Celebrating, promoting and supporting female racers and women in motorsports

Gainesville NHRA and Ashley Force-Hood

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Ashley Force and Erica Ortiz sit down and chat for Horsepower & Heels TV

Its been over a week since I got back from a great trip to the 40th Annual NHRA Gator Nationals, and I’m just catching up enough to sit down for an update.

What a great trip! The Gator Nationals have become a semi-traditional trip for me, being the first east coast race of the season, and my first chance to get away and “smell the nitro” for the year.
As usual, the trip kicks off at the Gainesville Ale House on Thursday night, with a chance to catch up to many of my racing friends and a few personal friends from home that come up for the weekend from Orlando.
But the highlight of this year’s trip was my opportunity on Friday morning to visit with Ashley Force courtesey of JFR PR pro Elon Werner. I met Elon through the new @JFR_Racing twitter campaign, and he invited me out to chat with Ashley in the pits. The JFR Twitter accounts allows fans to follow the instant team updates throughout the weekend to get a “behind the scenes” feel from the races in real-time.
(Check out my growing list of Drag Racing Twitter Accounts for other team updates)
Right now, Ashley is living the dream of a lot of us women racers in the PRO leagues of drag racing, being one of the few women competing this year in the NHRA. The advancement of women in racing is a passion of mine, so I was very eager to sit down with the top gal in our sport for some insight into what its like out there with the Big Boys. Ashley is in her third year as a professional Nitro Funny Car racer with her father’s premiere funny car team. She’s had incredible success as a racer, and is an inspiration to many.
Armed with my Horsepower & Heels TV Cam, I spent about 20 minutes with Ashley in her driver’s lounge chatting about what its been like for her as a woman out on the circuit and how she’s progressed through the ranks to reach professional status. PNN and I are now sorting through the editing, and we’ll be kicking off Season 2 of Horsepower & Heels TV with this insightful look at the leading lady in NHRA Nitro Funny Car.
Stay tuned for more coming soon!!!

2009 Gator Nationals

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The 2009 NHRA Gator Nationals are back in Gainesville, FL this weekend, and as is tradition now, I will be attending from Thursday-Sunday.
I’m even MORE excited to go this year, because I have a few exciting meetings lined-up during the course of the weekend, and a few surprises in store for Horsepower and Heels.com when I get back! I can’t mention anything yet, but believe me, its a *BIG* surprise!’
If you’ll be at the Gator’s, I invite you to stop by the Nitromater.com meet ups on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10am in front of the Nitro Mall. Or, come out to the Gainesville Ale House Thursday night for the traditional NHRA party.
Keep an eye on my Twitter updates for some real-time commentary on the race too!

Ortiz to Air on Houston’s 1560AM The Game

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1560AM the GameHuntsville, AL– Horsepower & Heels driver, Erica Ortiz, will be live on-air with the “Thunder Road” morning show this Sunday, March 1st on Houston, TX’s AM radio station 1560AM “The Game”.

The “Thunder Road” show is Houston’s ONLY place for all things motor sports and the best damn racing show around, featuring hosts Doug Johnson, a former Fun Ford Weekend competitor, and “Ya Boy Blue” (Jeffery Blue). Erica will join the well-known Houston personalities for their “Driving Divas” segment, a portion of the show dedicated to women in motorsports. Past guests include NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and Stock Car racer Kristen Bumbera. …

On Air: Houston’s 1560AM The Game “Thunder Road”

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Listen in this Sunday, March 1st to Houston’s 1560AM The Game radio station for my guest spot on the Thunder Road show’s “Driving Divas” segment.

Thunder Road is Houston’s ONLY place for all things motor sports and the best damn racing show around, featuring hosts Doug Johnson, a former Fun Ford Weekend competitor, and “Ya Boy Blue” (Jeffery Blue). Past guests on the “Driving Divas” segment have been NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and Stock Car racer Kristen Bumbera.

The show will air this Sunday, March 1st from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM central standard time.

Don’t live in Houston? The show is also available via web. You can listen online.

