CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 19) - It was a matchup NASCAR could only dream of: Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force going head-to-head in the first all-female Funny Car elimination round.
Troxel won the round, made it to the finals and ultimately claimed the title Sunday at Thunder Valley Nationals - making her the first woman in NHRA history to win in both its nitro classes. Troxel downplayed the significance of her matchup with Force, trying hard to remove gender from the historic moment.
Melanie Troxel becomes the first female driver to qualify No. 1 in NHRA Funny Car history during an incredible final qualifying session. Troxel topped 325 mph in her ProCare Rx Dodge Charger to accomplish the feat.
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Troxel, pictured here at an ESPN event in 2006, isn't the only talented female driver making her presence felt in the racing world. Click through to see some of the other women known for their prowess on the track.
M. Phillips, WireImage.com
Chrissy Wallace is well known for being a member of the Wallace Racing Family, but the 20-year-old also made her own mark with a promising debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last March.
Mark Humphrey, AP
Ashley Force, another driver who has made NHRA history before, follows in the great drag racing legacy of her father, 14-time NHRA Funny Car division champion John Force.
Jose Carlos Fajardo, Contra Costa Times/MCT
Former IndyCar Rookie of the Year winner Danica Patrick has made a big impact on her circuit, winning the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th career start.
Thomas Concordia, WireImage.com
Indy Racing League's Milka Duno holds the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona (a second-place finish in 2007), despite not beginning her racing career until the age of 24.
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Sarah Fisher competes in the IndyCar Series and is best known for being the youngest women to ever compete in the Indianapolis 500. She also became the first woman to win a pole for a major-league open-wheel race at Kentucky Speedway in 2002.
Gavin Lawrence, Getty Images
Hillary Will is an accomplished racer in the Top Fuel Dragster category. In a qualifying run last February, the 27-year-old became the fastest female driver in the history of NHRA drag racing with a lap of 334.65 mph down the
quarter-mile.
Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
Angelle Sampey is an American Pro Stock Motorcycle racer who has won the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship three times (2000-2002). Since her debut in 1996, she has earned over 40 event victories.
Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
Erin Crocker ran a select number of ARCA Series events in 2007, and clinched the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge Championship last October, becoming the first female driver in the 55-year history of the ARCA RE/MAX Series to earn the prestigious award.
Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
“Everybody wants to make a big story about Ashley and I running against each other,” she said. “For me, it’s not about the other female out here. I think it’s pretty sad if we have to just compare ourselves against each other.”
She’s right, of course. Female competitors are no longer a sideshow in most forms of racing, and Troxel’s championship proved women are succeeding at a consistent pace.
Except in NASCAR, that is.
As the most celebrated day in motorsports approaches this week, the differences in gender equality have never been more profound. Danica Patrick headlines a trio of three women who will compete Sunday in the Indianapolis 500, but NASCAR won’t have a single woman in its showcase Coca-Cola 600 later that day or in any of the NASCAR-sanctioned events spanning 10 days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Three decades after Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the 600, NASCAR still boasts all-male fields at its premier Sprint Cup level. In fact, no woman has raced in the 600 since Guthrie, and the Cup series has not had a female racer since Shawna Robinson ran seven events in 2002.
“I don’t think it’s something NASCAR is really concerned about. A female driver is not something they really need,” said veteran racer Mike Wallace. “For a while, a lot of people thought it was a novelty. And I’ve had people close to me say ‘Girls can’t drive.’
“Well, maybe they can’t. But maybe there are one or two who can, and we just need to give them a chance.”
Danica Patrick waits to qualify for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Saturday, April 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
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LEXINGTON, OH - JULY 18: Danica Patrick drives the #7 Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda during practice for the IRL IndyCar Series The Honda 200 on July 18, 2008 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)
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IndyCar driver Danica Patrick drives her Motorola Honda through a turn Friday, July 18, 2008 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, during practice for this weekend's Honda Indy 200. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar
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IndyCar driver Danica Patrick walks through the paddock to pit road for practice Friday, July 18, 2008 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, for this weekend's Honda Indy 200. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar
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Danica Patrick speaks at a press conference Friday, July 18, 2008 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, prior to practice for Sunday's Honda Indy 200. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar
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Forest Whitaker, right, and Danica Patrick present the best upset award at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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Indy car racer Danica Patrick arrives at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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Indy car racer Danica Patrick arrives at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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IRL race car driver Danica Patrick arrives on the red carpet at the 2008 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, California July 16, 2008. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES)
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IRL race car driver Danica Patrick arrives on the red carpet at the 2008 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, California July 16, 2008. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES)
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Wallace speaks not as a driver with 605 career starts spanning NASCAR’s top three series, but as the father of a 20-year-old female racer who dreams of someday making it to the Cup Series. Although she has just one career start in the Truck Series, Chrissy Wallace has taken over the role as NASCAR’s best bet to make it to the big time.
