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NHRA Divisional Racer As a young girl Aspen enjoyed going to the races with her father, Max, and sister, Jennifer. "Going to the drag races a couple times a year was something we did as a family that I really looked forward to. Jennifer and I never could sleep the night before and we would sit up and talk about all the sights, sounds and smells that we were going to see the next day." Unlike Jennifer, Aspen wasn't as interested in the way the cars operated. She was just interested in the result: "SPEED". "I just couldn't believe how fast the top fuel cars were, and when they would reach a speed that I thought couldn't be topped, then they would just go faster. I just kept thinking what a rush it would be to go from 0 to 300mph in less than 5 seconds." At the age of 17, Aspen, along with Jennifer, assisted Max in some SCCA sportscar racing. Although they were just helping some friends race their cars, it was there that they started to learn to work as a team. During this time Aspen was featured on 8 Country Reporters Generation X while assisting her friends in the SCCA Spec Racer Ford Series. It was during this interview that she dropped the bomb on Max and stated that she wanted to drive a top fuel dragster for a living. "Racing is like a drug, I am addicted to the speed, and I don't ever want to find the cure."
The next step was sending Aspen to driving school. Many of the racers on the track today have taught themselves how to drive just by getting on the track and running. Aspen, however, wanted some formal training from someone who knew what they were doing. In the spring of 1998, Aspen flew to Pomona, California to attend Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School. With Jennifer in tow, Aspen went through several days of intense training. "When I saw the look on her face after her first short pass in that car I just knew that she was hooked and would do what ever it took to be the best"- Jennifer. Showing a lot of determination and talent, not unlike her idol Shirley Muldowney, Aspen believes that she can and will be a champion some day. Having competed for two years now and going through all the highs and lows of being the new kid on the track, Aspen is more comfortable with her abilities and that of her team. "We have gone through our share of problems, both with the car and me, but I really think that we are going to be a force to recon with this year and I can't wait to get started." The Distant Thunder Driver of the Month is also
published as a feature article in
Racerchicks and in the racing channel of Sandra's Stuff.com and Liberal Arts and Crafts.net.
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Aspen Paschall
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