Prudhomme Super Snake Mustang

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I‘m really excited that Ford is taking such an active role in Drag Racing again. First, the Cobra Jet Mustang is developed by Ford for NHRA sportsman racing. Now, Carol Shelby has paired up with drag racing legend Don “the Snake” Prudhomme to create the Shelby Super Snake Prudhomme Edition Mustang.

The new Prudhomme Mustang is based on Shelby’s GT500 Mustang, beefing up the already stout 5.4L Supercharged powerplant to a whopping 750hp on 93 octane pump gas. The program is designed as post-title packaging for 2007-2009 Shelby GT owners. It incorporates an all-fiberglass tilt front end, added Kenne Belle Air Intake system, an Impact Safety Harness, Borla side exhaust, drag suspension and tires, as well as some side skirt aesthetic improvements. Street tire packages are also available for those wanting to keep to the streets.

 

The package is a limited edition run, with only 100 available at a whopping $100,000 price tag. That price does not include the cost of the base Shelby GT500 used in the modification, so look for a $140,000+ price tag to purchase one new.

 

Shelby and Prudhomme’s relationship stretches back to the 1968 drag racing season, when a young Prudhomme piloted Carol Shelby’s first Top Fuel entry.

 

Personally, I’m not sure I like the styling, though I can fully appreciate the 750hp added benefit (800hp on race fuel). What do you think of this new racer?
(photo courtesy Shelby Automotive, Inc.)

Another black and pink racecar

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One of the biggest things I’ve missed is my signature Black & Pink racecar paint jobs. Which is why I’m really excited that the other Erica racing is not only driving a Mustang this year too, but has gone with a Black/Pink color scheme for her DragStar Pro Stock ride.

Its been a tough road for racers lately, so I’m super excited for Erica Enders getting back to the Pro Stock arena. The car, which is sponsored by DragStar Racing, will be part of Cunningham Ford Pro Stock Racing program.
Amazingly, this year we are sharing not only the first name, but both of us are driving mustangs, and both cars will rock a similar paint scheme. Although I originally planned a similar Black/Pink theme based on my blog format, my car will now be a dark charcoal color with the pink/black accents instead.
With any luck, this will be the year for the Ericas Comeback Tour– Enders taking on the Pro Stock boys, and myself dealing with the Pro Street crowd! Good luck, Enders!

Twitter for the racing crowd

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One of my favorite social networking tools is Twitter. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and although I first thought it was rather odd and didn’t “get it”, I’ve realized the myriad of different usages for the service, and how they can be customized and utilized for personal needs. (Visit me on Twitter here)

Lately, I’ve been very excited by the adoption of Twitter by many different racing teams as a way to communicate with fans. There are endless opportunities for teams to use Twitter in a new and engaging way.

One of the most beneficial usages is the fact that fans can now follow and request text message notifications to their phones for their favorite drivers. That means that if I subscribe with notification to JFR’s twitter account, I’ll get an instant text message update from the team whenever they tweet a new event. If PR people handle this right, it means insider information available instantaneously… and it also means a great database in which to reach out to your fans.
I’ve started assembling the Twitter Guide for the Drag Racing Crowd, to include a list of all the drag racing related twitter feeds. Feel free to add to my list in the comments section, and I’ll post them online soon for everyone to use.

[UPDATED 6/1/09]

***Sanctioning Bodies***
@NHRA — NHRA Official Twitter
@IHRAMotorsports — IHRA Official Twitter
@March Meet — Nostalgia Drag Racing Meet
@GSAProMods — NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge
@NAPA_Goodguys — Live tweeting from the Goodguys Events

***News Orgs***
@go2geiger — Go 2 Geiger Drag Racing News
@femaleracing — Female Racing News Network
@ProStockCars — Pro Stock Cars News
@nhraphil — Phil Burgess, Editor for National Dragster
@ChevyHigh — Chevy High Performance Magazine
@SpeedFreaks — Speed Freaks Motorsports Radio & TV
@SpeedSceneLive — Speed Scene Live Webcast
@ThunderRoadShow — The Thunder Road Show Radio
@SpeedTV — Speed TV Channel
@competitionplus — Competition Plus
@DragTimes — Database of Drag Racing and Dyno
@FTTV — Full Throttle TV

