VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Ashley Force talks to Dennis Arp '80 about the thrill of racing and competiting with her father.

ARP:We are here today with Ashley Force, Top Alcohol drag racing champion, TV star and Cal State Fullerton graduate. Ashley, thanks for being here with us.
FORCE: Sure, thank you.

ARP:Your dad just won his 14th Funny Car championship and you've been working toward the day when you're going to be competing also in that elite division. I'm wondering, for your dad those championships are obviously a huge motivator. I'm wondering for you, what drives you to want to compete in such an elite level of drag racing competition?
FORCE: Well I started in Super Comp when I was just 16 and their dragsters go about 180 mph and so I got experience and raced that for a couple of years. And, as you race you get adjusted to the speeds, then of course you want to go quicker and quicker. So, I moved up to the A-Fuel dragster in the alcohol dragster category. And that's still quick to me - those cars go to 275... but my whole life growing up I grew up around the Funny Car pits. My dad has raced Funny Cars before I was born. So, that's where my heart is and I love watching the Funny Cars, I love all the drivers in that category so, I always had that goal to eventually make it up to that spot and now finally, after five years of racing, I'm about ready to jump into the seat.

ARP:It's kind of a breakthrough moment for women in motor sports and for women in all levels and all types of driving. Do you get a feeling for that? Or is gender really not an element of your thinking when it comes to racing?
FORCE: I think in the media there's kind of been an outburst recently where a lot of the attention is around the women in different motor sports. But I know in drag racing it has never been quite as dramatic of an idea and I think it is because always been women involved in it - working on the cars, helping tune the cars, and now if you look into the stands half the people out there are women. Half of our sponsors that run our programs and their products in our cars are women. It's much more equal.

ARP:You mentioned how you could go 275 mph in your A-Fuel dragster now and when you get to Funny Car we're talking about speeds of 320 mph in that area. I'm wondering for someone who does this regularly and goes from 0 to 320 in less than five seconds without ever leaving the ground, if you could kind of just give us a sense of the physical and maybe the emotional impact that going that fast has on you?
FORCE: It's hard to... So many fans will ask, "What does it feel like?" And it's really hard to explain it because you can't really compare it to anything else. I think the best comparison that I can make is that it resembles if you're on a rollercoaster and you're from a stop.You're sitting there and strapped in and it takes off. Obviously it's a lot more aggressive but it's similar to that. And the Funny Car, which the quickest I've gone in the Funny Car right now is 320 mph. What was different from that car from my others cars was that I felt... after about half track when the clutch came in and really starts to pull I'd feel pressure. Just on every inch of my body, I feel pressure on it.

ARP:You're going to be in the same division with your dad. You know there's going to be a moment coming where you're going to be in the
staging lanes at the same time. What will you be thinking? What will be going through your mind at that point?
FORCE: It's not even a question that it will happen. It will definitely happen. It will probably happen by the first race. We have four Funny Cars that will be running - we're all going to end up running against each other. But I'm excited because, not just to run my dad but his team that I grew up with, that trained me to put me in this car... and now my team who are all excited, and my crew chief, Dean Antonelli, who used to work on dads car and now he's getting to run my car. So, the competition is there but I think a lot of excitement. I most excited to race our own teammates because their the ones that brought me to this point. So, I think it will be really exciting and I think the fans, of course, will love it. And I've had a lot of people ask me, "Oh, do you want to show your dad that you could take him out?" That's not the feeling that we have towards each other. I know that he has way more experience than me. He's done this for thirty years so, as far as skill, he's got me definitely on that one but I do have him on the side. The one advantage that I have that other drivers don't have is, I do Christmas dinner with dad. I do Thanksgiving. I am not intimidated by him. I've seen him falling off the boat in his bathing trunks, and I'm not scared to go up against him. where a lot of drivers see him and say, "Oh, he's won 14 championships, and I'm nervous to go up against him." And I don't really quite have that same feeling. So on that one point I have an advantage. But I'm excited.

ARP:That's a fascinating insight because he's obviously an intimidated guy just by the fact that he has so much success, but then also his personality and so fourth... but you cut right through most of that.
FORCE: Yes. When you've seen your dad roll down the hill in a ball of snow, or run a Chinese fire drill around your rental car in a big sombrero you're not going to look at him in the same way that maybe another driver who hasn't seen him that way. Of course now with the reality show most people have seen my dad act pretty stupid anyways.

ARP:Well, we certainly appreciate very much this time and we wish you continued success. And thanks very much, we appreciate it.
FORCE: Thank you.