Ashley Force-Hood Video Preview: 2010 NHRA Season

I can’t say it’s cool when you enter the John Force Racing compound. It’s OVERWHELMING! The people, the parts, the action, I love it!

We (Pikesan and Swanee) first entered the pit area of John Force, Ashley Force-Hood and NHRA Champion Robert Hight at the test and tune at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ to find every team working feverishly, even though, racing for the night was done. It’s obvious, this team works well together, everyone knows their job and they’re ready to rock for the Winternationals in Pomona.

As a huge fan of the NHRA, especially the John Force Racing team, meeting and talking to Austin Coil, then having a short sit down with the charming, yet #2 in the world funny car racer, Ashley Force-Hood was a dream come true. It’s a sure sign that the JFR team loves their fans.

So dig this short interview of loveliest lady of motorsports (Danica, it ain’t even close!) Ashely Force-Hood. After making several full passes, I found her listening to the Vikings, Saints game on TV while working on her laptop.

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It takes a strong woman to compete in a male dominated sport, then to be a calm and professional (one take’s all you need!) as Ashley.  About 20 minutes before the interview above, she did this:

I gotta thank the John Force Racing team for getting us so close to the starting line!

No doubt who we’ll be rooting for in the 2010 season of NHRA drag racing.  The season kicks off with the fabled and now 50th, Winternationals in Pomona, CA on February 11-14.  Take your honey to the race… I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentines Day!

Who else is rooting for John Force, Ashley and Robert Hight? Let us know!

Ed McCulloch’s Top 5 Most Influential Funny Cars

MyRideisMe.com has your Funny Car hookups! We asked 3 current NHRA superstars in funny car and top fuel what funny cars are their “Top 5″ most influential of all time, and why. Look for the Top 5 from Ed McCulloch, Ron Capps and Don Schumacher.

Let’s get started with the Napa Auto Parts funny car crew chief, Ed “Ace” McCulloch.

The “Ace” has a drag racing career stretching back more than 30 years. A socal boy living right in the middle of where hot rods and drag racing really took off. It’s no wonder he’s driven everything from top fuel to funny’s.

During those early days racing all over the country at whatever track was paying, he learned what it takes to make a nitro burning beast go fast and more importantly, win. He’s got 18 wins in funny car and another 4 in top fuel and he won at Indy 5 times.

“Ace” is truly a legend in funny car and a perfect kick off for MyRideisMe.com’s 5 Most influential Funny Cars…

Ed “Ace” McCulloch’s Top 5 Funny Cars

“Going back some years, probably ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman would be included. He was a great showman, just a natural. When we used to match race, that was what it was all about, putting on a show. I guess one of the most influential would definitely have to be ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman.”

“Another one would be the Blue Max, with Raymond Beadle. They were a really good group of guys on that car.”

“(Paul) Candies and (Leonard) Hughes would be one of the top ones, too. Really competitive cars. They always ran hard.”

“Even though I hate to do it, I have to put Don Prudhomme and the Army car in there because he was good in his day, won a lot of races for a long time.

“I could put five of mine in front of those four already,” he added. (note: I’m trying to get some of Ace’s private stash of pictures to post.)

“Obviously, on today’s circuit and going back in time with Austin Coil’s career and then his going on to John Force Racing, they would have to be in the top five.

“There’s probably a lot of cars there that are equally as good that I haven’t mentioned, but based on what they’ve done, the fame they earned and the way they presented themselves, those are probably my top five.”

“It depends on how you want to position this. I mean, do I think any of my time with Capps is good enough for my top five, probably not. Not yet. I’ve got a wider stretch to choose from.

“Blue Max and Jungle Jim had a lot of cars over time and they were always very dominant and had very good race cars. I can’t single it down to just one specific time frame or year or car. I’m looking at it over a period of time. As for the Snake, probably his Army car, in my opinion, was his dominant car. The rest of them it’s just what I think were influential over time.”

MyRideisMe.com thanks 70sfunnycars.com, draglist.com, monza.homestead.com, bluemaxfunnycar.com and fastmachines.com for the pictures shown.

Another big thanks to Judy Stropus from Don Schumacher Racing and her intern Leah Vaughn for getting the info out of these Funny Car legends.

What’s your top 5? Leave a comment and let us know!

Great Helmet Auction: Let The Bidding Begin!

