Ashley Force Hood was Newsmaker of the Week for the second half-hour on last night's The Race Reporters show on PowerUp Channel. Holly Cain, Jeff Wolf and Bobby Bennett joined me in asking questions and for the journalists' roundtable.
We covered many topics with Ashley in advance of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Including what she experienced in a major engine explosion last weekend and what she's doing to improve her reaction-time skills. I asked Ashley if she was more pleased with five No. 1 qualifying runs and six final rounds, or more frustrated at only having one win:
"I'll take No. 1 qualifying spots and I'll take final rounds all season long, because that means we're going rounds. We're getting experience and we're gaining points. Of course, you always want to have a win, but it's the toughest thing in the world to have a win and then, in the next race, not qualify or not be able to go a round. When we get on a roll, like we were earlier this season, when we were going to semis and finals week-after-week, as much as we want to win, we do want the points . . . I can see a team getting frustrated by that, but we're not."
Listen to the entire show using this link:
http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=40638
Upcoming show guests:
September 2 -- Newsmaker: Joey Logano. Panelists: Mark Armijo, John Sturbin. Plus Mike Dunn to preview the U.S. Nationals.
September 9 -- Newsmaker: Scott Pruett. Panelists: John Oreovicz, Jeremy Shaw, Jim Pedley.
September 16 -- Newsmaker: Lee White. Panelists: Matt Yocum, Peter De Lorenzo.
September 23 -- Newsmaker: Jeg Coughlin Jr. Panelists: Alan Reinhart, Mike Kerchner, Jeff Burk.
[ more next Tuesday . . . ]
- UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM: The announced crowd of 76,000 Sunday at Phoenix was 1,000 more than the number for last year's race, which was held one week earlier. This was the first time PIR was in direct competition with spring training baseball games.
