Ashley Force

Age: 24

Birthday: November 29, 1982

Occupation: Professional race car driver

Education: Esperanza High School (Yorba Linda, Calif.); California State University-Fullerton, College of Communications, B.A. in radio/TV/film.

Hobbies: Movies, video production, shopping, kickboxing, spending time with family and friends

Bio:

Like Father; Like Daughter. Ashley Force already has proven that she's more than just another pretty face.

Although she is featured in national print ads for Oakley's Riddles sunglasses and is one of the stars of Driving Force, a new real-life series on A&E Network, the 23-year-old is most at home in the cockpit of a race car.

Currently the standout driver of the 275 mile per hour Castrol dragster, a purpose-built hybrid in which she is contesting the 2006 NHRA Top Alcohol championship, she is poised to move up in classification at the wheel of a 7,000 horsepower drag racing Funny Car in which she already has tested at 315 mph.

That's pretty heady stuff for a former high school cheerleader who studied television and film at California State University-Fullerton.

Ashley comes by her "need for speed" quite honestly. It's all in the genes.

Her father, John Force, is the 13-time NHRA Funny Car champion and world record holder for quarter mile time (4.665 seconds) and speed (333.58 mph); the only drag racer to have won as many as 100 NHRA tour events (119).

Her sisters, Brittany, 19, and Courtney, 17, both driver Super Comp dragsters. Even her mother, Laurie, is licensed to drive competitively. The irony is that Ashley isn't motivated by a desire to succeed her father, but rather to beat him.

"I'm going to mess with him on the starting line," she joked. "I think a lot of drivers are intimidated (by American motor racing's 1996 Driver of the Year), but to me he's just dad. He'll be so worried about his little girl in the other lane that by the time he recovers, I'll be gone. At least that's how it is in my dreams."

Although she is projected as a 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year candidate in Funny Car, the elder Force has insisted that there is no specific time table for his daughter's assimilation into a category in which a woman has never reached the winners' circle.

"She needs seat time," said the driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. "When she's ready, she and 'Guido' (crew chief Dean Antonelli) will know it. Until then, her main responsibility is to (Jerry) Darien and (Ken) Meadows and the Castrol dragster."

Her Funny Car orientation, which began in 2005, accelerated this year when she began driving a new McKinney Corporation slip-tube chassis built to address her specific requirements. Previously when she tested, she drove her dad's Ford Mustang, a situation that proved unsatisfactory on two fronts.

No. 1, she was uncomfortable, physically, because of all the cockpit adjustments that had to be made to accommodate the difference in their physiques and, No. 2, she was uncomfortable, psychologically, because the car she was driving wasn't a back-up; it was the same Mustang in which her dad was chasing another NHRA championship.

Since moving to the new car, she's made incredible progress.

"She has a unique feel for the car," Antonelli said, something he attributes to her apprenticeship in Super Comp and Top Alcohol. "The truth is we've been holding her back (because) we want her to feel what it's like to have tire shake and dropped cylinders (a condition in which the engine isn't firing on all eight cylinders) at different points on the track.

"John's game plan is to get her in the program next year," Antonelli said, "but he's not going to green-light anything until he's comfortable with her ability to handle the car."

In her rookie season at the wheel of the Darien and Meadows dragster, as successor to such current pro stars as Melanie Troxel, Brandon Bernstein and Morgan

Lucas, she became just the third woman in history to win the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind., the sport's oldest, largest and most prestigious single event.

She went on to win two more national races and, at the season-ending Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Calif., shared the winners' circle with her dad in becoming the first father-and-daughter winners of the same event in NHRA history. She capped the season by being named both Rookie of the Year and Driver of the Year in an NHRA region encompassing Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Despite her success, Ashley never seriously considered a career in the "family business" until her father sent her to Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School as a 16th birthday present. That led her to take auto shop and welding courses as part of her elective curriculum at Esperanza High School in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Even though she began racing upon her high school graduation, her mother insisted that before she embarked on a full-time career, she had to earn her college degree. As a result, she spent her weekends racing and her weekdays in school, ultimately graduating in 3½ years with a degree in communications.

Ashley suspect things were going to be interesting the first time she expressed a genuine interest in pursuing a driving career.

"Dad said as soon as I got my car, I needed to start sleeping in it," she recalled, "because I guess that's what he did when he started out. He said I should walk around with my helmet on - like people wouldn't think that was weird."

If her choice of elective courses wasn't sufficient indication to her father that she might one day want to become involved in the family business, then certainly her fourth place finish in national points as a Top Alcohol rookie convinced him.

Force could not be more proud, nor more surprised.

"I'm a typical father who always wanted his son to grow up and drive his race car," said the 13-time Auto Racing All-America selection, "but I don't have any sons, so I always hoped one of my girls would have an interest. Ashley took auto mechanics in high school and I never even did that. It's great having her on tour with me."