Professional Racers Owners Organization’s (PRO) “Great Helmet Auction”

INDIANAPOLIS, In. – On June 6, 2009, PRO’s Great Helmet Auction will go live on eBay! This 10-day auction (ends June 15th) features autographed helmets, most worn during NHRA Drag Racing competition, by stars of the sport including:
Jack Beckman
Brandon Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Antron Brown
Ron Capps
V. Gaines
Mike Edwards
Ashley Force-Hood
John Force
Matt Hagan
Robert Hight
Allen Johnson
Warren Johnson
Doug Kalitta
Ron Krisher
Cory McClenathan
Mike Neff
Tony Schumacher
Bob Vandergriff Jr.
Tim Wilkerson

For a full description of these driver’s helmets, including their history, photographs and a link to each helmet on eBay, visit www.GreatHelmetAuction.com.
Mark your calendars now with the following dates:
June 6 – The Great Helmet Auction begins on eBay.
June 15 – Last day to bid and win!
June 16 – Helmet winners announced.
Winning bids benefit PRO, an organization that provides services and other benefits to professional drag racing team owners and drivers, with a portion of proceeds to benefit Racers for Christ (Team RFC), which has serviced NHRA for over 25 years.

John Force Racing’s Charity Cruise Night Schedule

YORBA LINDA, CA (April 2, 2009) — John Force Racing, headquartered in Yorba Linda, Calif., will be expanding its tradition of giving back to the community beginning April 25th when the first of seven John Force Cruise Night Car Shows will be held.

Participants and spectators at the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows are being encouraged to bring a can of food that will be donated to the Orange County Food Bank. For each can donated a raffle ticket will be distributed good for a chance to win a 52″ Sanyo Flat Screen TV. If participants bring one can of food they get one ticket if they bring twenty cans of food they get twenty tickets or chances to win. The raffle will be held on Halloween at the final John Force Cruise Night Car Show of the season.

“In December we have built up a tradition of giving toys to kids in need with the John Force Holiday Car Show that benefits the California Highway Patrol’s “CHiP’s for Kids” program. During these tough economic times we felt that we needed to do something for our community right now, and tying in with our fans at the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows just seemed like a perfect fit. Our goal is to collect as many cans of food as we can, and help make an impact on the community.

We are asking everyone to get involved whether they are a participant or a spectator,” said Craig Hoelzel, John Force Racing – Director of Special Promotions & Car Show Manager.

“The Orange County Food Bank is excited to team up with John Force Racing. The needs of the community are growing during these tough times and we really need the food,” said Kristin Kvesic, Orange County Food Bank.

A special award will be presented at each Cruise Night for the “Most Food Given.” Cruise Night Car Shows will be held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the John Force RaceStation. At each Cruise Night Car Show there will be family fun, food and entertainment for all ages.

2009 John Force Car Show Schedule All John Force Cruise Night Car Shows will be held at:

John Force RaceStation
22722 Old Canal Road
Yorba Linda, CA 92887

For More Info: www.JohnForceRacing.com or (714) 921-1651

Schedule: (All shows are from 4PM to 7PM)

• April 25
• May 30
• June 27
• July 25
• August 29
• September 26
• October 31

New Technology Keeping Nitro Funny Car Pilots Safe

Couresty of Ford Media and PCGCambell

Two years ago this month, the drag racing community lost John Force Racing Mustang driver Eric Medlen in a tragic Funny Car testing accident. In the aftermath of that accident, John Force Racing and Ford Racing banded together to form The Eric Medlen Project, with an eye on finding and improving safety innovations for the sport. Along with the NHRA, John Force Racing and Ford Racing have instituted a series of safety measures ranging from significant Funny Car chassis modifications to the instillation of the Ford Blue Box (crash data recorder) on all nitro cars. This important work continues and This Week In Ford Racing recently caught up with 14 time Funny Car World Champion John Force and with Pat DiMarco, Ford Racing Vehicle Dynamics and Electronics Supervisor, for an update on The Eric Medlen Project and ongoing safety developments.

JOHN FORCE – GTX Castrol Mustang– CAN YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT?
“Our shop is out here in California, 50,000 square foot, but most of the race teams are out in Indy, the Ford Motor program is in Indy, the Eric Medlen project is in Indy, everything now is housed under 50,000 square foot. You can see everything that we have developed working with NHRA, working with Ford Motor Company and their technicians. You can go there because we built a virtual reality tour and you can walk through and see it, what we’ve done. If you don’t want to believe us you can read the documentation that Ford has provided us that you can walk through it and get an education. When we do our car shows that’s where we are going to educate the people, to show them what we created from the crash of Eric, the loss of Eric something has to come out of that, and it has, a better and safer race car and it will still run for the title.”

