Ashley Force Hood

Ashley Force (born November 29, 1982) is a funny car drag racer. She is the daughter of 14-time NHRA Funny Car division champion John Force and his wife Eric Akins.

Force attended Esperanza High School in Anaheim, CA, where she was a cheerleader. In 2003, Force graduated from California 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 a AOL Sports Poll, beating out favorites Tom Brady and Danica Patrick. [1]

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 at Indianapolis, and the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern 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

Ashley Force moved up into the professional Funny Car division in 2007 driving a Castrol-sponsored Mustang for her father's team, John Force Racing.

In her first match, she faced brother-in-law and teammate Robert Hight. Hight won the match, defeating his sister-in-law, 5.367/190.24 MPH (.087 reaction time) to a losing 8.195/102.11 MPH (.108 RT). Hight finished second, losing to Gary Scelzi on a disqualification.

Ashley, and her father, John Force made NHRA history in Atlanta in April 2007, when they became the first father and daughter to race against each other. Ashley won the race with an elapsed time of 4.779 seconds, and a top speed of 317.05 miles per hour. She advanced to the semifinals, which tied for the highest ever Funny Car event finish for a female. j

Television

She is featured on A&E's reality show "Driving Force" with her family. She has 2 sisters, Courtney, and Brittany, and an older half-sister, Adria.

References

Rooster Knoll