Ashley Force Hood September Blog

We’ve had a very challenging season to date however this weekend marks the beginning of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to 1 at the Mac Tools US Nationals in Indy so our slate is clean and we are looking at this as a fresh start, a second chance to have the season we had hoped for.

No team ever anticipates getting in to a slump however… well, slumps happen! It’s drag racing- very competitive and sometimes unpredictable, but I have the best team in the industry and this Castrol GTX team isn’t giving up with out a fight. The change in the point’s structure is actually the best thing that could have happened to our team though only 10 months ago we were singing a very different tune. After an amazingly successful 2009 season we stumbled at the last two events of the year when our car had a mechanical problem that we couldn’t get figured out, and the Championship slipped through our fingers. At the time, the different points structure hurt us as we did very well the whole year, just stumbled during those final Countdown races.

This year, we are on the opposite side of the spectrum and are so thankful for this different point structure! We have struggled all year, yet now is kind of a brand new start to the season and if we can shine from here on out, we have just as good of a chance as the other 9 guys of winning this Championship. Robert and his Auto Club team proved last year that no matter the year you’ve had, you can turn it around and change your destiny if you just don’t give up.

Indy is where my team is based and where many of their families are located so we would love to do well here and repeat last years Indy win and celebrate in the Winner’s Circle on Monday with them. Only time will tell what this weekend and next few months of racing will be. But if it brings a few wins, things will be looking up for the D Team and the Championship will of course be our ultimate goal.