As for hobbies, Ashley admits she's a movie fanatic, just like her dad.

"I go (to the movie theater) at least once a week," she said. "Sometimes he goes a couple times a day. I went with him once and he went to the first half of the movie. Then he got up and left because he told me he had already seen the last half. I think he went to see the end of something else."

Nevertheless, she has taken her love for the cinema a step further. She not only likes to watch movies, she has demonstrated a talent for producing them. Each year for the company Christmas party, she produces a movie that spoofs events and individuals in the sport, herself included.

Last year's movie was a parody of "A Christmas Carol" starring the elder Force as Scrooge and crew members and staff as the three ghosts of Christmas and other characters. It's title, "The Bi-Polar Express," was a not-so-veiled reference to her father's well-documented mood swings.

One thing is certain, whether she's making movies or starring in them, Ashley has her father's full attention and there's absolutely no chance he'll be sneaking out of this performance before it's over.

Ashley's Race Car -

It's official: NHRA's Ashley Force is named hottest athlete in AOL poll

It's official: NHRA Funny Car rookie Ashley Force is the hottest athlete in sports, according to AOL's recent online-voting tournament. Force, daughter of 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champ John Force, handily defeated 31 other female competitors to win the woman's bracket, where she was never seriously challenged in the five rounds, then soundly defeated New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, winner of the men's bracket, for the overall title.

In the women's bracket, Force trounced golfer Anna Rawson 71-29 percent, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler (72-28), golfer Paula Creamer (72-28), IRL's Danica Patrick (67-33), and softballl's Jennie Finch (79-21) to advance to face Brady. The final-round score was even more lopsided as Force racked up 86 percent of the votes to claim the title. AOL's Dave Hollander interviewed Force about her victory.

The votes are in and AOL Sports' Hottest Athlete, male or female, has been decided. The first-ever winner, a drag racing upstart and daughter of NHRA icon John Force, says she was surprised to see Sharapova lose, explains why beating Danica was different and admits that under her fire suit she’s really a girlie-girl.

The Interview -

DAVE HOLLANDER: Congratulations on winning AOL Sports' first-ever Hottest Athlete Tournament. Looks like America loves a woman with helmet hair, covered in clutch dust.

ASHLEY FORCE: That apparently worked for me this time around. It’s been a lot of fun being a part of this because there’s such a variety of women in sports. Usually I'm only around a lot of men and competing only with men. So it was fun to actually compete with women because I never do on the track.

DH: During the tournament, other women were routinely displayed in evening gowns and bikinis while you were almost always shown in a seven-layer fire suit. What does this tell us about how fans like to see their athletes?

AF: Well, it has a lot do with the fact that there aren't too many pictures of me in the evening gowns or bathing suits. I'm kind of more of a shy type. In my sport that would be completely inappropriate -- to show up at the track in a bikini. In drag racing we try not to make a big deal out of the whole the aspect of being a woman. We want to show that there’s much more than just the gender of the driver. There’s the team behind the driver, the car, the sponsors. We kind of mute out the whole woman side of it. Wearing my fire suit works best for me.

DH: About the tournament: You had what looked like very tough first round draw in Anna Rawson, a professional model turned golfer. What gave you the edge there (72 percent-28 percent)?

AF: The big edge I had was how dedicated drag race fans are. They tune in every week. They have their drivers they love. They collect the die-cast. To have a drag racer in this competition, all the NHRA fans -- even those who were are fans of my competitors -- wanted to root me on because they're very proud of their sport. They want to root for their drag racer. I was fortunate that I'm in the type of sport where we have a big following of people from all over the country that are very much involved in the Internet. That’s what did it for me.

DH: The next round, the Sexy 16, pitted you against snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler (71 percent-29 percent). How much did worry about the fact that she'd posed naked before, three times?

AF: For every person it’s different. For me, I grew up in a family of girls. I have little sisters. The main base of my fans are children. So I kind of follow that path, not always the sexy route but more the youthful route. That works for me. I was kind of always the kid in the pit. I grew up around adults. So even to this day, even though I compete professionally, all the other drivers still call me “the kid.” But for different athletes it works differently... For [Gretchen Bleiler] that’s the path she took. I figured a lot more men would probably be rooting for her just because she been in those magazines that men have checked out where I'm more in the drag racing magazines.

DH: Meanwhile in the Sexy 16, Amanda Beard, despite being naked in Playboy this summer, lost in a stunning upset to Paula Creamer pitting you against Creamer in the Elite Eight. (72 percent-28 percent) Were you thinking "Another golfer? Piece of cake!"

