SHREDDED BELT FOR ASHLEY FORCE ENDED CHANCES
Sat, 2008-06-07 09:29
In the last pair of fuel coupes during Saturday evening's Funny Car
qualifying at the NHRA Torco Race Fuels Route 66 Nationals in Chicago,
Ashley Force and Mark Oswald had a shot at unseating Melanie Troxel but
it was Oswald who came closest with a 4.757 second run pushing Force
into the No. 3 slot with her 4.759 run from Friday night.
“The waiting was not good but thank goodness Mike Neff qualified during that last round or I wish it would have rained. We lost the No. 1 spot and we match up now with Robert (Hight) but that is just how it goes,” said the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event. “Sunday is a whole new day. We are just going to go out there and run the best we can. The good thing is our car is running great in all the different conditions.” In the last pair of fuel coupes during Saturday evening's Funny Car qualifying at the NHRA Torco Race Fuels Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ashley Force and Mark Oswald had a shot at unseating Melanie Troxel but it was Oswald who came closest with a 4.757 second run pushing Force into the No. 3 slot with her 4.759 run from Friday night.
“The waiting was not good but thank goodness Mike Neff qualified during that last round or I wish it would have rained. We lost the No. 1 spot and we match up now with Robert (Hight) but that is just how it goes,” said the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event. “Sunday is a whole new day. We are just going to go out there and run the best we can. The good thing is our car is running great in all the different conditions.”
On her final run Force felt she was heading back to the top of the field when she lost power in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. The right lane at Route 66 Raceway has a few bumps that caused Force’s Mustang to overpower itself and snap the blower belt.
“I shredded my belt right before the finish line. The car just died. I was on the throttle and my Mustang was just dead. I got out at the end and saw that the blower belt was just shredded,” said Force. “It was like driving a stick shift and just stalling it. I was on the throttle and there was just no power. There was no in between it was either going or it was just done. It was like I completely lifted off the throttle but I was to the floor.”
“The waiting was not good but thank goodness Mike Neff qualified during that last round or I wish it would have rained. We lost the No. 1 spot and we match up now with Robert (Hight) but that is just how it goes,” said the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event. “Sunday is a whole new day. We are just going to go out there and run the best we can. The good thing is our car is running great in all the different conditions.” In the last pair of fuel coupes during Saturday evening's Funny Car qualifying at the NHRA Torco Race Fuels Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ashley Force and Mark Oswald had a shot at unseating Melanie Troxel but it was Oswald who came closest with a 4.757 second run pushing Force into the No. 3 slot with her 4.759 run from Friday night.
“The waiting was not good but thank goodness Mike Neff qualified during that last round or I wish it would have rained. We lost the No. 1 spot and we match up now with Robert (Hight) but that is just how it goes,” said the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car event. “Sunday is a whole new day. We are just going to go out there and run the best we can. The good thing is our car is running great in all the different conditions.”
On her final run Force felt she was heading back to the top of the field when she lost power in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. The right lane at Route 66 Raceway has a few bumps that caused Force’s Mustang to overpower itself and snap the blower belt.
“I shredded my belt right before the finish line. The car just died. I was on the throttle and my Mustang was just dead. I got out at the end and saw that the blower belt was just shredded,” said Force. “It was like driving a stick shift and just stalling it. I was on the throttle and there was just no power. There was no in between it was either going or it was just done. It was like I completely lifted off the throttle but I was to the floor.”
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