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“It’s not a novelty anymore,” Johnson said. “Shirley (three-time Top Fuel champion Muldowney) blazed the way for them, and our sport is now one of the easiest for women to get involved with.

“I don’t let my guard down against them. The women in our sport are there because they belong.”

Similar but different

Force and Will grew up in California. They attended Frank Hawley Drag Racing School, Will in Florida and Force in California. They competed against each other in Top Alcohol while climbing up the drag-racing ladder. They lost their mentors, Scott Kalitta for Will and Eric Medlen for Force, in track accidents during the last 16 months.

That’s where the similarities end.

Force, 25, is the daughter of 14-time Funny Car champion John Force and grew up in the NHRA scene. Will, 28, is a former gymnast who worked as a financial analyst after college before pushing her way into the sport.

“It’s a boys’ club and I just want to be one of the guys,” said Will, who lives in Ypsilanti and drives for a team operated by Kalitta Motorsports. “I just see myself as a driver. I just love to race and I earn respect because of that.

“I feel the NHRA is very accepting. I’m a lot more accepted here than I was when I was in a boardroom full of men. I like being part of a team. It means a lot to me. They’re like my family since my real family is a thousand miles a way. Grubby’s (teammate Dave Grubnic) like a big brother.”

Force knew what she was getting into from Day 1.

“I feel I belong because I know all the drivers and teams,” Ashley said. “It’s my family business. I’m not a girl by myself. My dad’s raced my whole life. My fiancé (Dan Hood) works in the business (Force crew member).”

Following dad’s lead

Force, in her second year in Funny Car, became the first woman to win an event in the class when she defeated her father in the final April 27 in Atlanta. It was her third straight appearance in a final, losing to Del Worsham in Houston and to points leader Tim Wilkerson in Las Vegas.

“It was the best feeling,” said Force, a former high school cheerleader. “It really helped keep my self confidence up. I’m still learning, and we have a young team. I got a lot of attention for being the first woman to win in Funny Car, but 10 guys made it happen.”

Force “never thought I’d be a driver when I was a kid,” but things changed when her parents gave her a gift certificate to racing school for her 16th birthday. They also insisted she attend college — she has a degree in communications from Cal. State-Fullerton — as she began working her way through the ranks. She competed in the Super Comp class for two years and then Top Alcohol for three before moving on to Funny Car last season.

“I think Dad liked the way I went through the ranks. You need to have years of experience before you’re ready to be out here,” Force said. “If I was his son, I’d probably be compared to him, but I’m not and that’s probably because of the different gender.

“My personality is very different than his. While he’s loud and carrying on, I’m quiet. My life would probably be easier if I was like him in that way. Some people like the spotlight, but I get embarrassed by it. The team picks on me because of it. When I’m in a big setting, they’ll start clapping right along with everybody else and I can feel myself getting red in the face.”

A force in the sport

John Force has been the face of NHRA, especially the Funny Car division. He struggled early in his career where he came to the track looking for tires and fuel just to make the field. He won his first title in 1990 and has been a front-runner ever since, winning 10 straight titles from 1993-2002.

“I love being Ashley’s dad,” Force said. “There’s nothing greater than your kid having success. She came in when boys accepted her. Guys like (Gary) Scelzi and (Ron) Capps helped her. Shirley (Muldowney) fought with the boys and that paved the way and opened the door for drivers like Ashley and Hillary.

“It’s been my whole life’s dream to have her race. Ashley looks like her mom and drives like me. She never wanted the attention. She just wants to drive and win. I never dreamed she would drive. She grew up here (race tracks), running around in diapers and a runny nose. It’s really amazing how the NHRA took me away from my kids (while they were in school) and now its giving them back to me.”

Ashley’s younger sisters, Brittany, 22, and Courtney, 20, also are competing, taking turns in Ashley’s old Top Alcohol car. Their half sister, John’s oldest daughter, Adria, is married to Force Racing driver Robert Hight.

John said he knew Ashley had the ability to succeed when she won three of the final five events, including the MAC Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, during her rookie year in Top Alochol in 2004.

“It took me 10 years to win at Indy and there she is winning it in her rookie year,” John said. “The TV guys saw me behind the bleachers saying I was sick. I wasn’t sick. I was just balling my eyes out because I was so proud of her.”

Reaching potential

Will, in her third season, is reaching her potential. She’s seventh in the points, earning her first career victory at Topeka on June 1.

“It’s our third year and we’re having a great year,” Will said. “All I want to do is win. It’s great to be a part of an organization like this.”

Kalitta Motorsports general manager Jim Oberhofer caught a glimpse of Will’s potential when she competed in Top Alcohol in 2005. Now, she is getting the type of results he predicted.

“We never looked at her as a girl, just as a driver,” said Oberhofer, also Will’s crew chief. “She’s really good. All she wants to do is be one of the guys. She didn’t have as much experience as some of the other drivers, but she’s a hard worker and very determined. You can’t replace determination.”

Oberhofer said things changed after Will came back from a Goodwill trip to Afghanistan. She went with NASCAR drivers Ricky Craven, Randy LaJoie and Jeff Fuller in February.

“Her confidence has been night and day since then,” Oberhofer said. “She knows she is living her dream. She’s really having fun. This is really what she loves to do.

“She’s been through a lot of tough stuff the last three years and has hung tough. Her reaction time this year has gotten better and better. She just needed to trust herself. She’s also a lot better at being able to tell us what the car’s doing so we can make changes.”

Will had one final appearance and three semifinal spots in 46 races her first two years. She has one victory and three semifinal appearances in 12 events this season.

She’s reaping the fruits of her hard work.

After graduating from Wheaton College in Massachusetts in 2002 with a degree in economics, Will “went back home and worked as a financial analyst, pouring every dollar I could make for racing.

“I saved up for two years and slept on a futon so I could attend Frank Hawley Racing School in Florida,” Will said. “I really got serious about racing after that.”

Will started in the sport as a teenager when her father asked if she wanted to take her 1973 Dodge Challenger, the car she drove to school, to the local Samoa Drag Strip in Eureka, Calif.

“Up until then I was a spectator,” Will said. “I ran it at 99 miles per hour and loved it.”

Now, she’s getting down the track at more than 330 mph. And, she still loves every minute of it.