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AF: I didn't think piece of cake on any of them because I don't follow other sports that much, not even other motor sports. With how time consuming our sport is and with traveling, you don't get time to catch upon other things. So there were a lot of these women I'd seen in different magazines and ads and articles who I didn't really know too much about.

So for each person I was put up against I didn't know how it would end up. I just knew that a lot of our fans were coming up at the races so excited that they were voting. A lot of them knew the other athletes. It was fun and interesting that I would be competing against golfers and softball players and so many different athletes when I'm really ever only used to competing against motor sports people.

DH: Your Fab Four matchup against Danica Patrick had all the earmarks of a classic. But you trounced her (67 percent-33 percent). What does your drubbing of Danica say about NHRA vs. the IRL and who rules auto racing?

AF: Matching up against her was probably the funnest round just because I actually knew a little bit more about her. I've been interviewed a lot where people will ask me about her. So she was someone I related to. We have similar careers. I'm sure the ups and downs I have she probably has the same in her sport. So it was fun to go against someone similar.

A big part of it is that we have a lot of female fans in drag racing. A lot of little girls, a lot of moms bring their kids. They want to root for the women. I don't know about other motor sports but I know in drag racing, the men and woman are very pumped up and motivated about their drivers. They support them in any way they can. Even if we lose and do horribly they're still the ones out there 10 o'clock at night when it’s been raining all day who say "It’s OK you didn't do well today, you'll go out and get ‘em next week." It’s hard to find people who have your back as well as they do.

DH: How surprised were you to see Maria Sharapova go down in the semis?

AF: I was really surprised about that. I'm addicted to all those magazines like Star Magazine, and I always see her in there, walking down the street or with whoever she’s dating. I definitely thought, of all the gals, she was the most recognizable just because even someone like me who doesn't spend that much time watching TV or checking out other types of sports, knew a little about her. I was kind of thinking she'd go to finals and I was really surprised when she didn't. I didn't know that much about the other gal but [sharapova] was such a recognizable person, you figure mainstream audiences will vote for someone they've seen before or recognize.

DH: That other gal was Jennie Finch. After you completed your dominating tournament run in the women’s bracket, crushing Jennie in the finals (79 percent-21 percent) was there any doubt in your mind that you would dust Tom Brady (86 percent-14 percent)?

First off, going up against Jennie in the finals who is beautiful, I was like "Oh man, all my crew guys are finally gonna turn on me and vote for the other gal." It was kind of joke we all had. Truthfully, all these women should be models. I have a few nice pictures where they did my makeup and fixed me up but really these girls could quit their sport if they wanted to and go to modeling. It’s just kind of weird for me to be in that group.

Then to go up against Tom, it’s funny because my little sister, Courtney, she’s 19 and she’s big-time on the Internet and MySpace and all that stuff. Has a million friends on there. So all this time I knew a lot her friends had been voting for me, but she thinks Tom Brady is just the cutest thing ever. So I'm like "I think I might lose big chunk of votes when this final comes along." Because he’s a pretty popular person, you know? But that’s fine with me. Who would have ever thought I'd be competing with Tom Brady for something. It’s kind of amazing.

DH Do you think his becoming a father, just as we entered the overall finals, hurt him?

AF: Well, he’s definitely out there in the media a lot more now. I don't know if he likes that or not. But that’s part of it. When things are happening in your life, the public wants to know about it. I'm sure he’s got a lot going on in his life right now. I've pretty much just had the same old life I've had for the past few years. Nothing too new. I don't think it would hurt him. It’s a good thing that he’s going to carry on. Maybe his kid will be a famous football player one day. We've got to keep these kids going. The big joke with our family is my dad had all girls. He was crushed "I'm a race car driver and I had all girls!" But all three of us ended up drag racing . So, you never know.

DH: Who do think Bridget Moynihan voted for?

AF: That would be hard to say. I don't think she would know me from Adam, but maybe that’s a personal situation over there I'm not too sure about.

DH: Is there another male athlete who might have given you a better run for your money?

AF: I had really thought David Beckham. I don't know which round he went out, but I thought for sure he'd be up there in finals, just because everywhere you look these past few weeks there the all this news about his family moving to the U.S. and him competing out there so I thought for sure he'd be going far. I was kind of surprised about that.

DH: Has AOL contacted you about a trophy presentation?

AF: The last we heard they just wanted us to send some more photos to go out for the competition between me and Tom.

DH: If there is a ceremony, what will you say in your acceptance speech?

AF: I don't know. It’s a strange acceptance speech to have. It’s actually been a joke between my team but so frustrating that I won the finals in the AOL competition, but I haven't won a final in my funny car races. So now I'm like "I better get on top of this. My funny car is what my whole life is about so I better get on the ball." Truly, I don't quite know what I would say. I do know that lately I'm really trying to wear a little more makeup and do my hair a bit more instead of throwing it up in a hat like I usually do. Otherwise, AOL may take the trophy back.

