Courney Force Q&A

Courtney Force won in just her third final round appearance of her rookie year Aug 5 at the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest NHRA Nationals on Sunday, Aug. 5. The rookie driver defeated three Funny Car world champions - Cruz Pedregon, John Force and Matt Hagan - as well as veteran driver Bob Tasca III en route to her first win.

She is the eighth different John Force Racing Funny Car driver to win a Full Throttle Funny Car national event after John Force, Tony Pedregon, Eric Medlen, Gary Densham, Robert Hight, Ashley Force Hood, and Mike Neff. She is the thirteenth different woman to win an NHRA National event in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

“We struggled a little bit in qualifying, but we got in and that’s all that mattered and just to keep our car consistent and get this Traxxas Ford Mustang to the other end, that’s all we needed to do and we did it for all four rounds,” said Force, who qualified in the 13th spot, her worst of the season.

The NHRA held a teleconference with Courtney and members of the press on Aug. 8. Here are some of the questions and her answers.

Q What did Ashley say to you after the win and the past couple of days?

COURTNEY FORCE: 
I think she's just been really excited and really proud of me.  I actually came home yesterday and there was a congratulatory balloon and flowers on my doorstep from her.  I know she's just really excited. SHe and (son) Jake were watching the race, and she said she started screaming when she saw my win because we never told her what happened.  I know she's just really excited and really proud.

Q What about your father, John Force?  What has he said to you afterwards?

CF I think he's still been in shock.  He's like, I want you to enjoy it, this is your big win, and you’ve looked forward to this your whole life.  I mean, I think he's kind of in disbelief right now.  He keeps calling me saying:  "You did it, has it sunk in yet, you finally got that Wally and you earned it, kid."  He's just been really excited.  All week longest been calling me nonstop and just telling me how proud he is.