COMMERCE, Ga. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals:
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed
(W) Ashley Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.110 4.837 320.36
(L) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.170 11.223 85.97
Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 71 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 2,437 feet, track temperature 89 degrees.
They both fired their cars, and no more brought them to life when they were told to shut them off because of sprinkles. Ashley with the starting line advantage and blast on through the quarter mile for her first National event win. John went up in smoke right off the starting line. Ashley runs her quickest pass of the weekend for the win. She will continue to lead the Funny Car points.
COMMERCE, Ga. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Top Fuel at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals:
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed
(W) Antron Brown (Matco Dragster) 0.035 4.537 325.14
(L) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.060 4.521 329.58
7:59 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 71 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 2,437 feet, track temperature 81 degrees.
Schumacher is 2 - 0 against Brown in prior events and this is the first time they have faced each other in a final round.
This was waiting all day for - a good, tight, close Top Fuel final under the lights and Brown, in his third final in a row, makes it two wins with a holeshot victory in a matchup between two of the best tuners in the business. Antron Brown's incremental margins: 60ft(0.011), 330 ft(0.005), 660ft(0.010), 1,000ft(0.012). MOV: 0.0096 seconds (approximately 5 feet). That narrows Schumacher's points lead over Brown to just 26 points.
COMMERCE, Ga. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Pro Stock at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals:
W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed
(W) Mike Edwards (Young Life/Penhall GXP) 0.009 6.680 206.20
(L) Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment GXP) 0.059 6.680 206.92
Weather conditions: air temperature 72 degrees, relative humidity 71 percent, barometer 29.20 inches, adjusted altitude 2,437 feet, track temperature 81 degrees.
Line is 8 - 3 against Edwards in prior events and this is the first time they have faced each other in a final round.
Edwards cuts the tree down for the second round in a row and gets the holeshot win, the two drivers running identical elapsed times. Mike Edwards' MOV: 0.0506 seconds (approximately 15 feet). Edwards gets the win, Line leaves with the points lead, so everybody is happy.
here on the left coast, we still have an hour and a half of coverage of the race, but no sense watching it now that we know the results.... THANKS for nothing........
Ashley Force etched her name into the annals of drag racing history when she defeated her father, John, in the final round at the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals to become the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car title. The final was somewhat anticlimactic when John, who was seeking his 1,000th career round-win, struck the tires immediately; Ashley would have been tough to beat as she sailed to a 4.837, the second quickest time of the day.
Joining Force in the Atlanta Dragway winner’s circle were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle). Brown’s impressive first year in Top Fuel continued with his second win in his third straight final. Edwards picked up his first win since Dallas 2006 and Hines capped a dominant weekend with a 6.946 run that beat Chip Ellis.
Ashley Force etched her name into the annals of drag racing history when she defeated her father, John, in the final round at the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals to become the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car title. The final was somewhat anticlimactic when John, who was seeking his 1,000th career round-win, struck the tires immediately; Ashley would have been tough to beat as she sailed to a 4.837, the second quickest time of the day.
The historic nature of the all-Force Funny Car final wasn’t lost on anybody in attendance at Atlanta Dragway. When the pair of Castrol-backed Mustangs pulled up to the starting line to do battle, it was packed with not only the entire John Force Racing contingent but other drivers and crew members from teams in every NHRA racing category, and flashbulbs illuminated the night sky from both trackside and the packed grandstands. The much-anticipated race ended quickly when John immediately struck the hides of his ride, giving him the best seat in the house to watch his daughter make history. Though they did not see a side-by-side race, the crowd wasn’t disappointed, evidenced by the loud, thunderous applause that erupted once they realized Ashley would take home the Wally.
Ashley defeated Del Worsham, Jim Head, and Ron Capps en route to the final, which was the third straight and fourth overall money-round showing for her and solidified her hold of the top spot in the points standings, which she leads over Tim Wilkerson by 59 points.
Dad John had a much-needed get-well weekend, looking like the racer of old who intimidated and dominated the class. After defeating team driver Mike Neff and No. 1 qualifier Tim Wilkerson in the opening rounds, Force ran low e.t. of eliminations, 4.822, to defeat rookie Bob Tasca III and advance to his first final since Reading last year, the 201st of his career, and his 14th at Atlanta Dragway, the most at a POWERade venue for him. The final-round showing lifted him three positions in the standings, from eighth to fifth.
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle.... Live simply, love wholly, give generously, care deeply, speak kindly.