DH: Your Dad, a drag race legend, is an emotional guy. After you won your first big race three years ago, he ran behind the grandstand and threw up. Did he suffer from the same kind of nerves during this tournament run?

AF: He’s calmed down a bit, thankfully for all of us. But he was so excited about it because he’s a sports guy and he likes all that kind of stuff. It was funny. The guys on my team -- I never thought would get that into, but they were coming up telling me they're moms were voting. They're just so proud to have one their teammates in the competition. But Dad was really... when I went up against Danica because racing is pretty much all he really understands. He’s followed her and watched how well she’s done so he was really exited about what happened that round.

DH: Your Dad actually matched you up with your current boyfriend. How does the boyfriend feel about you winning this thing?

AF: He’s been picking on me lately. "Oh, I can see her head’s getting bigger already." All the jokes are flying, but he’s really proud. His grandma out in Missouri has been online every day voting, reading everything that everyone has been writing. What’s great is friends of mine from middle school and elementary school saw it on AOL and contacted me. It brought me back in touch with a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. But the boyfriend is pretty excited, just giving me hard time making sure my ego doesn't get out of control, you know?

DH: Mattel knew what kind of voting power you have. You're still the only professional athlete with your own Barbie Doll. After this, what about a new Ashley Force Barbie?

AF: That would be great. We have two dolls as of now, the Mattel fire suit doll and the Castrol fire suit doll. The kids love it. It’s different. They have bobblehead dolls but no Barbie dolls and what girl doesn't like a Barbie doll, right? I'm 24 years old but when I was a little girl I loved playing with dolls and funnest part about it was the add-ons -- the shoes and the heels and everything, With my doll you have the helmet, the gloves and boots. I think that’s fun for the kids. But half the time the kids will come up with [the doll] and my hair’s cut, painted a different color and they've done makeup on the doll. It’s pretty hilarious.

DH: I can't help but wonder: What would Shirley Muldowney say about all this?

AF: I could ask her this weekend. They're doing a breakfast with her. Women drivers are invited. I'm going to it. Maybe I'll bring it up and see what she thinks. I've asked her questions about racing before. She went through all that when she was competing -- the photographs and them wanting her to play up the woman part of it. She definitely didn't care too much about that. She just wanted to drag race.

But I got to admit, I'm a girlie-girl. I like wearing dresses every once in a while. I actually like wearing them more now that I'm a race-car driver than I did before. When I was younger, you couldn't get me in dress. I was a tom boy. Now that I'm always in a fire suit, every single weekend, on my days off I actually enjoy wearing heels!

Dave Hollander is the author of 52 WEEKS: Interviews with Champions! Info at: www.davehollander.com

2007 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Ashley with her father, John Force.

Ashley's signature:

Ashley Force shines on The Tonight Show

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Story and photos by Candida Benson, National DRAGSTER

9/11/2007

Following her appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ashley Force, the rest of the Force family, and Force's boyfriend, Dan Hood, took a picture on set with Leno.

Late-night TV met NHRA Drag Racing Monday when Funny Car driver Ashley Force made a guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the rookie driver shined brightly in front of the NBC television cameras. Force, whose father, John, appeared on The Tonight Show 11 years ago, was witty and charming while serving as a great ambassador for the sport. From her opening, “It's nice to be a girl for once,” when Leno complimented her attire to her “You know those days when you go to work and you just have a bad day? That was mine,” line when discussing her crash earlier in the season in Seattle, Force got her fair share of laughs and several hearty cheers from the crowd.

“The whole experience was really great,” said Force, who was featured in a five-minute segment on the program following actor Brad Garrett and in advance of a performance by Cirque du Soleil. “This is definitely one of the funnest interviews I have ever done.”

Though she wasn't seen by viewers throughout the United States until after 10:30 p.m., Force's preparations began well in advance of the airing. After spending the weekend on a mini vacation at Lake Tahoe, Force caught an early flight back to Southern California Monday and began preparing for her Tonight Show debut. With the help of friends and family, Force put together her outfit and did her hair and makeup in advance, arriving at the team's shop at 2 p.m. ready to go on stage.

With her entourage in the limo provided by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Force left the team's Yorba Linda headquarters shortly after 2 p.m., heading to the Burbank studios where the show is shot. The group arrived at the studios at about 3:30 p.m. and was escorted to Force's dressing room. While Force readied for her segment, which included meeting Leno and reviewing potential questions with him, the group who came with her was seated in the studio. After an hour of waiting, a last touch-up of makeup, and a final review of potential questions with a producer, Force was ready for her close-up.