She’s doing it on her own, piecing together a schedule of seven planned truck races this year for Germain Racing. She was a respectable 18th in her debut at tricky Martinsville Speedway and hopes improvement over her next several races will lead to the funding she needs to run a full schedule next season.
“You have to have decent finishes and win races to attract a sponsor,” Chrissy Wallace said. “If we don’t get one, we’re probably only going to be able to do a limited schedule next season. It’s all based on performance.”
It’s all part of the vicious cycle in racing, where success is as much dependent on financing as talent.
It takes an extraordinary financial commitment to help a child grow from go-karts to bandaleros to late models and maybe someday into stock cars. Not every family has the resources - Denny Hamlin’s parents mortgaged everything and nearly went broke helping him.
Drivers vying for the top level are getting younger and younger in NASCAR, where team owners constantly are scouring short tracks for the next big thing. Just look at Joe Gibbs Racing, which is counting the days until protege Joey Logano’s 18th birthday next month, when he can make his Nationwide Series debut.
“The issue we have to confront is one of preparation,” said Marcus Jadotte, who oversees NASCAR’s diversity issues. “We need to get more young women involved at a young age and hold that interest so their developmental path is that of a normal young male driver.”
NASCAR recently began a financial partnership with World Karting Association to help fund opportunities for young female and minority drivers through its Drive for Diversity program. The sanctioning body recognizes capturing the interest of a young driver and holding it until they reach NASCAR’s minimum participation age of 16 can be difficult, and providing opportunities for development at the karting level is a start.
Ashley Force pulled off something no other female driver had ever done in history last month. The NHRA driver topped her father John in the Southern Nationals to become the first woman to win a national Funny Car event.
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Force ran the quarter mile in 4.837 seconds at 320.36 mph in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to deny her dad his 1,000th career round win. "It's great for her that she gets that win and gets that out of the way," said John Force.
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The 24-year-old Force accomplished the feat less than a year after she was the overwhelming choice of AOL Sports readers in our Hottest Athlete Tournament. She credited her dedicated fans for driving her to the title.
NHRA / AP
According to Force Racing Web site, Ashley is the 10th woman in NHRA history to earn a license to compete in the Funny Car division. In Top Alcohol, she won five NHRA national events.
Gary Nastase Photography
Ashley and John Force made NHRA history in 2007 when they became the first father and daughter to race against each other. Ashley won then too, with a top speed of 317.05 mph.
Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
Her signature victory came at the 2004 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, where she took the title in the Top Alcohol division.
NHRA
Force placed in the top 10 in national points in each of her three seasons in Top Alcohol Dragster, according to johnforceracing.com.
Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire
The Force family is legendary in the world of drag racing: From left, mother Laurie, sister Courtney, father John, Ashley and sister Brittany.
A&E
Force grew up in California and lists her hobbies as movies, video production, shopping, kickboxing and spending time with family and friends.
John Sciulli, WireImage.com
The current nine-member D4D program has three women in it, but Kristin Bumbera, Katie Hagar and Lindsey King all are competing on much lower levels of NASCAR-sanctioned racing.
“It is impossible for me or anyone at NASCAR to predict how fast a professional athlete is going to develop,” Jadotte said. “Our job is to create as many opportunities for them to develop and improve their skill level, then demonstrate that skill level to the industry to attract team and sponsorship support that will help them move up the ladder.”
Chrissy Wallace didn’t consider racing a possible career until three years ago, and she’s been playing catch-up ever since.
Although she’s won at every level, the sponsorship needed to continue her career isn’t pouring in. It has helped that she has a famous last name and connections - two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has provided both financial support and advice of late - but there’s still a stigma that exists among major corporations with money to spend on sponsorship.
Companies might shy away from sponsoring a woman because there’s no proven record of success among female racers in NASCAR. Others might simply be gun shy after Erin Crocker became involved with Ray Evernham, her car owner.
Crocker acknowledged the relationship stalled the sponsorship she needed to continue her career at the top level, and Wallace said she believes other women are feeling the affects.
“People question if that’s going to be the same thing that happens with me, but we’re two totally different people,” said Wallace, who considers herself friendly with Crocker. “It’s kind of unfair that all female drivers are often based on her experiences.
“There’s a lot of female drivers out there who are talented and work hard.”
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 15: Singer Keith Urban performs during pre-race prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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