Ashley Force, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, became the first woman in NHRA series history to win a Funny Car event this past weekend at Atlanta Dragway. In the final, she defeated her father – John Force, who has more wins, 125, and championships, 14, than any other driver in drag racing history. Ashley Force, who continues to lead the Funny Car standings, participated in a national teleconference on Tuesday and discussed her historic victory.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, NOT ONLY ON GETTING YOUR FIRST CAREER WIN, BUT HAVING IT COME AGAINST YOUR FATHER?
“Well, it’s been a long road. I started in ’07 in Funny Car and we had so many ups and downs and struggles with the car and having a new team and driver and everything brand new. But we were able to kind of build on that and the same group of guys joined me this year in the ’08 season. It was exciting to kind of step-up, go to the next level, be going rounds, going to finals. We knew if we kept getting to finals, eventually we’d get a win. So, we just had to be patient and keep doing what we were doing. But it was a great night for us. My team is still texting me, some of them texted me last night, ‘Can you believe it? It’s not a dream! We’re reading it in the newspapers.’ We’re just so excited that our day finally came.”
YOU’VE GONE BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK IN THE FINAL ROUNDS. YOU MENTIONED BEFORE, YOU’RE FOCUSED ON WINNING RACES AND NOT NECESSARILY THE POINTS STANDINGS, MAKING IT TO THE FINAL ROUND THAT MANY TIMES HAS GOT TO HELP YOUR CHANCES LOOKING INTO THE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“Absolutely. Our car is very consistent and that’s the key in drag racing. If you can have consistency, it’s going to pay off. We’re just trying to stay focused, not get caught up in everything. It’s so easy to want to be looking at the points every round and seeing where you’re at and it changes so quickly, that we’re really trying to not get into that. It would only distract us from what our main goal is and that is to win rounds, because you can’t win races without doing that. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all, especially my whole life watching my dad win championships and now with my team to be at the top of the pack, we’re very motivated and excited. We just want to stay ahead of the rest of the guys and gals.”
WHEN YOU MADE IT TO THE TWO FINAL ROUNDS TWICE BEFORE ATLANTA, WHAT KIND OF ADVICE DID YOUR DAD GIVE YOU?
“He actually came in and said, ‘You know, you don’t need any of my advice. Just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re going rounds.’ He didn’t want to change our routine. We have our own way of doing things in our camp. He taught me when I started and now he’s kind of letting me find my own way, learn from my own mistakes. But the biggest thing that he talked to me about was in the past month was just to stay focused [and] not let the mental side of things get into our minds. The ‘oh, we can’t get past this final round’ because going to the finals is a good thing. We’re happy to be there and we knew if we could just not get it in our minds that we can’t get past the final, then we’d be all right. He did just kind of talk to me about staying focused in all the craziness, not changing our routine, doing what we always do and it’s been paying off for us.”
DANICA PATRICK JUST WON HER FIRST INDYCAR RACE. THE INDY RACING LEAGUE SAID SHE WAS THE FIRST FEMALE DRIVER TO WIN A MAJOR AUTOMOBILE RACE, WHICH WE KNOW ISN’T TRUE BECAUSE SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY WAS WINNING RACES BACK IN THE ’70S. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
“It’s frustrating for those in drag racing. We’ve had such a history of females doing great in drag racing, but you don’t want to take anything away from Danica. She did a great job. That’s a tough motorsport to be in. I don’t know really anything about that type of racing. But, I do know that growing up in racing, I’ve watched Shirley Muldowney, Shelly Anderson, Angelle [Sampey], so many women just win race after race, win championships. The gals in NHRA drag racing, they know what they’re doing. We’re lucky to be in a sport that is open to having us there. They promote us. They’re excited. Our competitors are happy to have us there. We know the truth that we have a lot of gals that have done great things, but it’s great for Danica as well. I would never take anything away from her. You just want to bring the knowledge to everyone that there’s a lot of different motorsports out there and around here and there’s a lot of women in all different kinds and all different levels. We have some great ones in drag racing. Those are the ones I’ve looked up to and followed. I’m excited to now be in that line-up of winners.”
