COMMERCE, Ga. — Ashley Force beat father John on Sunday in the NHRA Southern Nationals to become the first female driver to win a national funny car event.
Ashley had a run of 4.837 seconds at 320.36 mph at Atlanta Dragway in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to take a 59-point lead over Tim Wilkerson in the season standings.
“I’m just happy to win an event. That was the main thing,” Ashley said. “Being a female, that’s exciting as far as the records and everything, but my team, we just wanted to get our first win.”
John, seeking his 1,000th career round win, lost traction at the start.
“It’s great for her that she gets that win and gets that out of the way,” John said. “I’m proud of her. She did her job. She didn’t do anything stupid at the starting line. . . . I love her.”
Wheldon rediscovers winning
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Dan Wheldon held off Tony Kanaan to win his second straight IRL IndyCar Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Danica Patrick, who last week became the first woman to win an IndyCar race, never got into contention in the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 and wound up with a broken wheel hub.
Next up is the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, a race Wheldon won in 2005.
Footnote.
Kimi Raikkonen drove Ferrari to its third straight Formula One victory, winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
