- Ashley Force
Infobox actor
name = Ashley Force
imagesize = 200px
caption = Ashley Force
birthname = Ashley Force
birthdate = birth date and age|1982|11|29
location = Yorba Linda,California ,USA
othername =
homepage = http://www.ashleyforce.com|Ashley Force (born
November 29 ,1982 ) is afunny car drag racer. She is the daughter of 14-time NHRAFunny Car division championJohn Force and his wife Laurie Force.Force attended
Esperanza High School in Anaheim, CA, where she was a cheerleader. In 2003, Force graduated fromCalifornia State University-Fullerton with a B.A. in communications with an emphasis in television and video. In 2007 she was voted as the Hottest Athlete by an AOL Sports Poll, beating out favoritesTom Brady andDanica Patrick . [http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-autoracingbriefs&prov=ap&type=lgns]Force was also selected as the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' Rookie–of–the–Year (Funny Car division) in November 2007. On April 27, 2008, Force earned her first ever NHRA professional win, defeating her father in the final round, and becoming the first woman to earn a win in the Funny Car class at the NHRA Summit Southern Nationals held at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia. [http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7917684/Ashley-beats-father-John-in-all-Force-final]
Drag racing career
As a
Top Alcohol division rookie, she won three of the season’s final five races including the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals atIndianapolis , and the season-ending Automobile Club ofSouthern California at Pomona, where she shared the winners’ circle with her father - the NHRA’s first ever father-daughter winners. Ashley finished 2004 fourth in national driver points.2007
In 2007, Ashley Force moved into the professional ranks, driving a Castrol-sponsored Mustang Funny Car for her father's team, John Force Racing. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-jimlitke-011707&prov=ap&type=lgns "Handing over part of the family business at 300 mph"] ; Jim Litke;
January 17 2007 ;Associated Press onyahoo.com ; RetrievedJanuary 18 2007 ] At her first meet (Pomona), she qualified 15th and was eliminated in the first round by her brother-in-law and teammateRobert Hight . Despite some mishaps and missteps by her, and despite tragedy within John Force Racing, in light of the challenge inherent in driving a Funny Car (extremely high horsepower, front-engine layout, and relatively short wheelbase) she made very impressive progress during the season, growing in competence and confidence as she gained experience.Ashley Force and her father made NHRA history in Atlanta in April when they became the first father and daughter to race against each other. [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=8&id=2853462 "Ashley Force eliminates dad John in Funny Car"] ;
April 29 2007 ;Associated Press onESPN ; RetrievedJune 6 2007 ] Ashley won the round with an elapsed time of 4.779 seconds, and a terminal speed of 317.05 miles per hour. She advanced to the semifinals, which tied her for the best ever Funny Car event finish for a female.In October, Ashley Force once again made racing history, this time at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming the first female to compete in a national series Funny Car final round, but was defeated on a holeshot by
Tony Pedregon .2008
If anyone had lingering doubts about Ashley Force's competitiveness in a Funny Car, those doubts were erased early in the 2008 racing season as she worked her way to the final round of eliminations in three consecutive meetings: Houston, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. She made her first final round appearance of the year on March 30 at Houston, but lost to
Del Worsham . At Las Vegas, she was defeated in the final byTim Wilkerson , yet became the first female racer ever to lead the NHRA Funny Car point standings. OnApril 27 ,2008 , at Atlanta, her opponent in the final was her dad, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, who was seeking to score the 1000th round win of his career. Ashley claimed her first-ever NHRA Funny Car win on that day, the first ever for a woman, as her dad smoked the tires and she roared to victory with a 4.837-second elapsed time, the second quickest of the weekend in the Funny Car class.Television
Ashley Force is featured with her family on A&E's reality show "
Driving Force ". She has two sisters, Courtney and Brittany, and an older half-sister, Adria.References
External links
* [http://www.johnforceracing.com/ John Force Racing] (The team for both John and Ashley Force)
* [http://www.muscularmustangs.com/2005/force.php Interview with Ashley Force]
* [http://www.aetv.com/drivingforce/ Driving Force] A&E reality show
* [http://www.aetv.com/drivingforce/df_meet_the_forces.jsp?index=1&type=actor Driving Force Ashley's Profile]
* [http://www.myspace.com/ashleyforce Ashley Force's "Official Myspace" page]
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