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Aspen Paschall
NHRA Divisional Racer
 Aspen
Paschall
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."
Giving herself
some time to think about her future, Aspen went off to college for a
year. "I was at that point where I really wasn't sure what I wanted
to do with my life, but the one thing I did know is that I still
wanted to go racing." Upon her return from school, for the summer,
she told Max that she had made the decision not to return in the
fall and that she just wanted to go drag racing. That decision
started the ball rolling towards what is now Family Style Racing.
Max was thrilled, and after some discussion they decided to start
out in Super Comp to allow Aspen and her family time to develop
their skills. Max found an older model super comp dragster, ready to
race, and the price was right so he bought it and they were on their
way.
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."
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