Sometimes what a driver doesn’t know can work in their favor.

Ashley Force Hood used a 4.178 second pass to land in the third spot in the field.

The second-generation drag racer was only able to get one run in on Saturday before rain washed out the second session of Funny Car qualifying during the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.

Sometimes what a driver doesn’t know can work in their favor.

Ashley Force Hood used a 4.178 second pass to land in the third spot in the field.

The second-generation drag racer was only able to get one run in on Saturday before rain washed out the second session of Funny Car qualifying during the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.

“What is that saying? Ignorance is bliss. Well that was me today. When I pulled up for the first run today I had no idea it was about to rain and I did not know that I had fallen out of the top sixteen qualified funny cars. My Castrol GTX Mustang made a great run and when I got to the top end the announcers and ESPN guys were all telling me how cool I was under all that pressure,” said the 2007 rookie of the year.

“I really didn’t know what they were talking about until one of my crew chiefs, Ron Douglas, told me how proud he was I handled the pressure of that run like a veteran. Then I realized all that was going on. I am glad I didn’t know all that. I was able to just go up there and do my routine. It was good to feel a strong pass like that before eliminations. Our Mustang has been up and down in the hot weather but I know Ron and Guido (co-crew chief Dean Antonelli) will figure it out. The good news is my Mustang runs the best in the cooler weather which is what we’ll have in the Countdown as well as tomorrow hopefully. I am excited about racing tomorrow and how well our Mustang ran today.” 

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