As it is, the 26-year-old daughter of drag racing icon John Force, for whom Pedregon once drove and for whom he won the championship in the Castrol SYNTEC Ford, rolls into Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in third place in NHRA Full Throttle points, two behind Pedregon and just 60 back of pacesetting Ron Capps.

It's a lofty position for the former high school cheerleader who this week is competing in just her 55th event in a Castrol GTX Ford Mustang that, week-in and week-out, has been the performance leader among the vehicles in the John Force Racing motor pool.

A finalist in four of the last seven races and winner last April at Houston, Texas, she nevertheless has lost to Pedregon in three of their last four meetings, most recently in the final round of last week's U.A. Route 66 Nationals at Joliet, Ill. That's 60 points that could be in her column instead of his.

Still, the woman billed as the new face of high performance knows she has a car capable of going the distance once the field is set for the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship.

"You always want to win and you're bummed when you don't," she said of last weekend's result, "but our Mustang is running really well in all kinds of conditions and it's a great feeling to go to the semis and finals, week after week. We'll just keep trying to do that."

She'll try again this week on a track she owned as a semi-pro, Top Alcohol Dragster driver but one on which she has yet to win a round as a Funny Car pro.

Perhaps her biggest challenge is controlling her own overactive mind.

"I had a lot of issues with thinking about things and changing routine (last week)," she said. "I was maybe trying a little too hard. That can sometimes push you backwards. That we got to the final with me having a weird weekend was pretty crazy. The good thing is that it's behind us.

"You're not going to win championships being timid," she said, "and I think that's why we've been near the top (of the points) all year. My crew chiefs, Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas, haven't been afraid to take chances. Sometimes they work; sometimes they don't, but now is the time - before we get to the Countdown."

The first woman to go to an NHRA Funny Car final round, the first to win a race, the first to finish in the Top 10 and the first to qualify for the Countdown, Ashley is almost certain to be in the 10-driver lineup for a playoff scenario that begins with the Sept. 17-20 Carolina Nationals at Charlotte, N.C.

Did You Know?
- Ashley's Castrol GTX Ford Mustang was the fastest Funny Car at the 1,000 foot distance in 2008 (310.05 mph) and is also the fastest this year (312.13 mph).
- Ashley was one of only four Funny Car points leaders last year along with teammate Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson and eventual champion Cruz Pedregon.
- Ashley was the 2008 winner of the Auto Club's Road to the Future Award as the NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year.

At Raceway Park:
- Although she has yet to win a round in her Castrol GTX Funny Car, Ashley never failed to reach the semifinals in six appearances at Raceway Park in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. She was runner-up at the 2005 SuperNationals and a semifinalist in 2004 and 2006. He also made three Raceway Park appearances in the Lucas Oil Series, winning in 2004 and 2005 and earning runner-up honors in 2006.
- Ashley was the No. 1 qualifier in TAD division at both the 2004 and 2005 editions of the SuperNationals

Off the Track:
- Ashley was among a group of drivers and NHRA sponsors who participated in the Opening Bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, June 10. She was joined by BP/Castrol executive Marci Brand, Regional Vice-President, Automotive Americas, as well as by drivers Antron Brown, Bob Tasca III, Morgan Lucas, Karen Stoffer, Tony Pedregon and Eddie Krawiec.
- Asked by NASCAR Illustrated if she ever had considered taking a turn around an oval track, Ashley said: "My whole life I've been around drag racing and focused on short bursts of speed. I don't know how they drive those cars for three hours. I couldn't make it without going to the bathroom. Besides, a top speed of 200 mph seems pretty slow to me."
- Ashley appears with brother-in-law Robert Hight in a regional TV ad for the Auto Club of Southern California and is a spokesperson for Castrol, Ford, BrandSource and others.
- Ashley was recognized in 2008 as the Female Athlete of the Year by the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation in Los Angeles.
- Ashley and her cat, Simba, were the subjects of a photo shoot with photographer David Woo for an upcoming coffee table book featuring celebrities and their pets.
- Ashley was one of the stars of the real life series "Driving Force," which aired for two seasons on A&E Network, chronicling her development as a race car driver.

http://www.johnforceracing.com
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Courtesy of Dave Densmore