Though nervous about falling as she made her way from the backstage area to the chairs on set, Force sailed through the appearance, telling anecdote after anecdote and throwing in basic drag racing information whenever she had the chance. Leno and Force covered everything from Funny Car racing to being the daughter of a well-known, eccentric father to her recent win in AOL Sports' Hottest Athlete poll.

“The whole thing felt so quick, and I felt like I missed so much stuff,” said Force. “I knew ahead of time it would be quick because I heard the people working on the show say that each of Brad's segments would be about five to six minutes long, so I figured that's what mine would be. So I knew I had to keep the answers short rather than rambling on like I do a lot of times.”

Force's Tonight Show experience didn't end once the lights and cameras were shut down. After taking photos with Garrett and some of the performers from Cirque du Soilel, Force and her group were invited to a private tour of Jay Leno's Garage, the impressive car collection owned by Leno. The group's tour guide was none other than Leno himself, who impressed with not only his collection but also his vast knowledge of the cars and automotive technology in general.

After giving Leno a gift basket that included Force's Barbie collectible, a team jacket, a hat, and other goodies, the group stopped for dinner before returning to the shop.

Rookie-of-the-Year Wears Her Genes Well

Ashley Force wears her genes well.

Although a majority of her accolades last season came away from the track (including her coronation as AOL sports’ “Hottest Athlete” (a designation earned at the expense of New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady), the 25-year-old daughter of drag racing icon John Force showed enough promise at the wheel of the Castrol GTX® Ford Mustang to win the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Road to the Future Award as the Rookie-of-the-Year in the NHRA POWERade pro series.

Based on what she initially learned in the harnesses of one of the world’s most powerful race cars, one capable of zero-to-330 mile-an-hour acceleration in just 4.6 seconds, the Cal State-Fullerton graduate is optimistic about a sophomore season in which she hopes to build on 2007 success that included a runner-up finish in the ACDelco Nationals at Las Vegas, Nev.

“I’m so excited about getting rid of my rookie stripes and going into the 2008 season with basically the same guys and same team I had last year,” she said.

In between appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and ABC’s Good Morning, America, photo shoots for ESPN The Magazine, Men’s Journal, Men’s Fitness and Penthouse (in full firesuit, by the way) and work as a spokesperson for the Auto Club, Oakley, BrandSource and Ford Motor Co., Ms. Force proved last season to be more than just another pretty face.

Even though she missed two races in the 8,000 horsepower Castrol GTX Ford, one to honor the memory of fallen teammate Eric Medlen; the other because of temporary safety issues, the former high school cheerleader managed to finish in the Top 10 in POWERade points ahead of such notables as six-time series champion Kenny Bernstein, 1992 Funny Car champ Cruz Pedregon, former U.S. Nationals winners Tim Wilkerson and Gary Densham and veteran Tommy Johnson Jr.

The first woman to race in an NHRA Funny Car final, she qualified No. 2 three different times last year in a car prepared by rookie crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli.

Still, it was the attention she attracted away from the track that most significantly boosted drag racing’s mainstream image.

One of the stars of the A&E Network series Driving Force, which ended a two-year run last season, she distinguished herself as a public speaker, delivering a motivational speech to a crowd of 5,500 at the 2007 convention of Dallas-based cosmetics giant BeautiControl, Inc., appeared in national print ads for Oakley, was featured in Ford’s corporate brochure for the Mustang and was a popular newspaper, radio and television interview subject at every stop on the POWERade tour.

As a result, she was one of Yahoo’s most popular internet search topics in the sports category, the only individual race car driver in a Top 10 that also included soccer star David Beckham, the Chicago Bears football team, the Boston Red Sox, tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams and NASCAR.

That’s pretty heady stuff for an admitted tomboy who once seriously considered a career as a race car mechanic, the basis for her decision to take elective courses in auto shop and welding while attending Esperanza High School (Yorba Linda, Calif.).

Ashley’s “need for speed” is all in the genes.

Her father is the 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion and only drag racer in any category to have won as many as 100 NHRA tour events (125). Her sisters, Brittany, 21, and Courtney, 19, are moving up this year to drive in the Top Alcohol Dragster class after two seasons at the wheel of Super Comp dragsters sponsored by BrandSource. Even mother Laurie is licensed to drive competitively.

The irony of all that is that Ashley isn’t motivated by a desire to replace her father. She’d rather just beat him, which she did the first time they raced side-by-side last season at Atlanta, Ga.

Even though she’s had to develop her driving skills in a fishbowl, Ashley’s transition has been almost seamless due in large part to her relationship with Antonelli, who moved over from her father’s team, and with assistant crew chief Ron Douglas, who worked previously for 1992 champ Cruz Pedregon, among others.