THE 1,000-FOOT ASIDE, WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU’VE SEEN IN THIS SPORT SINCE YOU’VE COME INTO IT?
“You know, in the sport, the biggest change was the technology of computers. That you can get the data after the car had made a run, that is, over my career of over 30 years. That was big, but to see the change to what made this car run faster. Now, the computer couldn’t run anything but it could to tell the crew chief what the fuel pump was doing, what the blower was doing, everything it was doing they could make that happen. So the computer was important, but the one thing we did wrong in the 50 years of our sport, as much safety as we evolved with, one of the biggest changes I believe is what we did with Ford Motor Company and NHRA. We evolved the chassis.

The chassis, if you look at the car I drove 30 years ago, was the same car that Eric and I crashed in ’07, and the new chassis evolved from a four-rail to a six-rail where the driver’s cockpit that protected the driver with the tub around him, and we got that through the Ford technicians and all of those guys were able to study those cars. This has been an on-going process since March of ’07, since we lost Eric, and all of ’08 and it’s not going to stop. We’re working on helmets with the impact and testing, all of that stuff is going to continue to grow. But Ford came up and got the idea to put a black box, we call it the blue box. They paid for it, it was put in by Delphi but it was put into every car. Ford said put it in the GM cars, put it in the Toyota, put in the MOPARS, let’s find out what happens when something goes wrong, and that is a big change. We’ve always been about horsepower, well, now, safety and that’s the biggest change in the sport.”

PAT DIMARCO, Ford Racing Vehicle Dynamics and Electronics Supervisor — IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE PASSING OF JOHN FORCE RACING DRIVER ERIC MEDLEN IN A TESTING ACCIDENT FOLLOWING THE GAINESVILLE NHRA EVENT. THAT ACCIDENT REALLY TRIGGERED A NUMBER OF JOINT SAFETY INITIATIVES BETWEEN NHRA, FORD RACING AND JOHN FORCE RACING, MOST NOTABLY THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT.
“Yes, and I’d go as far as saying the NHRA has been involved in these safety initiatives as well. [The NHRA] has implemented a lot of things that we have started: the Ford Blue Box program, as well as the chassis changes, were all a combination of our work, John Force Racing and NHRA. Last year was the Blue Box implementation for all nitro cars, as well as the new chassis design. This year, we’re also moving forward with some of our production car technology and personnel. We’re modeling the occupant within the computer to simulate accidents similar to Eric’s, as well as a crash similar to Scott Kalitta’s. We can evaluate anything that the body can touch, as well as any vibrations that are put into the body on the computer, as well as a physical test, that’s being replicated as well.”

UP TO THIS POINT, THE CHASSIS CHANGES HAVE COME FROM EVALUATING NOT ONLY THE ACCIDENT WITH ERIC, BUT ALSO THE SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENT JOHN FORCE HAD AT DALLAS AND LOOKING AT WAYS TO REINFORCE THE CHASSIS. YOU’RE SAYING THERE ARE ADDITIONAL INOVATAIONS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN THE CRASHES?
“Definitely. Maybe not so much in the chassis itself, but innovations in the padding, the helmets, the surrounding areas and what the driver can physically touch. That is where we will be looking at for improvements. It’s things like that where the occupant model will help us evaluate.”

TAKE US THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF THIS PROJECT AND HOW IT’S GONE STEP BY STEP.
“After Eric’s accident, the first thing we looked at was the area surrounding the driver’s head, which was the cause of Eric’s injuries. By widening the surround and putting more padding in there, it helped reduce some of the loads on the driver’s head during a similar accident. Those changes were instrumental in saving John Force’s life in his crash at Dallas. The next step was to look at the chassis and why it broke, and John’s chassis broke in the same places that Eric’s chassis broke. That allowed us to focus on looking at those hot spots and how to remove them from the chassis. Or, in the case that we have now, they’re completely out of the chassis for a torsional event that was seen in Eric and John’s accidents. In order to do all that, we needed data, and the Blue Box data that is running in all of the Nitro cars now was very instrumental in gathering data for all the chassis that have cracked on the track. The data collected from the boxes also helped us reproduce the accident from Scott Kalitta last year.”

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? WHAT DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON FOR THIS INITIATIVE?
“There’s various production car technologies that can be applied going forward. Although nothing is finalized, there could be things like automatic shut offs, seat belt pretensioners, air bags around the head … just about anything that’s already in the production car. We are working closely with the Ford safety office to see what we can physically put in the car, as well as what’s feasible from a racer’s standpoint with the NHRA.”

WHAT COMES OUT OF THIS PROGRAM THAT CAN GO BACK INTO PRODUCTION CARS?
“We’re pushing the limits on the models that we’re using from the standpoint of the head and the brain models. Production cars don’t usually look at vibration as significant as we’re seeing in the Funny Cars, so they’re evaluating their models using our data to improve our production car safety as well. That’s important for the racers, as well as for our consumers.”

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