Silverwinger wrote: here on the left coast, we still have an hour and a half of coverage of the race, but no sense watching it now that we know the results.... THANKS for nothing........
Don't feel too bad; here on the right coast my wife, and I are watching, it's on till 10pm edt, and I knew about it because of 8.1.
He must be getting it off the website.
DW remarked, I'll bet Ashley and her Dad meet in the finals....
I had to bite my tongue, but said it's possible because they were in opposing brackets, what do you wanna bet?
DW replies, if they do, and Ashley wins, you do KP duty for a week.
So.....Even knowing the outcome....Guess what I'll be doing next week?
Ain't Love Grand?
edit;addendum
Actually it's on later than that, the Kansas Indy race ran long.
* This post was
edited 04/27/08 07:59pm by Shendoh *
Ashley Force put a new face on Funny Car drag racing Sunday by becoming the first woman to win a national race in a category that once was considered the last bastion of male superiority.
The 25-year-old did so with a flair for the dramatic, beating her father, drag racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals to deny him his 1,000 winning round in his 500th NHRA tour event.
The result enabled the second generation driver to pad her points lead and dispel any lingering doubts anyone may have harbored about either her commitment to the sport or her competence at the wheel of one of the world’s most powerful race cars.
Her first win came in her 27th pro race and in her fourth trip to the final round. Denied in the two most recent events in the POWERade Series, first on March 30 by Del Worsham at Houston, Texas, and then on April 13 by Tim Wilkerson at Las Vegas, Nev., Ashley left no doubt this time.
With her father in a left lane that was the bane of every racer during eliminations, she sprinted down the favored right lane in 4.837 seconds at 320.36 miles per hour. Her dad was never in it, losing traction almost at the hit of the throttle and slowing to 11.223 seconds.
It was her second career win against her father, drag racing’s biggest winner, who lost the first ever meeting between father and daughter in the first round of the 2007 Southern Nationals.
“There are a lot of mixed emotions,” John Force said before the final. “I turn off the switch. If I win, that’s great but if she wins, that’s something really special, too. I’m just going to go out there and let my car do what it does.”
For the champ, who had won seven times previously at Atlanta Dragway and was appearing in his 14th Southern Nationals final round, most at any event in the series, his car let him down for the first time all day.
Now, he’ll move on to Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis where he’ll have another opportunity to reach 1,000 round win at next week’s O’Reilly Midwest Nationals.
“I guess the third time’s a charm,” said the woman who now leads the Funny Car point standings by 59 points. “We just knew that if we kept getting to the finals, we’d eventually get one. I kinda hated that it had to be against dad but I’m just happy to win an event.”
“We went a whole year last year and the biggest win I had was off the track (in AOL sports’ “world’s hottest athlete” poll),” joked the second year pro. “To finally get it done here in Atlanta, where I beat dad last year (in the first round in the first meeting between father and daughter), was special. He came over and he congratulated me. He told me, ‘good job.’ He told my team ‘good job.”
“I never saw him,” she said of her father, “and I never saw my win light, but they told me on the radio (that I had won) while I was coasting. I know he wanted his 1,000th win, but mom and I had it all figured out – he can just go do that next week (at the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis), on his (59th) birthday. That would be special.
“Antron (Top Fuel winner Antron Brown) and I are seeing a pattern here,” she continued. “When I saw him win in the semis, I suddenly got all kind of confidence because every final he’s been in (this year) I’ve been in, too. Not that that has anything to do with anything, but it’s little things like that where you feel a little bit more confident, like when we did our team dinner (on Thursday). Every race that we’ve done a team dinner, ever, we’ve gone to the final and now we’ve done it again.
“It’s an exciting time, you know, with Danica winning. There are a lot of women in a lot of different motor sports and we’re getting our practice, we’re getting our experience and we’re making our way toward those wins. It’s a good week for women and it’s exciting for the fans to finally have a woman winner in Funny Car, but I know that it’s the 10 guys on my team who got me to this point. I would never be here without them and without ‘Guido’ (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and Ron (assistant crew chief Ron Douglas). I’m proud to be a female in the seat but it’s those guys who got me here.”
As a company, we are sure smiling a lot these days, since switching to TF driver Antron Brown. I have known him for several years and he it s total class act.. This should be a great year!!
GO Antron!
And congratulations to Ashley as well. The entire Force team is a first class operation and has done amazing things for NHRA growth and popularity.
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You GO girl!! 
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