Force A 1.70 light then up in smoke!

[Jenn]

I didnt hear it but my brother said he said "And if your a Ashley Force fan be sure to stay tuned for the NHRA nationals next>" or something like that.

I was listening to the IRL and the audiocast at the same time and they hadn't run the final when Marty said "if you are a Ashley fan, stay tuned". I assumed he was making reference to the fact that she was in her third final. Since the audiocast was working through a rain delay at the time.

 

[fifty50]

Joe, Rich, Jeff, Steve. Now you know what it's like to be on the recieving end on a negative post, doesn't feel too good does it, Besides didn't Del, Jim, and Ron do good diving jobs for Ashley as well.

Some members here have kids that are smarter than you guys are.

Actually it doesn't hurt at all. What I posted was my opinion and a simple observation. I certainly didn't expect everyone to agree,I don't agree with alot of stuff that is posted on alot of boards,but I don't revert to personal attacks. I guess I just choose to agree to disagree

 

[nitrojunky]

Okay folks, this is strictly a lady's opinion (and a huge daddy's girl) but I don't think that Force gave that race away nor do I think he would. There are multiple arguments as to why, but the one that I personally think he would not take on, is that he is all too aware how important confidence is when driving one of these beasts. If he doesn't allow Ashley to do this on her own, with her own developing skills and her own LUCK (which oftens ends up being a determining factor) it becomes dangerous for her and everyone else.
Did the thought cross his mind?? One will never know, but in this lady's opinion that little lady had some luck of her own that day. Not to mention she had a very well running car that very easily could have out run old Dad.

Congrats to Ashley, Guido and the rest of the group. No doubt that Erik Medlen was smiling

 

[fifty50]

I have been thinking about this thread today and I've come up with a "what if". What if it had been the other way around? Just suppose Ashley would have had a bad light and gone up in smoke and Johnny won the event? How many think that people wouldn't have been on here calling Johnny an S.O.B. for making his little girl take a dive so he could win his 1000th round and the event? Folks would be calling him greedy saying things like "he has enough wins, couldn't he just let her win one?". Do you think this is why Ashley and Johnny both looked a little uneasy after the semi finals? I believe I heard her say something like "great, I have to run you in the final". It's funny how some people want to throw Johnny under a bus when just a few months ago we were all just concerned about his mere survival.

Dave

Totally different scenario that doesn't hold much water. Ashley has been driving one of these what,about a year now and I certainly don't have the stats to back it up but if I were a bettting man I'd guess she's never had a .170 light in competion.

 

[Terry]

Actually, truth be told, if John won, it............."would have been to complete his comeback", "get his 1000th win in 500 races", or "move up in points."

And still people would have cried "dive, dive, dive".

I for one believe it to be legit.

And I am not fooled easily.

REX

I've been kinda quiet on this one for several reasons--I am not a "Force Hater" although I will be labeled as such if I say that I believe there was something funny with John going up in smoke in the final. Rex, I do not question that you are not easily fooled, but I pride myself in being fairly analytical also. You have your opinion and I have mine, and at the end of the day, that's all they are--opinions...neither one of us has any true information. I stated on another thread that I thought it was a tank job because it reminded me of the Tony P smoke job days of yore...Obviously I cannot prove those were dives either, since Force Racing has never admitted such...thus it can remain as only speculation. I think Tony dove numerous times for John and I think John dove for Ashley. My opinions only--all I ask is this--I respect your and others opinions supporting John, Ashley, and Force racing in general without calling you Force Suckups, etc. So all I ask in return is to be able to express an unprovable opinion (like ALL of them on this thread) without trashing me and labeling me a "Force Hater" for simply pointing out how it looked to me. Hope that made some sense...

 

[M Jones]

When was the last time you saw Force act like that after any race, against tony our anyone else, as far as reaction times in top fuel funny car, there all over the place, the way the clutch hits has a big effect on how the car moves and can affect the reaction time, if the clutch was off and made him late then blew the tires off ( can happen even when your not racing your daughter ) I can see how John would be upset, I believe John wanted to race her heads up all the way down, the way he was after the race showed me that. Did John want her to win, yes, with a gimmie, NO, He's put to much behind her for that

 

[Rexfiles]

I've been kinda quiet on this one for several reasons--I am not a "Force Hater" although I will be labeled as such if I say that I believe there was something funny with John going up in smoke in the final. Rex, I do not question that you are not easily fooled, but I pride myself in being fairly analytical also. You have your opinion and I have mine, and at the end of the day, that's all they are--opinions...neither one of us has any true information. I stated on another thread that I thought it was a tank job because it reminded me of the Tony P smoke job days of yore...Obviously I cannot prove those were dives either, since Force Racing has never admitted such...thus it can remain as only speculation. I think Tony dove numerous times for John and I think John dove for Ashley. My opinions only--all I ask is this--I respect your and others opinions supporting John, Ashley, and Force racing in general without calling you Force Suckups, etc. So all I ask in return is to be able to express an unprovable opinion (like ALL of them on this thread) without trashing me and labeling me a "Force Hater" for simply pointing out how it looked to me. Hope that made some sense...

