Ashley Force Hood
Ashley Force in October 2007 | |
|---|---|
 Ashley Force | |
| Born | Ashley Force |
| Website | http://www.ashleyforce.com |
Ashley Force (born November 29, 1982) is a funny car drag racer. She is the daughter of 14-time NHRA Funny Car division champion John Force and his wife Laurie Force.
Force attended Esperanza High School in Anaheim, CA, where she was a cheerleader. In 2003, Force graduated from California State University-Fullerton with a B.A. in communications with an emphasis in television and video. In 2007 she was voted as the Hottest Athlete by an AOL Sports Poll, beating out favorites Tom Brady and Danica Patrick. [1]
Force was also selected as the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' Rookie–of–the–Year (Funny Car division) in November, 2007. On April 27th 2008 Ashley got her first ever NHRA Funny Car win racing against her father 14 time world Funny Car Champion John Force.Ashley made history,becoming the first female to get a win in the male dominated funny car catergory.
Drag racing career
As a Top Alcohol division rookie, she won three of the season’s final five races including the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, and the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California at Pomona, where she shared the winners’ circle with her father - the NHRA’s first ever father-daughter winners. Ashley finished 2004 fourth in national driver points.
2007
Ashley Force moved up into the professional Funny Car division in 2007 driving a Castrol-sponsored Mustang for her father's team, John Force Racing.[1]
In her first match, she faced brother-in-law and teammate Robert Hight. Hight won the match, defeating his sister-in-law, 5.367/190.24 MPH (.087 reaction time) to a losing 8.195/102.11 MPH (.108 RT). Hight finished second, losing to Gary Scelzi on a disqualification.
Ashley, and her father, John Force made NHRA history in Atlanta in April 2007, when they became the first father and daughter to race against each other. [2] Ashley won the race with an elapsed time of 4.779 seconds, and a top speed of 317.05 miles per hour. [2] She advanced to the semifinals, which tied for the highest ever Funny Car event finish for a female. [2]
In October, Ashley Force once again made racing history at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming the first female to compete in a national series Funny Car final.
2008
Ashley would make her first final round appearance of the year in late March at Houston, but lost in the final to Del Worsham. The very next round at Las Vegas saw Ashley makes the finals for a second straight event, but was defeated by Tim Wilkerson. Despite that loss, Ashley would make history by becoming the first female racer ever to lead the NHRA Funny Car point standings. The very next race at Atlanta would see Ashley march to her third consecutive final round. This time her opponent would be her dad and 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, who was seeking to score his 1000th career round win. On April 27, 2008, Ashley would claim her first-ever NHRA Funny Car win as her dad smoked the tires and Ashley roared to victory with a 4.837 second elapsed time, second fastest of the weekend in Funny Car.
Television
She is featured on A&E's reality show "Driving Force" with her family. She has 2 sisters, Courtney, and Brittany, and an older half-sister, Adria.
References
- ^ "Handing over part of the family business at 300 mph"; Jim Litke; January 17 2007; Associated Press on yahoo.com; Retrieved January 18 2007
- ^ a b c "Ashley Force eliminates dad John in Funny Car"; April 29 2007; Associated Press on ESPN; Retrieved June 6 2007
External links
- John Force Racing (The team for both John and Ashley Force)
- Interview with Ashley Force
- Driving Force A&E reality show
- Driving Force Ashley's Profile
- Ashley Force's "Official Myspace" page