FanHouse JohnForce

That's it. She's done it.

Ashley Force has officially stolen my heart.

Named "Hottest Athlete" just last year here on AOL, the drag racer Force won her first-ever NHRA Funny Car event late last month in Atlanta (yeah, take that, Danica!). With that, she officially stole the No. 1 spot in my heart among racing chicks. Here's why:

1) She's smokin' a whole lot more than tires: Face it, Ashley Force is much, much hotter than Danica Patrick and Sports Illustrated can ever make her out to be.

Lowe's Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler wanted to add some spice similar to baseball's home run derby to NASCAR's all-star weekend in May at the track.

Consider that mission accomplished.

Wheeler and Clint Bowyer, who managed to hit the pit wall during a demonstration with a Richard Petty Driving School car, announced today that the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will feature a prerace burnout contest.

The festivities started Tuesday, when Wheeler and his staff recruited Bowyer to introduce a new feature to the All-Star race. NASCAR will now showcase a "burnout" competition, in which five drivers will showcase their victory celebrations by spinning their tires, doing two doughnuts and finally slide into Victory Lane in an event scheduled to precede the May 17th race.

Bowyer, who already has agreed to participate in the competition, had planned to demonstrate a burnout for the assembled media in a car loaned to him by the Richard Petty Driving Experience. But he wrecked the car as he returned to pit road.

"It was practice, man," joked Bowyer. "That's what you're here for - to see what to do and what not to do. I had a little disagreement with the wall. It didn't work out so good."

So we know Bowyer will be in the event, but if you were picking, who's filling the four remaining spots?

Kevin Harvick? Kyle Busch? What about a special appearance by NHRA driver John Force?

Regardless, I'm going to be tuning in for it.

Here's some incredible footage away from sandy beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida that NASCAR is currently calling home.

Tony Pedregon, last year's NHRA Funny Car champion, didn't exactly start off his season on the right foot. Racing against former team-owner John Force (who had an incredible crash of his own last season), Pedregon's car suffered a little more than a wardrobe malfunction.

Just past half track during the first round of eliminations for the Winternationals, something went terribly wrong in Pedregon's motor and caused the nearly 8,000 horsespower beast to erupt in a ball of fire with Pedregon sitting in the middle of it.



Luckily, for a sport that saw the death of a very popular driver just one season ago, Pedregon emerged from the destroyed car with only second-degree burns on his hand and some aches and pains from hitting the wall at nearly 300mph.

Force likely avoided more carnage by forgetting to pull his parachute until he was too far down the track because he was so taken back by the flames coming from the lane next to him.

Previously on FanHouse:
Top 8 Spectacular NASCAR Crashes of 2007 Sorry, No Photos

27 days after suffering horrific injuries in a 300mph crash in Dallas, NHRA champion John Force headed home from the hospital Saturday in Dallas.

Force suffered major injuries after his Funny Car ripped in two pieces at the completion of a run during the O'Reilly Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex on Sep. 23.

Left with a compound fracture of his left ankle, a broken right foot, broken fingers, a dislocated wrist, and severe abrasions impacting the tendons and ligaments of his right knee, Force ended up being a lucky man, despite his own belief that he shouldn't be alive.

He'll continue eight weeks of rehab near his California home, and is expected to be behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang Funny Car at the start of the 2008 NHRA Powerade Series Season.

"[...] my car broke in half and my legs got out and my arms. So we went to work to fix that. We've refitted the chassis with crossover bars to give it strength," said Force.

"What you saw, I've never seen in my career. I never saw a car rip in half."

In essence, there's one word that can legitimately describe Force's accident and recovery.

Incredible.

NHRA's likeable tough guy John Force let a camera into his hospital room and showed off his more vulnerable side when he talked about his "should have been fatal" crash last week.

"I'm lucky to have my legs ... The car pulled in half and I've never seen that happen ever ... my legs were just outside flopping around ... my legs were free at that speed to be ripped off ... I'm just totally amazed that it didn't. My daughter, Ashley, was at the end of the track and she said 'I saw the Mustang coming down through there ... it was on the wall, looked like it was ok ... you weren't in the car. Half the car was gone.' ... I was knocked out, but as bad as that crash was, I should have been dead."

Doesn't sound like Force intends to let his injuries keep him down long. His crew chief is already outfitting his funny car with equipment to suit his injuries ... and he's got his mind on getting medical clearance to run the NHRA finals and collect that half million dollar paycheck in November.

Good luck, buddy. And best wishes for a speedy recovery.

UPDATED 9:21pm/ET - Force's injuries, according to the ESPN2 broadcast, include a compound fracture of one ankle, a severe abrasion that went all the way to the bone on his knee, a dislocated and broken wrist, and broken fingers with abrasions. In a sign of good news, a CT scan performed on Force turned out negative.

Without a doubt, Force is done for the remainder of the NHRA season, but the real focal point is that Force will live to walk and talk another day.

ORIGINAL - Two of the NHRA's most legendary names were involved in a rough crash at the top-end of the drag strip today during the second round of the O'Reilly Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.

NHRA champions Kenny Bernstein and John Force were dueled in the funny car category when something apparently went wrong with Force's entry while crossing the finish line at over 315 mph.

Force was airlifted to Baylor University with two broken legs, a broken arm, and a possible concussion compound fracture of one ankle, a severe abrasion that went all the way to the bone on his knee, a dislocated and broken wrist, and broken fingers with abrasions. In a sign of good news, a CT scan performed on Force turned out negative.

Half of a country away from Sunday night's NASCAR race at California Speedway, shockwaves are resonating through the drag racing word, for two of the sport's heavyweights didn't make the season's biggest event.

John Force, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion, failed to make the field for the 53rd U.S. Nationals in the funny car division for the first time in 27 years. Also, Warren "The Professor" Johnson didn't make the field for the pro stock division.

Force, winner of over 125 races in his NHRA career, nearly made the field in the hot Indiana afternoon after losing several cylinders in a morning run that was thought to be his best chance. Force ran a 4.856 second pass, three-hundreths of a second too slow for the 16-car field.

"We didn't make it but we've still got two Fords in the show, so we'll be moving on," said Force, referring to his daughter Ashley, a rookie, and teammate Robert Hight, both of whom qualified for Monday's final eliminations.

Johnson has taken 96 career pro stock victories, but Monday's eliminations will be the first time Johnson hasn't been around at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis in 31 years.

The day was also emphasized by two newcomers making a name for themselves at the "Big Go". In funny car, Jeff Arend took the low time and in pro stock Max Naylor will start eliminations from the top spot.

Gearin' up for 500 miles of Nextel Cup action in the Lone Star State. Be sure to stay tuned for live commentary on today's race here at the FanHouse!

The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful.
Forecast for today's race? Impeccable. The National Weather Service is calling for highs near 70 and mostly sunny skies. The key? I'm not giving you a link to a radar page because it's going to be clear all day long. It's also another day for the unlucky people around the Fort Worth and Dallas area who received damage from Friday's tornadoes and assorted severe weather that canceled qualifying to clean up.

K. Busch, Biffle, Petty, and Sadler to Talk Fast.
The four drivers have been selected to be rotating hosts on Performance Radio Network's Fast Talk radio show that originates live from Lowe's Motor Speedway every Monday night. Longtime co-host Doug Rice will continue to sit alongside the drivers, who are essentially filling the spot that Benny Parsons held. On that note, it's still really hard to believe that ol' BP isn't still with us, and I can't imagine how tough it is for everyone in that garage area that loved the guy. Sail on, BP.