deep, didn't try to holeshot me, just did what she always does and that was most important, but really my focus was in my lane.

"I would have liked to have had that (milestone), 500 (races) and then backed it up with (the 1000 round wins), but it's also important in her career because wins, it took me a lot of years to win and it's good for her that she gets that win and gets it out of the way," added J.Force.

To get to her third straight final round, Ashley defeated Del Worsham, Jim Head and Ron Capps. John eliminated Mike Neff, Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca to advance to his first final since Reading last year. Ashley, who is also the first woman to lead the Funny Car point standings, now carries a 59 point lead for the championship race.

"It's an exciting time, you know, with Danica (Patrick) winning," Force continued. "There are a lot of women in different motor sports and we're getting our practice, we're getting our experience and we're making our way toward those wins. It's a good week for women and it's exciting for the fans to finally have a woman winner in Funny Car, but I know that it's the 10 guys on my team who got me to this point. I'm proud to be a female in the seat but it's those guys who got me here."

[Vinsanity]

CSUF alum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Force

In 2007 she was voted as the Hottest Athlete by an AOL Sports Poll, beating out favorites Tom Brady and Danica Patrick.

[FoMoJo]

Good stuff .

It's a good thing she inherited his talent and not his looks .

[SVT666]

Good stuff .

It's a good thing she inherited his talent and not his looks .

This is her third final in a row, and she beat her dad for the win.  She also leads the point standings this year.

[hotrodalex]

Ashley so totally pwns Danica.

[Raza]

Drag racing, right?

[hotrodalex]

Yes.

[Raza]

Yes.

How dreadfully linear.

[SVT666]

How dreadfully linear.

Go drive an 8000 hp car down a 1/4 mile track at 320 mph and try to keep it straight.  We'll see how "dreadful" you find it.

[Raza]

Go drive an 8000 hp car down a 1/4 mile track at 320 mph and try to keep it straight.  We'll see how "dreadful" you find it.

Hey, I never said it was bad.  I just said it was linear.

[SVT666]

Hey, I never said it was bad.  I just said it was linear.

Check out the video on Youtube of the race.  Her car was all over the place all the way down the track.  I'm kinda surprised she actually kept it off the wall.  She still finished in 4.8 seconds.  Her dad blew his motor just 100' off the starting line, but her time was the second fastest of the day, so the chances of him beating her weren't good anyway.

[Raza]

Drag racing's just not my thing, honestly.  Though I do respect the ability it takes.

[Vinsanity]

Ashley so totally pwns Danica.

Won't argue with that

She lives in the same city as me; God help me if I ever find myself next to her at a stoplight

[Nethead]

Won't argue with that

She lives in the same city as me; God help me if I ever find myself next to her at a stoplight

God could help you, or God could help Ashley.  You can tell by the w00t on God's face when you just say the word "Ashley" that you are seriously, seriously SOL... 

[Submariner]

Go drive an 8000 hp car down a 1/4 mile track at 320 mph and try to keep it straight.  We'll see how "dreadful" you find it.

Formula seems to take a lot more skill.

I'm not calling it a stupid sport by any means.  Last time I opened the E-63 up at highway speeds I nearly pissed my pants.  I can only imagine what this takes.

[hotrodalex]

Formula seems to take a lot more skill.

I'm not calling it a stupid sport by any means.  Last time I opened the E-63 up at highway speeds I nearly pissed my pants.  I can only imagine what this takes.

Skill level of car racing:

Formula 1 > Drag Racing > NASCAR

[Submariner]

Skill level:

Driving a Camry for more than an hour and remaining awake > Formula 1 > Drag Racing > driving to the store > walking > sleeping > NASCAR

Better.

[hotrodalex]

Better.

Can't argue with that!

[rohan]

Skill level of car racing:

Formula 1 > Drag Racing > NASCAR

Have any formula 1 drivers become champions on the NASCAR series? And no I'm not a nascar fan I don't even watch it.  And who is this Force chick?  Is she hot?

[Soup DeVille]

Have any formula 1 drivers become champions on the NASCAR series? And no I'm not a nascar fan I don't even watch it.  And who is this Force chick?  Is she hot?

She John Force's daughter. I'd call her an 8.

In the modern F1/NASCAR erea? No.

But in the "good old days," when there was a lot more series crossing, several drivers did astonishingly well in both arenas. Dan Gurney of course is the most well known. However, those guys couldn't really be called NASCAR or F1 drivers: anymore than they could be called Can-Am, Indy, Trans-Am or IMSA drivers.

They were simply racers, and could drive the snot out of anything.

And while no modern Formula One drivers have become NASCAR champions, several have become NASCAR drivers: Montoya being the most obvious mention;  no recent NASCAR drivers have ever done anything more than a demo lap in an F1 car.

As for dragging?

Top fuel and Funny car are races won and lost by crew chiefs more than anything else; the driver's main job is to just be predictable.

[Nethead]

Have any formula 1 drivers become champions on the NASCAR series? And no I'm not a nascar fan I don't even watch it.  And who is this Force chick?  Is she hot?

rohan:  To add to the contribution of SoupDude, Ashley Force is the current points leader in the NHRA Funny Car Driving Championship.  Few women have competed in funny car dragracing, far fewer have won races, I don't think any have ever won a national meet ('til now, of course), and none have ever led the driver's point standings at any time during any previous season until Miss Force started regularly sending dudes back to their carhaulers early.  She recently bested her dad in a national final, and he's the winningest funny car competitor of all time (over 1,000 professional wins, numerous national championships, yada yada yada...). 

I don't follow dragracing any more, either, but Ashley's getting so much press in so many automotive arenas that it's hard NOT to know who she is and what she's accomplishing.  'Cute, too, which is worth several tenths anywhere, anytime

[traumadog]

Have any formula 1 drivers become champions on the NASCAR series? And no I'm not a nascar fan I don't even watch it.  And who is this Force chick?  Is she hot?

I'll let you decide:

[Nethead]

I'll let you decide:

My, my, my!

[Vinsanity]

I wonder if she would make a good American Top Gear hostess