Thu, 28 May 2009, 09:44 PM Ashley in a Fast Ford at Summer Nationals

Courtesy of Dave Densmore Champ's Daughter Among Funny Car Favorites

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Ashley Force Hood is a study in contradictions. She's an inherently shy person who plies her trade at the wheel of one of the world's most powerful race cars, the 8,000 horsepower Castrol GTXR Ford Mustang she'll show off this week at Heartland Park-Topeka during the 21st renewal of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Summer Nationals.

Force Hood, the 26-year-old daughter of drag racing icon John Force, hopes to improve her fourth place standing this week as the Countdown to Ten portion of the NHRA playoffs moves into the homestretch.

In just her third full season, Ashley is the highest ranked of the four Team Castrol drivers in the Heartland Park lineup on the strength of a victory earlier this year at Houston, Texas and a runner-up finish at Atlanta, Ga., in the event in which the year before she had become the first woman to win an NHRA tour Funny Car title.

Although she was a cheerleader at Esperanza High School (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Ashley also took courses in auto shop and welding. An admitted tomboy while growing up in Southern California, she was voted the "World's Hottest Athlete" in a 2007 AOL sports on-line poll.

While she enjoys typical female pursuits getting her hair done, wearing makeup, sliding into heels and a little black dress she spends weekends like this one "with helmet hair and clutch dust all over my face. I'm not at all glamorous," she said.

While that statement is subject to debate, there's no question as to the second generation driver's abilities.

The 2007 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year, she quickly became the first woman ever to reach an NHRA Funny Car final (Las Vegas, 2007), the first to win a race (Atlanta, 2008), the first to lead the points (April, 2008), the first to finish in the Top 10 in points (10th, 2007) and the first to make the Countdown (2008).

Now she is focused on becoming the first to win a Funny Car Championship.

Although she was the only varsity cheerleader who declined to lead a cheer and even though she quit choir when she was required to solo, Ashley has found her niche at the wheel of the Castrol Ford.

Her comfort level inside the claustrophobic confines of the 300 mile-an-hour Funny Car has surprised everyone, especially the woman herself.

"We reach 100 miles per hour in less than a second," she said, "but I really feel the speed about halfway down the track. When the clutch engages, it's like getting the wind knocked out of you.

"After a run, I'm sore, achy and feel like I've run a marathon," said the graduate of Cal State-Fullerton. "The human body is not made to do what we do. I never understood how (drivers) could be tired after just four-and-a-half seconds. Now I do."

The No. 1 qualifier at two of the last three Full Throttle tour events, she should be in contention for another straight-line "pole" when qualifying begins Friday.

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 that designates the NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year.
- Ashley is just the seventh woman driver to win multiple NHRA events in a professional category along with Angelle Sampey, Shirley Muldowney, Lori Johns, Shelly Payne, Melanie Troxel and Karen Stoffer.

Off the Track:
- Asked by NASCAR Illustrated if she had ever considered taking a turn around an oval track like Kansas Speedway, 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 has written a "day at the drag races" children's book for which a publisher presently is being sought.
- 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 and her father's effort to re-connect with his family.

http://www.johnforceracing.com
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