Ashley Force, driver of
the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, became the first woman in series history to win a
Funny Car event this past
Ashley took five races to get her first victory. Herfathe John had nine runner-ups before gaining his first.
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.”