After Ashley Force Hood called her shot during qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals, she got the attention of her fellow Funny Car competitors.

She no longer calls her shots. They call them for her.

Tim Wilkerson raced to the top of provisional Funny Car qualifying at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals with a 4.109, 295.08.in his second round attempt. When NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart asked Wilkerson about his potential top qualifying effort, he warned his supporters not to begin celebrating on his behalf.

Wilkerson was right. Force beat him with a more impressive 4.105, 298.67.

“That was really funny,” Force Hood said. “We always like to joke around with that stuff. It worked for us that one race but I haven’t used it since. I just didn’t want to jinx myself.”

There was no jinxing Force Hood as she led both sessions of qualifying on the first day.

“The second run felt so much better than our first one. That run was chaos and trying to survive and get to the finish line. That was a stressful run and I like those.”

If her run holds up, it will mark her second No. 1 of 2009.

“The first session was about getting down the track,” Force said, of leading Friday’s opening round of qualifying. “We had a good run but figured everyone else would improve and go around us. We didn’t want to mess up the Friday night session. That’s one you never want to give up.”

The daughter of Funny Car legend, Force Hood has emerged as the dominant car in a John Force Racing team that is divided between performance and failure.

“The pressure is lifted off of us and I realize it may be tense in some of the other pits,” Force Hood said. “When you are not running as well as you think you should it puts pressure on everybody. Right now we appreciate running well and we are having fun. We aren’t taking it for granted. It won’t always be that way. There will be ups and downs. We just hope they don’t come … like the other teams in my camp. If they do, we’ll just stick to our guns and try to improve.

“The success we’ve had I give to me crew chiefs and my crew. The only job I am doing right is I’m not screwing up the great car they are giving me. Each time before I run I pray that I do my job right.”

Force Hood described her crew chiefs Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglass as sponges that have soaked up knowledge from the best tuners in the business.

That is why on Saturday, Force Hood has the confidence they will make the best tuning decisions aimed not at maintaining a car that qualifies No. 1 but has the best opportunity to win the event.

“Saturday is all about getting a good grip on the track for Sunday,” Force Hood said. “You never know how the conditions will change from one day to the next. We’re not likely to run at 8:30 at night unless we follow the trend we have had for much of this season.

“I’ll be content with two good runs on Saturday.”   

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