“It has been perfect how it’s worked out,” Ashley said. “When I first tested in dad’s Funny Car, I had the best people in the sport working on the car in Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. They’ve seen my dad through all his championships and Austin has been with him for all of his wins, but I was always so intimidated by them.

“Even as big a goofball as dad is, he’s still a great driver. He knows how to do it. How hard it must have been for them to have me involved because I knew almost

nothing and I always felt scared that I was going to mess up and make them mad at me.

“They never did (get mad), but as a new driver you always thought of that,” she said. “With ‘Guido’ I feel more relaxed and a lot less nervous because we’re both kind of in the same situation. He’s going through the same thing on the tuning side of things as I am on the driving side and I think it helps both of us understand each other.

“When you have two people that are both kind of new to it, I think it makes it flow a little better and when problems do occur they aren’t such a big deal,” she continued. “There were mistakes that I was going to make and there were mistakes he was going to make, so at least he knew the feeling. I knew he wasn’t looking at me going ‘why doesn’t this girl just get it?’ or ‘why is she making this mistake?’”

"She has a unique feel for the car,” Antonelli said, something he attributes to her apprenticeship in Super Comp and Top Alcohol. “She’s a quick study. You tell her something and she picks it up right away. There’s no doubt that she has a big future in this sport.”

Despite her success, Ashley never seriously considered a driving career until her father sent her to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School as a 16th birthday present.

Even though she began racing upon her high school graduation, her mother insisted that before she embarked on a full-time career, she had to earn her college degree. As a result, she spent her weekends racing and her weekdays in school, ultimately graduating in 3½ years with a degree in communications.

Her father could not be more proud, nor more surprised by her career choice.

“I’m a typical father who always wanted his son to grow up and drive his race car,” said the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection, “but I don’t have any sons, so I

always hoped one of my girls would have an interest – but I didn’t expect it.”

As for hobbies, Ashley admits she’s a movie fanatic, just like her dad. However, she has taken her love for the cinema a step further. She not only likes to watch movies with fiancé Danny Hood, she has demonstrated a talent for producing them. Each year at the company Christmas party, she introduces a new film that spoofs events and individuals in the sport, herself included.

Now, though, she finds she spends a lot more time in front of the camera than behind it. Admittedly shy, it’s not a role with which she is totally comfortable. Fortunately, she has a father from whom she can glean a tip or two.

JFR RACE REPORT

2008 NHRA Race Summary

6th race of 2008 season

28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals

Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, Georgia

April 24-27, 2008

* * * *

Castrol/JFR Highlights: Ashley Force wins historic first Funny Car title….John Forces races to final round en route to 999th career round wins….Three JFR drivers in Top 5 of POWERade point standings.

* * * *

ASHLEY FORCE MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE FUNNY CAR WINNER

Beats Dad in Storybook Final Round to Win Summit Southern Nationals

ATLANTA, Ga. – Ashley Force put a new face on Funny Car drag racing Sunday by becoming the first woman to win a national race in a category that once was considered the last bastion of male superiority.

The 25-year-old did so with a flair for the dramatic, beating her father, drag racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals to deny him his 1,000 winning round in his 500th NHRA tour event.

The result enabled the second generation driver to pad her points lead and dispel any lingering doubts anyone may have harbored about either her commitment to the sport or her competence at the wheel of one of the world’s most powerful race cars.

Her first win came in her 27th pro race and in her fourth trip to the final round. Denied in the two most recent events in the POWERade Series, first on March 30 by Del Worsham at Houston, Texas, and then on April 13 by Tim Wilkerson at Las Vegas, Nev., Ashley left no doubt this time.

With her father in a left lane that was the bane of every racer during eliminations, she sprinted down the favored right lane in 4.837 seconds at 320.36 miles per hour. Her dad was never in it, losing traction almost at the hit of the throttle and slowing to 11.223 seconds.

It was her second career win against her father, drag racing’s biggest winner, who lost the first ever meeting between father and daughter in the first round of the 2007 Southern Nationals.

“There are a lot of mixed emotions,” John Force said before the final. “I turn off the switch. If I win, that’s great but if she wins, that’s something really special, too. I’m just going to go out there and let my car do what it does.”

For the champ, who had won seven times previously at Atlanta Dragway and was appearing in his 14th Southern Nationals final round, most at any event in the series, his car let him down for the first time all day.

Now, he’ll move on to Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis where he’ll have another opportunity to reach 1,000 round win at next week’s O’Reilly Midwest Nationals.

“I guess the third time’s a charm,” said the woman who now leads the Funny Car point standings by 59 points. “We just knew that if we kept getting to the finals, we’d eventually get one. I kinda hated that it had to be against dad but I’m just happy to win an event.”

