Ashley Force at World Headquarters
NHRA Ford Mustang Funny Car driver Ashley Force autographs a poster for Ford employee Kari Theisen (above) during an employee meet and greet event last Thursday at the automaker's World Headquarters.
Force, a rookie, currently is seventh in the championship point standings and is threatening to set a number of female Funny Car records.
In her rookie season at the wheel of the Castrol A/Fuel dragster, Ashley Force proved she was her father’s daughter when she became just the third woman in history to win the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind., drag racing’s oldest, largest and most prestigious single event.
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She went on to win two more Top Alcohol Dragster races in 2004 and, at the season-ending Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Calif., shared the winners’ circle with her dad, drag racing legend John Force, becoming the first father and daughter winners of the same NHRA event.
As the first woman in the last seven seasons to drive a Funny Car in the POWERade Drag Racing Series, few expected the 24-year-old to be a legitimate contender for one of the eight spots in the NHRA's new NASCAR-inspired Countdown to the Championship.
In fact, while her dad is languishing in 17th place in the standings after the worst start of his career, Ashley is coming up sevens: seventh place after seven races having won seven rounds in what widely is regarded as the most competitive category in NHRA Pro Racing.
"If I can just get better on my lights, I think we have a good package going into the summer races when the weather isn't going to allow many high speeds and quick ETs. The weather is going to level the playing field and if you have a driver and a team that are working well together, like we are, I think you can win."
If she does reach the winners' circle, she would become the first woman in NHRA history to accomplish that feat in a nitro Funny Car. She already has gone as far as any other female Funny Car driver, competing in the semifinals at both Atlanta and Madison, Ill.
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