Your perception is such........I still think otherwise.

Still quite sad to rain on peoples parades without fact.

I do not do that.

And there are some out there over the years that have been REAL pieces of work.

REX

 

[Terry]

Your perception is such........I still think otherwise.

Still quite sad to rain on peoples parades without fact.

I do not do that.

And there are some out there over the years that have been REAL pieces of work.

REX

Rex, just one more question--my opinions are perceptions, you are correct there, and I stated as much in my post. However, it seems that you want me to accept your opinion that John DIDN'T dive as fact unless you have info that I am not privy to. Here again I will say I have no pick with Force racing and certainly none with you, Rex. But I do fail to see how my opinions are "perception" and your opinions of the same incident are "fact". And I hope you can see that I am not trying to be a jerk here at all, just trying to explain a point of view for me and maybe one or two others on the board.

It's all good either way, and Rex, you are probably right and I'm probably wrong--I'll admit that I am sometimes suspicious of some of the Team Force actions, but again, does that make me a "Force Hater"?

 

[Rexfiles]

Rex, just one more question--my opinions are perceptions, you are correct there, and I stated as much in my post. However, it seems that you want me to accept your opinion that John DIDN'T dive as fact unless you have info that I am not privy to. Here again I will say I have no pick with Force racing and certainly none with you, Rex. But I do fail to see how my opinions are "perception" and your opinions of the same incident are "fact". And I hope you can see that I am not trying to be a jerk here at all, just trying to explain a point of view for me and maybe one or two others on the board.

It's all good either way, and Rex, you are probably right and I'm probably wrong--I'll admit that I am sometimes suspicious of some of the Team Force actions, but again, does that make me a "Force Hater"?

No, I don't care who you root for or not.

I don't care if you change your opinion or not.

I have the ....sigh...... opinion, that the win was legit, That this speculation has put a cloud of suspicion over what I think is definitely a good win.

That those Bozo's over at Sportcenter (that BTW, almost everyone here almost everyone throws under the bus when ESPN delays the telecast in favor of mixed doubles aquatic otter wrestling) all of a sudden become instant Drag Racing experts.

I don't need to be right, I am only concerned with being happy (right raises blood pressure, take my word on that one)

I feel the need to counter was I feel is wrong, and detrimental.

And all that is is my .02.

heck, .01, I don't care.

It's been raining two days here, I have the flu, and soon I will be back outdoors on the job.

REJOICE!!

REX

 

[NONE]

I was there at the race Sunday sitting right at the starting line and here's what I saw. Just when they started the cars for the final, it started to sprinkle rain as it did about a dozen times that day. The linesman motioned for them to shut down the engines. Ashley had trouble getting her engine to die, seems like it ran for about 15 seconds before they could kill it. John's crew rushed to the truck for some tools and quickly took out the spark plugs. They were working feverishly on the car. Seems like it was about ten minutes before the track was dry enough to run the final. If smoking the tires right off the starting line was intentional, the crew must not have been aware of it or they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble they did on the engine. I don't believe John would give one to Ashley when she could go out and win one next time. I'm not saying it's impossible, but from what I observed it sure looked legitimate.

The newly paved track was working better then I've ever seen before, and the Safety Safari did an excellent job on oil downs. There were more close runs in top fuel then I've ever seen. The final between Antron and Tony was incredible!

I'm going to make a photo album from the race and post a link soon.

Wayne.

 

[willy]

I was there at the race Sunday sitting right at the starting line and here's what I saw. Just when they started the cars for the final, it started to sprinkle rain as it did about a dozen times that day. The linesman motioned for them to shut down the engines. Ashley had trouble getting her engine to die, seems like it ran for about 15 seconds before they could kill it. John's crew rushed to the truck for some tools and quickly took out the spark plugs. They were working feverishly on the car. Seems like it was about ten minutes before the track was dry enough to run the final. If smoking the tires right off the starting line was intentional, the crew must not have been aware of it or they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble they did on the engine. I don't believe John would give one to Ashley when she could go out and win one next time. I'm not saying it's impossible, but from what I observed it sure looked legitimate.

The newly paved track was working better then I've ever seen before, and the Safety Safari did an excellent job on oil downs. There were more close runs in top fuel then I've ever seen. The final between Antron and Tony was incredible!

