DRO: SO YOU DON'T WANT TO DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM BEING JOHN FORCE'S DAUGHTER TOO MUCH, RIGHT?

AF: I wouldn't be driving, maybe, I don't know.

DRO: YOU WERE TESTING A FUNNY CAR RECENTLY, WEREN'T YOU?

AF: Yeah. I went to Frank Hawley's Funny Car school in Florida. But I didn't make full passes. I made half-track passes, shifted into second.

DRO: WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THAT?

AF: We just wanted to see. We thought about doing it a year ago. But then we were getting into Super Comp so we tried to focus. It kind of just happened at the last minute. Me and another guy went down there just to try it out, because we had the weekend off. It helped. Just being around more cars would give me more experience, even though it is a different kind of car.

DRO: SO YOU WANT TO BE IN A FUNNY CAR ULTIMATELY? THAT'S THE PLAN?

AF: Yeah, my favorite is Funny Car. I liked being in the alcohol Funny Car. I was worried that the body might make me claustrophobic. But it really didn't. It felt actually more normal than the dragster.

DRO: ARE YOU HAVING FUN?

AF: Yeah, I am. All the people I'm working with are very positive. They never say anything mean -- not that they would, anyway -- but they know that I'm kind of nervous in starting out and they're excited for me. Everything's kind of just new. We're trying to get into the groove, how everything works out: who straps the car up, who drives the van up. We're kind of getting it together.

DRO: DO YOU LOOK AT THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECAPTURE SOME TIME WITH YOUR DAD?

AF: I've never spent so much time with my dad as probably these last couple of months. We now have something in common to talk about. Before, he didn't know about cheerleading, and I didn't know about cars. I've probably become closer to him. It's been more hectic, and we've probably fought more often. But that's what happens when you hang around someone a lot more. But he's been pretty good. He gives me my space. He doesn't know that much about Super Comp, so he's scared to give me advice. He'll come over and give his two cents. There's lots of stuff just over the years, sitting in the back of the tow truck, listening to him and Austin talk about everything. (Their information) is not the same, but the concept is the same. You're just racing.

DRO: HAVE YOU DISCOVERED ANOTHER SIDE OF YOUR DAD?

AF: Always since I was 16, he was so excited -- he wanted to get me in a car. He wanted me to be in a Funny Car. And now, after (the Phoenix test weekend), he's kind of like, "Whoa. This is my kid." Now he's being more protective. But I'm like, "You're the one who wanted to put me right into your car and race." My mom was the one who was going, "No. We need her to go through the ranks and know what she's doing so that if anything happens, she'll know how to react." I think he's kind of worried about that a little bit. Like the cone thing at Phoenix. He came up there and he's like, "Team meeting!!" We had to meet with everybody, and he wanted to put the other guy in the car and let him make laps. He freaked out. I'm like, "It's fine. Nobody's hurt. People hit cones. We're testing." I was the one having to calm him down. He was all a wreck.

DRO: DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE KIND OF FUN SOMEDAY TO HAVE PEOPLE LINED UP 10-DEEP AT YOUR PIT, WANTING YOUR AUTOGRAPH? WOULD IT BE A KICK TO BE LIKE YOUR DAD IN THAT WAY?

AF: It's strange -- I've never had to sign my name so many times as in the last few weeks. Trying to make it readable -- that would be a difference from my dad.

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