Backstretch Motorsports

Brown, Edwards and Rivas round out provisional No. 1 qualifiers

SONOMA – NHRA sophomore sensation Ashley Force powered her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway on Friday.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 15th of 18 regular season races (24 total) in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

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COMMERCE, Ga. – In a final round for the ages Ashley Force beat father John, becoming the first woman in NHRA history to win a national event in Funny Car at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga.

Ashley faced father and NHRA legend John Force in the final round, driving her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang pass the iconic legend with a run of 4.837 at 320.36. Though John was competing in his 500th race and came within one round win of reaching 1,000, it was the younger Force who stood in the winner’s circle at the end of the event.

“I’m just happy to win an event,” said Force. “That was the main thing. Being a female, that’s exciting for the record books and everything, but my team, we just wanted to get our first win. To get it finally done here in Atlanta, we’re just a little bit relieved but so excited as well.”

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