***Drivers/Teams***

–Top Fuel
@MARNews — Mike Ashley Racing, Antron Brown Top Fuel
@TeamKalitta — The Kalitta Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Team
@KennyBernstein — Kenny Bernstein Racing Top Fuel Team
@TerryMcMillen — Top Fuel Driver Terry McMillen
@BobVandergriff — Top Fuel Driver Bob Vandergriff
@shoeracing — Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@bacamotorsports — Top Fuel Driver David Baca
@alanabiracing — Alan Johnson Top Fuel/Funny Car Teams
@DougHerbert — Top Fuel Driver Doug Herbert
@RacerJRTodd — NHRA Top Fuel Driver J.R. Todd
@topfueldragster — Stevens Family Top Fuel Team
@Cory_Mac_TF — Top Fuel Driver Cory McClenathan
@HillaryWill — Top Fuel Driver Hillary Will
@HotRodFuller — Top Fuel Driver Rod Fuller
@ClayMillican — Top Fuel Driver Clay Millican

–Funny Car
@JFR_Racing — John Force Racing Funny Car Teams
@Tasca3 — Nitro Funny Car Driver Bob Tasca III
@TeamWilkerson — Nitro Funny Car team of Tim Wilkerson
@MattHaganRacing — Nitro Funny Car Driver Matt Hagan
@ITGMotorsports — In the Groove Nitro Funny Car/Pro Stock Bike Team
@DaleCreasyJr — Nitro Funny Car Driver Dale Creasy Jr.
@GaryDensham –Nitro Funny Car Driver Gary Densham

–Pro Stock
@TeamJEGS_Jeg_Jr — Pro Stock Driver Jeg Coughlin Jr.
@ACDelcoRacing — Pro Stock Team of Kurt Johnson
@BBenza — Pro Stock Driver Bob Benza
@Erica_Enders — Pro Stock Driver Erica Enders

–Pro Stock Motorcycle
@SJR_Racing — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Steve Johnson
@ShawnGann — Pro Stock Motorcycle Driver Shawn Gann
@hdracing — Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle Team

–Pro Mod
@NielsenRacing — Outlaw Pro Modified Nitrous team
@madmantaylor — Pro Mod Driver Frankie Taylor
@rodhouckracing — Pro Mod Driver Rod Houck
@BarklageRacing — Barklage Pro Mod Racing Team

–Other Classes
@nitrokitty — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Mendy Fry
@CourtneyEnders — Courtney Enders
@CourtneyForce — A/Fuel Dragster Driver Courtney Force
@MKRacer — Nitro Crew Chief Mike Kloeber
@wellsmotorsport — IHRA Top Sportsman Carlos Wells
@HorsepowerHeels — Pro Mod Driver Erica Ortiz
@LeducDiamond — Nostalgia Funny Car Driver Leah Leduc

***Tracks/Facilities***
@norwalkracefans — Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, OH
@gatewayraceway — Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, IL
@BMSUpdates — Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN
@OReillyRaceway — O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, IN
@InfineonRaceway — Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA
@RacePBIR — Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, FL
@ACSUpdates — Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA
@LVMotorSpeedway — Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV
@MapleGrove — Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA
@The_Dirty_MO — Mooresville Dragway in Mooresville, NC

***Sponsors and Motorsports Miscellaneous***
@RacingJunk — Racing Junk Classifieds
@FordRacing — Ford Racing Division
@DragstarRacing — DragStar Apparel
@CastrolUSA — Castrol Engine Oils
@MandHtires — M&H Tires
@hotchkis — Hotchkis Suspension
@YokohamaTC — Yokohama Tire Company
@TitanMotorsport — Titan Motorsports in Orlando, FL
@wyotech — WYOTech
@NHRA_Museum — The NHRA Museum
@SummitRacing — Summit Racing Performance Powerhouse
@KNFilters — K&N Filters
@JFRaceStation — John Force Race Station
@TrickTitanium — Trick Titanium
@MQL_Racing — Motorcraft and Quick Lane
@Turbonetics — Turbonetics Turbochargers
@rehermorrison — Reher Morrison Engines