“We went a whole year last year and the biggest win I had was off the track (in AOL sports’ “world’s hottest athlete” poll),” joked the second year pro. “To finally get it done here in Atlanta, where I beat dad last year (in the first round in the first meeting between father and daughter), was special. He came over and he congratulated me. He told me, ‘good job.’ He told my team ‘good job.”

“I never saw him,” she said of her father, “and I never saw my win light, but they told me on the radio (that I had won) while I was coasting. I know he wanted his 1,000th win, but mom and I had it all figured out – he can just go do that next week (at the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis), on his (59th) birthday. That would be special.

“Antron (Top Fuel winner Antron Brown) and I are seeing a pattern here,” she continued. “When I saw him win in the semis, I suddenly got all kind of confidence because every final he’s been in (this year) I’ve been in, too. Not that that has anything to do with anything, but it’s little things like that where you feel a little bit more confident, like when we did our team dinner (on Thursday). Every race that we’ve done a team dinner, ever, we’ve gone to the final and now we’ve done it again.

“It’s an exciting time, you know, with Danica winning. There are a lot of women in a lot of 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 would never be here without them and without ‘Guido’ (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and Ron (assistant crew chief Ron Douglas). I’m proud to be a female in the seat but it’s those guys who got me here.”

The other two JFR Mustangs, both of them higher qualified than either of the Force’s Fords, were eliminated in the very first round.

Robert Hight’s streak of final round appearances ended with little fanfare in the very first round. That’s where the defending race champion was victimized by a loss of traction in the tricky left lane.

How the 2005 Rookie-of-the-Year wound up in the bad lane, though, was a story in itself. Actually, when his crew pulled the Auto Club Ford into the staging area, it was positioned on the preferred right side, as expected. However, crew chief Jimmy Prock’s concern about the condition of that lane after Del Worsham left an oil slick on his burnout, caused the team to swap lanes, which is the prerogative of the quicker car in each pair.

Unfortunately, after the cleanup by the NHRA Safety Safari crew, Capps zipped down the right lane without a problem in 4.875 seconds, third quickest time of the round, while Hight’s chassis unloaded when his car hit the bump and slowed to 5.975 seconds at 169.06 mph.

“Worsham oiled it in front of us,” Hight said, “(and) Bernie (Fedderly, crew chief on Force’s car) and Jimmy didn’t think that they had the track clean enough. So we had to deal with the bump in the left lane. The bump is pretty serious. You basically have to go up there set up for the bump. Obviously, you could navigate it because Ashley was able to. There wasn’t a lot of tire smoke in Funny Cars during qualifying but you look at today and there was. Guys were trying to press with the track conditions the way they were. You were trying to stay in the right lane.”

Although he refused to use it as an excuse, Hight acknowledged that his team was taken out of its routine because of several rain delays which delayed the start of the race by two-and-a-half hours.

Meanwhile, Mike Neff’s first round woes continued, this time against his boss and, perhaps because his crew, like Hight’s, opted to change from the right lane to the left. The result was almost a mirror image. The Old Spice Mustang lost traction at the bump, slowing to 7.179 while Force motored down the right side in 4.845 seconds, quickest time of the opening round.

“We’re disappointed,” Neff said. “It should have been a good drag race. We’re just upset with the way it all worked out after Worsham oiled the track. We went up there with lane choice, but they were skeptical as they watched them clean it up (so) we made the decision to follow Robert over there (to the left lane).

* * * *

Race Winners At-A-Glance:

FUNNY CAR: Ashley Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Castrol GTX ‘08 Ford Mustang, 4.837, 320.36 mph. def. John Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Castrol GTX High Mileage ’08 Ford Mustang, 11.223, 85.97 mph.

TOP FUEL: Antron Brown, Pittsboro, Ind., 4.537, 325.14 mph def. Tony Schumacher, Long Grove, Ill., 4.521, 329.58 mph.

PRO STOCK -- Mike Edwards, Coweta, Okla., Pontiac GXP, 6.680, 206.20 mph def. Jason Line, Troutman, N.C., Pontiac GXP, 6.680, 206.92 mph.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – Andrew Hines, Brownsburg, Ind., Harley-Davidson V-Rod, 6.946. 191.40 def. Chip Ellis, Brownsburg, Ind., Suzuki, 6.958, 190.70 mph.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR – Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 5.558 260.81 mph def. Steve Harker, Gainesville, Ga., 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 5.569 257.83 mph.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER – Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., def. Spencer Massey, Fort Worth, Texas, 5.356 268.92 mph def. Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., 13.147 84.11 mph.