I'm going to make a photo album from the race and post a link soon.

Wayne.

Thanks for the insight, Wayne..I loved the racing..man..photo finish is cool.

Didn't mean to derail the thread with something positive..continue.

 

[fifty50]

Rex, just one more question--my opinions are perceptions, you are correct there, and I stated as much in my post. However, it seems that you want me to accept your opinion that John DIDN'T dive as fact unless you have info that I am not privy to. Here again I will say I have no pick with Force racing and certainly none with you, Rex. But I do fail to see how my opinions are "perception" and your opinions of the same incident are "fact". And I hope you can see that I am not trying to be a jerk here at all, just trying to explain a point of view for me and maybe one or two others on the board.

It's all good either way, and Rex, you are probably right and I'm probably wrong--I'll admit that I am sometimes suspicious of some of the Team Force actions, but again, does that make me a "Force Hater"?

Thank you,thank you,thank you! I was looking for a proper and polite statement so I can finally rest my case and you just did it for me! No matter what side of this issue you fall on, no ones opinion is right or wrong, it is their opinion and should not be subject to ridicule or personal attacks on a persons intelligence. peace to all, I love this sport,this board and I hope some day I can make it to one of your mater meetings and meet some of you.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

Well, it's my opinion that way too many are diluting Ashley's first win with unfounded rhetoric. Is this just coincidence? Re-read the thread for yourself.

Congratulations again Ashley for having a car NOBODY could beat all weekend despite Oliver Stone's presence in the booth.

 

[Mad Mark]

I believe John did throw the race. By giving his daughter a badass racecar, a great crewchief & crew and by teaching her all the tricks he knows.
/sarcasm meter off

 

[Draw 3D]

If JFR had planned on taking a "dive", I don't think that he would have scripted it as it happened, he would know that it would taint the win, like some have already stated.

Imho, he would much rather have had the winner win by mere inches at the stripe to throw out any uncertainty.

 

[Rich]

I hope some of the people here were listening to Joe Castello on XM Satellite Radio’s Power Shift program tonight. I thought Alan Reinhart did an excellent job of demolishing the claims made that John Force took a dive last Sunday.

If drag racing fans themselves are going to say that the sport they love is sometimes staged, then why should we expect the general public not to likewise equate drag racing with the likes of the WWE?

 

[Jenn]

If drag racing fans themselves are going to say that the sport they love is sometimes staged, then why should we expect the general public not to likewise equate drag racing with the likes of the WWE?

Excellently stated Rich.

 

[Bobby]

I hope some of the people here were listening to Joe Castello on XM Satellite Radio’s Power Shift program tonight. I thought Alan Reinhart did an excellent job of demolishing the claims made that John Force took a dive last Sunday.

If drag racing fans themselves are going to say that the sport they love is sometimes staged, then why should we expect the general public not to likewise equate drag racing with the likes of the WWE?

Rich, for crying out loud, it IS sometimes staged. Please. I recall the CSK cars at Reading .....at least they were honest about it. Connie Kallitta has been honest about it. It happens. So all of you, quit the crap your flinging at people who doubt the result. The whole thing sucked in my opinion, from the way Marty Reid all but told us Ashley won on the IRL broadcast, to the unprecedented buildup to the round on the NHRA broadcast - I mean really , if she had lost would they have done that? Doubt it.
Combine that with the timing following Danica's win and it's no wonder some are wondering out loud.

Why wouldn't they . Anyone with half a brain who isn't a blindly loyal JFR fan would wonder. Out loud or not.

 

[Rexfiles]

Rich, for crying out loud, it IS sometimes staged. Please. I recall the CSK cars at Reading .....at least they were honest about it. Connie Kallitta has been honest about it. It happens. So all of you, quit the crap your flinging at people who doubt the result. The whole thing sucked in my opinion, from the way Marty Reid all but told us Ashley won on the IRL broadcast, to the unprecedented buildup to the round on the NHRA broadcast - I mean really , if she had lost would they have done that? Doubt it.
Combine that with the timing following Danica's win and it's no wonder some are wondering out loud.

Why wouldn't they . Anyone with half a brain who isn't a blindly loyal JFR fan would wonder. Out loud or not.

Well, that would be 1/2 more than SOME around here

REX

 

[Kelly]

If it was covered yet in specifics......I apologize. I got a little tired of reading through this drivel, but after listening to the end of the race that ran over....

All Marty said was 'Coming up next, the Summit Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. And you don't want to miss it! All I can tell you is, it is gonna be worth the time invested!'

I heard NO mention of even a racer's name! And that would have been about 7:20 et.