TEAM CASTROL
ASHLEY FORCE
Pre-Race Package for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
August 27-September 1, 2008
O’Reilly Raceway Park
Indianapolis, Indiana
18th of 24 Events in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
For Immediate Release
PINK IS EMPOWERING
FOR ASHLEY AT INDY
Champ's Daughter Races Rookie of the Year" Car
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The special edition Castrol GTX® Ford Mustang in which Ashley Force this week will try to become the first woman to win a Funny Car title at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the world's oldest, largest and most prestigious drag racing event, definitely is pretty in pink.
Nevertheless, rivals aren't likely to be fooled by the distinctive paint that celebrates the 25-year-old's 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year season.
That's because they know that beneath the feminine facade beats the mechanical heart of one of the world's most potent race cars, one in which Ashley not only became the first woman in drag racing history to win an NHRA Funny Car race, but also the first to reach a final round, the first to lead the points and the first to earn a starting berth in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship.
The graduate of Cal State-Fullerton picked the color for the car herself. For her, it recalls an era of empowerment for women in drag racing; an era in which Shirley Muldowney's hot pink Top Fuel dragster shook the very foundations of the sport.
"This is my first specialty car," said the graduate of Cal State-Fullerton, "and I love the color pink. I asked my team about having a pink car since it's their Rookie of the Year' car as much as it is mine, but they were fine with it. They actually thought it would be intimidating since, while they will never admit it, most guys don't want to lose to a girl much less a girl in a pink race car."
"There will never be another Rookie of the Year car for me and I'll only race it one time, so that will be doubly special," she said.
As a youngster, Ashley was inspired by Muldowney who, after becoming the first woman ever licensed to drive in the Top Fuel division, won series championships in 1977, 1980 and 1982.
"When we went to the races with my mom, we always wanted dad to win but I used to cheer for Shirley and the other girls in racing, too. They were an inspiration just like I hope I can be to girls from for this generation."
In her second season, Ashley has begun to come into her own and that has led to a not-so-subtle change in perception among race fans.
Whereas she once was identified solely as "John Force's daughter," more-and-more often, people who gather around the John Force Racing compound point to the elder Force, signing autographs next door, and identify him as "Ashley's dad."
Force himself characterizes it as "a changing of the guard." At 59 years old, the 14-time champion acknowledges that he is in the twilight of his career. Nevertheless, he has said he will continue to race vicariously through Ashley and her younger sisters, Brittany, 22, and Courtney, 20, who also are competing at O'Reilly Raceway Park, though not in the Funny Car class.
"Our car has been running good," Ashley said of her Dean Antonelli-and-Ron Douglas prepared Ford. "It just hasn't happened for us on race day, at least not lately. We just have to keep doing what we're going. If we stay consistent like we've been, it'll come back around."
A winner last April at Atlanta, Ga., where she beat her famous father in the final round of the Summit Racing Southern Nationals, Ashley was runner-up in two other races and started from the No. 1 qualifying position in two of the last three races.
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U.S. Smokeless Showdown:
25 years after her dad made his first start in the race, Ashley Force is the No. 1 seed for the U.S. Smokeless Showdown, the Funny Car bonus race that will be contested Sunday in conjunction with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Ashley beat out her brother-in-law, Robert Hight, who had been the top seed the two previous seasons, for the No. 1 spot, thereby extending to 19 the number of consecutive seasons in which a John Force Racing Funny Car has started from No. 1 at the Showdown.
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Did You Know:
– Ashley's first major drag racing victory came in the 2004 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in which she won the Top Alcohol Dragster championship driving an A/Fuel dragster owned and prepared by Jerry Darien.
– Last year, Ashley became the second JFR driver in three years to win the Auto Club's
Road to the Future Award which designates the NHRA tour's Rookie-of-the-Year. Robert "Top Gun" Hight won the award in 2005. Another JFR driver, Mike Neff, is the leading candidate to claim this year's award.