* * * *

NHRA POWERade Points (unofficial standings after six of twenty-four POWERade National events):

FUNNY CAR - 1. Ashley Force, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 438; 2. Tim Wilkerson, 379; 3. Cruz Pedregon, 351; 4. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 323; 5. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 321; 6. Tony Pedregon, 319; 7. Gary Densham, 315; 8. Jack Beckman, 311; 9. Ron Capps, 276; 10. Del Worsham, 253; Also 14. Mike Neff, Old Spice Ford Mustang, 202.

TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 415; 2. Larry Dixon, 380; 3. Antron Brown, 373; 4. Cory McClenathan, 328; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 288; 6. Hillary Will, 251; 7. Rod Fuller, 244; 8. David Grubnic, 232; 9. Doug Herbert, 226; 10. Doug Kalitta, 221.

PRO STOCK – 1. Jason Line, 489; 2. Jeg Coughlin, 465; 3. Greg Anderson, 428; 4. Kurt Johnson, 394; 5. Allen Johnson, 372; 6. Mike Edwards, 359; 7. V Gaines, 314; 8. Warren Johnson, 307; 9. Justin Humphreys, 276; 10. Greg Stanfield, 275.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - 1. Andrew Hines, 289; 2. Matt Guidera, 264; 3. Matt Smith, 251; 4. Chip Ellis, 248; 5. Angelle Sampey, 177; 6. Ed Krawiec, 145; 7. Chris Rivas, 139; 8. Hector Arana, 118; 9. Shawn Gann, 117; 10. Craig Treble, 114.

* * * *

US Smokeless Showdown points (including Atlanta qualifying). Top eight in points following the Aug. 17 Toyo Tires Nationals at Reading, Pa., compete for a $100,000 top prize during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals:

1. Tony Pedregon, Q Racing Chevrolet, 1505; 2. Jack Beckman, Valvoline Dodge, 1495; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Levi, Ray and Shoup Chevrolet, 1455; 4. Robert Hight, Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, 1430; 5. Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge, 1425; 6. Ashley Force, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 1360; 7. Gary Scelzi, Oakley Dodge, 1315; 8. Cruz Pedregon, Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet, 1300; 9. Gary Densham, Racebricks Chevrolet, 1285; 10. Del Worsham, CSK Chevrolet, 1200; 11. Jerry Toliver, Rockstar Dodge, 1165; 12. Mike Neff, Old Spice Ford Mustang, 1025; 13. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 1000; 14. Tony Bartone, 870; 15. Scott Kalitta, DHL Toyota, 815.

* * * *

TEAM CASTROL/TEAM JFR Details:

JOHN FORCE, 58, Castrol High Mileage Ford Mustang

Qualifying position and performance: 9th at 4.868 seconds, 313.80 mph

Race Results: Beat Mike Neff, Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca III. Lost to Ashley Force.

Notable: Won 999th round win in 500th national event appearance…Reached his 14th final round at the Southern Nationals.

Quotable: “There are a lot of mixed emotions. I turn off the switch. If I win, that’s great but if she wins, that’s something really special, too. I’m just going to go out there and let my car do what it does.” – JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE, 25, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang

Qualifying position and performance: 11th at 4.897 seconds, 310.05 mph

Race Results: Beat Del Worsham, Jim Head, Ron Capps, John Force.

Notable: First Funny Car win for female in history of Funny Car class…Extended points lead… raced to third consecutive final round.

Quotable: “I guess the third time’s a charm. We just knew that if we kept getting to the finals, we’d eventually get one. I kinda hated that it had to be against dad but I’m just happy to win an event.” – ASHLEY FORCE

ROBERT HIGHT, 38, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang

Qualifying position and performance: 7th at 4.860 seconds, 312.93 mph.

Race Results: Lost to Ron Capps.

Notable: First time he has not advanced to final round at Southern Nationals

Quotable: “Yesterday in qualifying when we ran that lane (left) we had our clutch on super hold and tried to glide it through that area and it went. We were trying to run a little easier there. We had to run the best run we’d made all weekend to beat him (Ron Capps).” – ROBERT HIGHT

MIKE NEFF, 41, Old Spice Ford Mustang

Qualifying position and performance: 8th at 4.867 seconds, 309.42 mph.

Race results: Lost to John Force.

Notable: Still looking for first round win.

Quotable: “We are disappointed. It should have been a good drag race. We are just upset with the way it all worked out after Worsham oiled the track down and we are jockeying the lanes. We made a bad decision by changing lanes.” – MIKE NEFF

* * * *

NEXT EVENTS:

May 2-4 12th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals, Madison, Ill.

May 16-18 8th annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn.

The Video of Ashley's Very First Funny Car Win - The First Female EVER To Win In Funny Car!

I was wondering what happened to her. This explains a lot.

As an Ashley fan myself I wonder if we will ever see her back in a race car now that she has had the baby. It seems that her sister Courtney has picked up where she left off.