Ever wonder why Ashley Force Hood has been so dominant in 2009 NHRA Funny Car qualifying? The No. 1 qualifying efforts provide the second generation drag racer with her most peaceful moments during an event. During the cart ride from the pits to the press room for the post qualifying press conference gives her time to decompress.

Knowing qualifying number one gives her that moment is why Ashley  had a broad smile on her face when she nailed the throttle of her Castrol GTX-sponsored, Ford Mustang during Friday qualifying at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J.. Her intuitions were rewarded with a 4.071 elapsed time at 303.37 miles per hour to land atop the field headed into Saturday.

Ever wonder why Ashley Force Hood has been so dominant in 2009 NHRA Funny Car qualifying? The No. 1 qualifying efforts provide the second generation drag racer with her most peaceful moments during an event. During the cart ride from the pits to the press room for the post qualifying press conference gives her time to decompress.

Knowing qualifying number one gives her that moment is why Ashley  had a broad smile on her face when she nailed the throttle of her Castrol GTX-sponsored, Ford Mustang during Friday qualifying at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J.. Her intuitions were rewarded with a 4.071 elapsed time at 303.37 miles per hour to land atop the field headed into Saturday.

“When I left the starting line, I felt it pull harder than it usually does,” Force Hood admitted. “It’s nice when what you felt in the run matches what the crew chiefs are doing. They had told me that they were trying to push the car harder earlier in the run since down track wasn’t taking as much.”

Among those who smoked the tires down track were her 14-time world championship winning father John Force, who rests in the No. 12 perch with two sessions remaining in qualifications.

Force Hood noticed an unusual amount of tuning activity with each run ahead of her. Her crew chiefs Dean “Guido” Antonelli and Ron Douglas made constant adjustments in the lanes, likely backing down the horsepower.

“They were making a lot of decisions and talking a lot,” she admitted. “Usually we don’t talk a lot on the radio before a run. They have a decision in their mind and usually don’t let the cars ahead of them change their minds. They were chatting right up until made the run. That can either mean it’s going to be a monster run or right on that edge.”

So did her team back into the edge of the envelope?

“Yep,” she admitted.

 

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