Ashley Force Weekly Blog
June 15, 2009

It’s been a crazy week. I’ve been in 4 states in 4 days. Thankfully all but one was in the same time zone or I would be crazy by now! On Monday after the Chicago race we stayed in town to spend some time at my husband Dan’s house and catch up with his family and friends. It was short but sweet and a great break for us to kind of relax and rejuvenate before heading on to the next event.

On Tuesday we traveled to New York City and got in later in the evening and grabbed dinner with my crew chief Dean (Guido) and his wife Kelly who does my PR. They were there all day setting up my race car for the following day’s activities.

Wednesday we got to do something really special and something I never thought I’d get a chance in my life to do. My fellow NHRA friends, drivers and sponsors got to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange! Talk about a crazy workplace! It was a madhouse! Ironically, it was similar in some ways to our life in drag racing…fast paced, intense and with people running around everywhere getting things done! It sounds kind of like a race team to me! Our president of NHRA, Tom Compton; officially rang the bell, while the rest of us stood by to support and cheer him on. It was an amazing experience and we had a lot of fun! Afterward there was a fan fest in the street out in front of the NYSE with many race cars on display including my Castrol GTX-Auto Club Ford Funny Car. There was also a large video screen playing a great video about our sport. We met with people walking by who were on their lunch break, on school field trips and others interested in these large machines on display on the streets of New York. It was a great event and perfect since we were able to chat with people about our upcoming event starting that weekend in Englishtown, New Jersey not far from NYC.

Later that day Bob Tasca III and I were off to the airport to fly to Detroit, Michigan to the Ford World Headquarters. We met up with all of our Ford teammates- my dad, Robert Hight, Mike Neff and Tim Wilkerson, along with Ford drivers from all different forms of motor sports. We had a lot of fun test driving all of the newest Ford vehicles and we learned a lot about each of the cars and met many of the Ford employees during our time there. Later that day we were off again to the airport to head to Englishtown, New Jersey to start qualifying the following day.

The New Jersey event brought a range of extreme weather from pouring down rain to lots of sunshine but we managed to get 3 of the 4 qualifying sessions in and my Castrol GTX Funny Car came out on top as #1 qualifier with a 4.07. Mike Neff was right behind me with a 4.11. My sister Brittany also qualified #1 in her Brand Source A-Fuel Dragster so it was pretty cool to have 2 females leading their fields going into race day! Courtney qualified well in her Sanyo dragster and along with dad and Robert also running really well we went in to race day with 6 solid cars ready to compete!

On Saturday night Scott Kalitta’s team had a get together at their pit area to remember Scott who passed away last year at this event. Being back at Englishtown was emotional for everyone in the NHRA racing community but it was great to have Scott’s family, team and everyone out at the event together supporting each other. This past year many new safety changes have taken place to make our shut down areas better and it paid off this weekend when a few  of the alcohol funny cars went in to the sand and the drivers walked away unharmed which is most important at the end of the day. And we know that Scott and all the other great drivers who have passed were watching over all of the teams this weekend. The Kalitta’s are a very strong family and I’m so glad to have them as part of our NHRA racing family.

We had a really great day Sunday and went all the way to the final round again for the third straight race! Brittany also ran great and she went to the semi finals and had her best finish! We were really excited for her and her team and it was an extremely crazy day since we had so many cars going rounds. When I lost to Tony Pedregon in the final round I was really bummed since I knew we had a great shot at getting another win. However it was all put in perspective when I got back to my pit and dad introduced me to a very pretty young girl who’s been battling cancer. She had met dad last year and taken a photo with him and he had written on it that she had to promise to come back this year and see him. She kept her promise and brought the picture along, and we got to take new pictures with her and get to visit with her and her mom. Dad and I made her promise to come see us again next year and she said she would. I’m so glad I got to meet her because it really brought me back to reality. Our racing is so important to all of us and we want to win more than anything. But we need those special reminders to not take for granted the important things in life. We had a great weekend even if we didn’t walk away with the Wally and I really look forward to seeing our new friend next year at Englishtown! She is a tough gal and I know she’ll be there and cheering us on!