– Ashley appears in national print ads for Oakley sunglasses and apparel along with
younger sisters Brittany, 22, and Courtney, 20, who both are competing at this year's U.S. Nationals in the Top Alcohol class.
– Ashley's likeness appears on current packaging for 46" and 52" Sanyo TV sets sold in Wal-mart and other major retail outlets.
-www.johnforceracing.com-
For Immediate Release
FORCE FACES DAUGHTER
IN $100,000 BONUS RACE
Funny Car Icon in 25th U.S. Smokeless Showdown
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Still not at the top of his game after a crash last fall that left him with crippling injuries, John Force proved by qualifying for his 24th consecutive U.S. Smokeless Showdown that, when necessary, he still can conjure up some of the magic that has made him a racing legend.
Facing exclusion from a Funny Car bonus race in which he had earned a record $564,500 in 24 previous appearances, Force was told that he needed to qualify his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford either first or second two weeks ago at Reading, Pa., to keep alive even the slimmest hopes of making the starting lineup.
When he qualified only fifth, he thought his bid to earn a shot at the $100,000 top prize was over, but it wasn't. When both Gary Scelzi and Jerry Toliver failed to qualify for the Toyo Tires Nationals, it opened the door for Force and Del Worsham, a pair of past winners who drove into the field.
"After last year and that crash in Dallas I really didn't think that I'd be able to put this thing back in (the field) coming from behind like I had to do," Force said. "We missed races (six of the 23), but you just keep the faith and you keep going down the road. You keep doing what you do and believing in your crew chiefs and your team. I just made it by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin."
The good news is that he'll be in the field for the 25th time since the race was created in 1982. The bad news is that he'll face the No. 1 qualifier in the first round and she's not likely to cut him any slack. That's right, his opponent will be his 25-year-old daughter, Ashley, the first woman ever to qualify for the Showdown.
"To be in (the show) for Castrol and Ford, the Auto Club of Southern California, Old Spice, BrandSource, Sanyo and Mac Tools means we've done our job and it's really cool (to be in the race)," Force said.
"I'm racing Ashley first round and that is really what I wanted to do most. I didn't want her to go to the Showdown for her first time and me not be in it with her."
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-www.johnforceracing.com-
For Immediate Release
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER:
ASHLEY NO. 1 FOR SHOWDOWN
Castrol GTX Ford Driver Continues to Rack Up Firsts'
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In a season of firsts, becoming the first woman seeded No. 1 for the U.S. Smokeless Showdown wasn't even on Ashley Force's radar.
Nevertheless, when the 25-year-old former high school cheerleader rolls her pink-hued special edition Castrol GTX® Ford Mustang to the starting line for Sunday's first round, she will do so not only as the first woman to earn a spot in the Funny Car bonus race, but also as the No. 1 qualifier.
The driver in the other lane at O'Reilly Raceway Park, the first to challenge her in her bid for the $100,000 top prize, will be her dad, drag racing legend John Force.
"I'd usually be bummed (about racing my dad)," she said, "but up until the last race (the Aug. 17th Toyo Tires Nationals at Reading, Pa.) he wasn't even in.
"I was so happy that he got in (that) I'm not going to push my luck and complain about which spot he's in. Being No. 1 (seed) shows our consistency. We didn't have a ton of No. 1 qualifiers (two), but we always had pretty good spots through the year."
Ashley's success was historic for more than the obvious gender reasons. It also extended to 19 the number of consecutive seasons that a John Force Racing Funny Car has earned the No. 1 spot for the Showdown. John Force was No. 1 every year from 1990 through 2005. Robert "Top Gun" Hight, was tops in 2006 and 2007.
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Did You Know:
– Ashley Force arrived here straight from shooting an episode of Designing Spaces for Home and Garden TV (HGTV) in Florida. It's the latest in a series of projects for the 25-year-old outside the conventional sphere of drag racing.
– Last week in California and this week at the team's satellite shop facilities in Brownsburg, near O'Reilly Raceway Park, she and her dad have been shooting "behind the scenes" material for later use on E60 on ESPN.