Ashley Force enters her sophomore season as a Funny Car driver, but when she fires her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang during Friday’s NHRA O’Reilly Springnationals in Houston, Texas, she will do so as a freshman.

Force, the daughter of Funny Car legend John Force, sat out last year’s event following the unfortunate death of teammate Eric Medlen. She’s run the event before as a Top Alcohol Dragster driver but not in her current capacity.

"The first thing I'll do when I get there is get with my crew chief, Dean Antonelli, and put together a mental game plan,” Force said. “I know dad has run great (at Houston) and so has Robert, so it must be a pretty good Funny Car track.  We missed the race last year, so I'm excited about making my first (Funny Car) runs there."

Force failed to make the show in Phoenix, but rebounded two weeks ago and advance farther than any of the four John Force Racing [JFR] teams who qualified by reaching the quarter-finals. Ashley Force enters her sophomore season as a Funny Car driver, but when she fires her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang during Friday’s NHRA O’Reilly Springnationals in Houston, Texas, she will do so as a freshman.

Force, the daughter of Funny Car legend John Force, sat out last year’s event following the unfortunate death of teammate Eric Medlen. She’s run the event before as a Top Alcohol Dragster driver but not in her current capacity.

"The first thing I'll do when I get there is get with my crew chief, Dean Antonelli, and put together a mental game plan,” Force said. “I know dad has run great (at Houston) and so has Robert, so it must be a pretty good Funny Car track.  We missed the race last year, so I'm excited about making my first (Funny Car) runs there."

Force failed to make the show in Phoenix, but rebounded two weeks ago and advance farther than any of the four John Force Racing [JFR] teams who qualified by reaching the quarter-finals.
    
This weekend may be a first time racing a nitro flopper in Houston, but she’s gained enough experience along the route to make the introduction a relatively seamless one.

"I think we've gotten things pretty figured out from the runs that we've made (this year)," she said, "and I'm finally learning to pedal (feather the throttle) when the car loses traction.  At Pomona was the first time I ever won a round on my pedaling.'
 
 “I had another chance at Gainesville against Tony and even though we didn't win, I think I'm getting the hang of it.  Like dad says, I just ran out of racetrack.  Hopefully, it will all pay off this week.
 
"When I pedaled' in the dragster, it just hooked right up and went," she said.   That's not the case with the Funny Car.  It definitely takes more finesse.  You need to take the time to let the tires settle down (before you get back on the throttle). 
 
"That's what I was able to do at Pomona but, at the same time, you don't want to wait too long, which maybe is what happened at Gainesville.  It's something you have to get a feel for.
 
"I've also learned a lot about how different this car is to drive (from) the one we had last year," she said, referring to the complete redesign of all four JFR team cars in the aftermath of her dad's crash last September in Dallas and the fatal accident that claimed the life of Eric Medlen.
 
Force is ninth in POWERade driver points, one position behind her father, 14-time series champion John Force.  She finished 10th last year en route to Rookie-of-the-Year honors.