Dad and daughter qualify for final 16

John Force and his team certainly know how to deliver the drama. Facing elimination when he pulled to the starting line in the final round of funny car qualifying Saturday, drag racing’s 14-time champion bumped his way into the field for the 393rd consecutive race of his career.

The person he bumped out of the race? His daughter, Ashley Force, 24, making her professional debut.

Ashley responded with her own dramatic flair. In the next pair down the track, and in the same lane as her father, she ran 4.790 seconds at 312.42 mph.

When it was settled, all four of Force’s Ford Mustangs were in the 16-car field for the 47th NHRA CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals at Pomona Raceway. It is the quickest funny car field in NHRA history, with the slowest of the qualifiers, Jim Head, at 4.795 seconds.

Force qualified fourth, at 4.709 and 326.40 mph. His son-in-law, Robert Hight, is No. 2 with his time from Thursday, 4.693 seconds. He will face Ashley, who qualified 15th, in the first round.

The top-fuel field is also the quickest in history, paced by defending champion Tony Schumacher, who ran 4.472 seconds at 331.36 mph, and followed by Rod Fuller, Brandon Bernstein of Lake Forest and Doug Kalitta, all with sub-4.5-second runs.

But funny cars, and the Force family, were the main story for the third day in a row. Ashley Force is the first female funny car driver to qualify for a national event since 2000. No woman has ever reached the championship round during eliminations.

“The real truth is that it was painful,” said John Force, who began the final round 16th. “I was watching the bump order taking place, and I came up with Ashley still in on the bubble, but you just put your mind in [gear] and you go. First thing her mom said is you bumped Ashley. That hurt.

“When she got in, it was the greatest day of my life next to her being born.”

The drama captivated the more than 25,000 spectators at Pomona Raceway. Ashley had begun the round in 14th based on her time from Thursday’s first round of qualifying. But Mike Ashley and Jeff Arend ran quicker times, bumping her down the ladder. Then her dad staged the car directly in front of her.

“When I was at the starting line, I was so conflicted,” Ashley said. “Do I want Dad to DNQ my first race?”

Said Gary Scelzi, who had the third-fastest funny car run ever, 333.49 mph: “We were listening to the drama going on with the funny cars,” Scelzi said. “This is some exciting stuff, even for a guy involved in it. [Crew chief Mike] Neff said, ‘You might want to get in the car, we’re only four pairs back.’ ”

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martin.henderson@latimes.com