The sport of drag racing is extremely expensive! In addition to one or more valuable cars, one must have a crew of mechanics who can make the vehicles run flawlessly and fix any problems that can prevent the machines from functioning at maximum proficiency.
When the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) holds qualifying runs to determine which 16 cars in each category make the cut to race in a competition, it is not uncommon to see only a few more than 16 drivers attempting to qualify.
Typically, therefore, one sees the same drivers competing in NHRA races week after week during the racing season. Drivers who cannot compete with the wealthier racers soon cease attempting to qualify.
All three of John Force’s daughters who became race car drivers drove for their father’s company – +insuring them of having the vehicles, mechanics, and equipment necessary to be competitive. And competitive they were!
Two of them, Ashley and Courtney, raced in the same Funny Car class in which their father and brother-in-law (Robert Hight) drove. Consequently, they often found themselves competing against each other.
Ashley, the oldest of the three sisters, competed in lower NHRA categories before stepping up to the Funny Car class in 2007. That year she did not win a race but finished tenth in points and received the organization’s “Rookie of the Year” honor.
She raced for four seasons, retiring at the end of the 2010 season. In 2008, she had married Daniel Hood, a mechanic for another Funny Car team. In January 2011, she announced that she was pregnant and would take a break from racing (but she never competed again).
During her four years of competition, she won four races and lost in the final round 12 other times. Two of her four victories came against her father and another was against Hight! Top NHRA racers are, indeed, members of a small group!
Next week, we will look at the two other racing Force sisters, both of whom were also quite successful at their chosen profession.
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