July 1, 2007

Ashley Force speeding to the top
Elton Alexander
Plain Dealer Reporter

Norwalk, Ohio -- Ashley Force is fast becoming the face of NHRA drag racing. Emphasis on fast.

The better thing is, unlike the string of young dysfunctional divas now regularly making the TV news, Force seems to be grounded, not floundering, in the public eye.

"It seems to be pretty much under control," she conceded over the weekend as she prepared to race her funny car at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.

Of course, she has a role model in her father, 14-time drag champion John Force, who has parlayed his race career into a business that now includes a family reality show, "Driving Force," on A&E, and a lifestyle of nearly constant motion; racing, promoting and/or cutting the next deal.

"It becomes where you don't have a life," John Force said. "It becomes an addiction. I always tell her, Don't turn into me.' "

The 24-year-old daughter of this drag-racing icon has found that her emergence in the Funny Car ranks and her visibility on TV make it tough to get around in public, especially at the race tracks.

"I always enjoyed just sitting in the grandstands and watching the races," she said. "I can't do that anymore. I miss sitting in the stands and watching the races."

Yet, she does not shroud herself with a traveling entourage. No diva partner, no weekly switch to a new BFF.

Said Force team publicist Elon Werner, "She knows what kind of driver she wants to be, and she knows what kind of celebrity she wants to be."

And while working on her career, and her celebrity, this graduate of Cal-State Fullerton also has learned how to adapt. Surprisingly shy, she talks about high school days, jumping from playing piano, singing in the choir, gymnastics and cheerleading without ever doing the required solos.

The only time she couldn't avoid being noticed was late in the school day.

"Sometimes we'd have a pep rally or an assembly right after my auto shop class," she said. "So I'd have to wear my uniform to shop. That was different. Then I'd always get into trouble before the pep rally because my uniform might have grease or something on it."

Those were the good old days. Now, the demure driver is learning how to put her foot down.

Ashley is protective of her dad. On the grouchy meter, John Force seems to be the equivalent of Archie Bunker on the reality show. He is conservative in his values and talks to family, friends and associates from a bully pulpit, loud and long. But there is a protective side to his nature as well, smothering his daughters, Adria, Ashley, Brittany and Courtney.

However, he has been portrayed to the extreme on the reality show. So much so that Ashley said she has been pulled aside more than once by professionals and fans who slip business cards into her hand and offer to "help" her through this perceived family trauma.

That has led Ashley to put her broadcast journalism degree to work. She talked to the reality show producers about how they mostly portray the gnarly side of her dad. She said it had to change.

"There is more to dad than what they show and I told them that," she said. "I want them to show the other sides of him."

John Force is just as hovering over Ashley. A recent trip to the doctor revealed she will need surgery soon on her nose to help her breathe.

"Then it hit me," John Force said. "When she was 2 years old she fell into a hole at a construction site and cut her nose open. We took her to the hospital, and they had to put her to sleep to sew her up inside."

There was a settlement made after the accident and John Force knows exactly what he did with it.

"I took the money and painted my race car, and I bought a piano," he said.

That does not mean father and daughter don't have their battles. The ongoing one, with all of his daughters, is tattoos.

"We went to Mexico once and I got a fake one," Ashley Force said. The purpose was to pull a prank on dad, really get a rise out of him.

"But it only lasted 10 seconds," she said. "I saw his face. I had to tell him it was fake."

Twins:

That would be drivers Larry Dixon and Brandon Bernstein, who raced each other in the heat of the afternoon and posted identical speeds of 320.89 mph down the quarter-mile strip.

On TV:

NHRA Race Day coverage from Norwalk begins at 11 a.m. today on ESPN2. There will be a three-hour telecast of final eliminations beginning at 8 p.m.

Hite and seek:

Teammates Robert Hite and Ashley Force were consistently the fastest in Funny Car on Saturday, with Hite going into today's finals seeded No. 1, followed by Force. Funny Car is the only NHRA division that has not had a woman winner this season, or ever. But there is growing sense that Ashley Force is going to change that very soon.

"It's getting closer," she said. "But I don't want to think about it. I want to stay tuned to the race track and let it happen."