NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In 50 years of NHRA competition, 15 women have competed in the nitro Funny Car ranks, and just four of them have reached the winner’s circle, and it’s fitting that the first came from Funny Car royalty. Ashley Force Hood, eldest of John Force’s three racing daughters, scored the milestone victory at the 2008 NHRA Southern Nationals outside of Atlanta, where she beat her famous father in the final round. It was selected as No. 5 on NHRA's fan-voted list of Top 75 Moments in NHRA history.

Force Hood joined the Funny Car ranks in 2007 after first competing in Top Alcohol Dragster, where she collected five wins, including the 2004 NHRA U.S. Nationals, in Super Comp.

It took Force Hood less than a season to reach her first final round, reaching the final at the fall Las Vegas event in 2007. It was her 21st race in the class, and she’d been to a trio of semifinals already that year before reaching the final at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where she lost on a 4.87 to 4.82 holeshot to former John Force Racing driver Tony Pedregon.

Less than a year later, Force Hood became the first female driver to win in Funny Car at the 2008 Southern Nationals in Atlanta. After qualifying just 11th in her Castrol GTX Mustang, Force Hood defeated Del Worsham, Tim Wilkerson, and Ron Capps, she faced off with and defeated her father to claim the victory.

This milestone win was particularly poignant for the entire John Force Racing organization, as it came at the end of a challenging season marked by the tragic loss of teammate Eric Medlen in a testing accident in March and John Force's near-fatal crash in Dallas in October.

Force Hood would go on to win three more Funny Car events, including back-to-back at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in 2009 and 2010.

See the complete to-date list of moments on the Top 75 Moments homepage