Dearborn, Mich. — Ol’ Sparky saw a ’68 Cougar out on the road this week, so it must be spring. You just don’t see those classic cars around Detroit much earlier than this, so the really good weather must be right around the corner. Those late ’60s Cougars are some of the great underrated cars of all-time; they certainly rank very high on the Sparkster’s all-time list of personal faves—right up there with racin’ in general, baseball in general doughnuts in general and Ricky Rudd. This not-so-old Ford (Mercury) was in great shape—but then again, at more’n 40 years old, aren’t they all? This one was midnight blue with pristine chrome bumpers and not a discernable mark on it. Ah, Sparky loves the springtime.

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So, apparently, do the Ford Racing Mustang Funny Cars, following back-to-back wins. It used to be that when Ford Funny Cars won two in a row, chances were that John Force drove one of them and the other one was driven by, uh, John Force. But, you’ll have that when one of your drivers has 126 race wins and 14 series championships. Those are both records, you know. Now, after another weekend in Houston, Mustangs have won the last two Wallys, and nary a John Force was drivin’. (The Sparkster likes the word “nary.” It’s nary heard from much anymore. It’s goin’ to have to be added to the Spark’s all-time personal faves list.)

However, last week’s win was by a Force: Ashley Force Hood, who picked up her second career win, which leaves her one ahead of Bob Tasca III, who earned his first victory two weeks and one event ago in Gainesville, Florida. It also leaves her 124 wins behind her father. But she’s still got plenty of time to catch him; he was considerably older than she is now when he finally got his first career victory. And then, he just kept winnin’ and winnin’ and winnin’. Who said you can’t teach old race-car drivers new tricks? Even the Sparkster tries to learn one new thing every month.

This weekend, the series travels to Las Vegas, which, really, is not a bad place to go while carryin’ a hot streak. (Although, it’s also a place where hot streaks have been known to end. Quickly.) But, maybe it can be a place to start a hot streak. Robert Hight—who will win a championship one day, perhaps as early as this year—and Mike Neff and John Force and Tim Wilkerson are still lookin’ for their first wins of the year, But, it’s early. The ’68 Cougars have been on the roads for less than half a week.

As far as the NASCAR series is concerned, Ol’ Sparky has some good news and some good news. The good news is that the stop this weekend is at Texas Motor Speedway, which has been very, very Ford friendly over the years. And, the good news is that last week’s race at Martinsville marked the last of back-to-back short-track stops. The short tracks, so far this year, have been a little less than Ford friendly.

But, that was last week. This weekend the speeds will be much greater, and the track is a mile and a half, which has been an absolute perfect distance for Ford, especially Roush Fenway Racing. Carl Edwards swept both of last year’s races there. Roush Fenway also swept there in ’05. And, from 1997-2005, Ford won seven of 10 races. Roush Fenway has seven victories in 16 races there to lead all owners, while no other owner has more than two—one of whom bein’ Robert Yates. But, you always knew that if fast had somethin’ to do with it, Robert Yates was right there.

Yes, Texas is Ford’s kind of place.

Edwards’ second win, of course, was part of his frenetic closin’ to the ’08 season, when he won three of the last four races en route to a series-leadin’ nine overall. Nine wins is a great career for most drivers; Edwards refers to nine wins as “last season.”

Right now, just Edwards and Ol’ Steady Matty Kenseth are the only Ford drivers in the top 12 in the standings, but, again, it is early. This is so Kenseth: He just keeps makin’ laps under the radar, and when it matters—whether it’s the end of the race or when it’s time to line up for the Chase—there he is. Just like David Pearson. You just know that when it matters—really, truly matters—the Biff will be there and David Ragan and Bobby Labonte will be makin’ everybody take notice.

And, speakin’ of Pearson, this weekend’s race at Texas also marks the return to the track by the legendary Wood Brothers, who are scheduled to run only a dozen races this year. And, yes, one of the most successful and most popular drivers in the sport’s history, Bill Elliott, will be behind the wheel of one of the most successful and most popular cars in the sport’s history, the 21.

While tryin’ to devise a precise formula to determine when the really great weather arrives—right now it has somethin’ to do with the number of sightings of robins and pre-’70s hot rods divided by the number of races already run, but there is still plenty of room for improvement—Ol’ Sparky went through this week’s mailbag.

Dear Sparky,

Wasn’t it great to see Ashley Force Hood win again last weekend at Houston? It just goes to show that us race fans will have another successful Force to cheer for years to come.

Ely,
Nevada

You’re right, Ely, Ashley Force Hood can definitely drive a Mustang Funny Car. That makes it two wins in two years for Ashley, and she just keeps gettin’ better and better. Her victory last weekend was not easy. Did you happen to see the roster of drivers she had to defeat? First, she had to defeat her dad, which she’s done before. In six matchups, Ashley is 3-3 against him. In the next round, she defeated Ron Capps, the points leader. Then, she defeated Del Worsham, the defendin’ race champion. Then, she defeated Jack Beckman, who years earlier taught her how to drive a race car. Imagine that: the teacher gettin’ taken to school by the student. If she keeps winnin’ races at the pace of one a year, she will surpass her father on the all-time wins list in the year 2134 – providin’, of course, that John doesn’t win another race. And you just know that that’s not goin’ to happen, so race fans will have two Forces to cheer for years to come.