THE ASHLEY WATCH
Since it seems to be very important to some
folks, the Agent wants to report that nitro Funny Car
driver in training Ashley Force got her first A/FD win
of the year this past weekend at E-town. After posting
a 5.391 second quarter-mile time in qualifying, the graduate
of Cal State-Fullerton was clocked in 5.403, 5.437 and
5.450 seconds during eliminations in an overpowering performance.
In fact, her Castrol-backed, Jerry Darien-owned dragster
was the quickest in every round of competition. Ashley
now has won four races in the Lucas Series in which she
finished fourth in national points a year ago. (Bret
Kepner photo) [9-12-2005]
ODDY/BAREMAN SET
IHRA SPEED RECORD WITH NEW TIRES!
In
just their third race together, Steve Bareman, Jim Oddy
and his Summit Racing Equipment-backed team re-set their
IHRA speed record for Pro Mods at 236.46 in the team's
'53 'Vette. The team previously had set the record earlier
this year at 236.22 with Al Billes driving Oddy's '05
Stratus.
And now, with respects to Mr. Paul Harvey,
here's the rest of the story. The team actually didn't
qualify for the Epping, NH race, but got in as the first
alternate for the second time in three races.
In fact, they were loaded and headed out when they
got the call from a friend who saw on the Internet that
the 16 car was withdrawn and they were in. The only
problem for the team was that they didn't have a handle
on the track and couldn't calm the car down enough to
get down the track or qualify; their best lap had been
their last, a respectable but losing 6.339.
On Sunday, Oddy
changed the last component in the drivetrain he hadn't
already changed. The team bolted on a brand new pair
of Hoosier "New Generation" slicks, and went
6.167/236.46! The second lap was a 6.151/235.60, which
was good enough to get the speed record.
Bareman also "treed" Carl Spiering,
who lost that round with a stellar but 6.107! In the final
round Bareman lost when he red-lighted his first career
win away by .001. The moral to the story? Not all fairy
tales have a happy ending! [9-12-2005]
