We are honored to announce Ashley Finney as an official member of Car Chix! Ashley Finney earned her spot as Ms. October in the OWC Pro IT Services sponsored month of the 2020 Car Chix Calendar after competing in the 2019 Car Chix Women of Motorsports Contest.
ASHLEY FINNEY BIO
NICKNAME: Race Mom for me….My car is called the #NightMare
PHOTO CREDITS FOR SUBMITTED PHOTOS: Jamie Plack Photography
PROFESSION: Manage 8-coin operated laundries, 5 mini storage sites, 10 residential rentals and approximately 50 commercial rentals. I recently became a certified health coach! I announce on Friday nights at Osceola Dragway, and help out anywhere I can there!
YOUR VEHICLES (in photo): 2017 Mustang GT Convertible with the 5.0
MOTOR/SPECS: Coyote 5.0 V8 aluminum block stock motor with a Brenspeed Mustang tune
RACING CLASS/TEAM/DIVISION: IHRA Division 5 Street Class
HOMETOWN: Warsaw IN
HOMETRACK: Osceola Dragway, which has been sold and will be known as Hoosier Motorsports Park in 2020
PERSONAL WEBSITE/FANPAGE: Facebook: Ashley Finney, Instagram: moms_with_mustangs, Snapchat: afinney22
CLUBS/AFFLIATIONS/SPONSORS: A few of my “Mom friends” and I all have mustangs….well 3 of us to be exact lol! So, we started our own club… Mom’s With Mustangs! HA! Now accepting new members, I Really think it’s the next big thing lol
ACCOMPLISHMENTS/ACHIEVEMENTS: runner up in the IHRA Division 5 owner/operator race at the division 5 team finals, as a team we helped my son to earn his second Jr dragster track championship
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: I am a novelty racer at best. But I am the biggest fan firstly to my son TKO and my husband Mike! I am so proud of TKO for winning the last track championship in his Jr for Osceola Dragway before the sale of the track. We then traveled to Memphis TN for the IHRA world finals with several of our friends and family members to compete on a world level where he finished 7th…. what a big deal! Such a proud moment for a race mom!
Second highlight was when I was ale to represent Osceola Dragway in the Owner Operators race at Division 5 Team Finals. We are a small track, but we are definitely proud of who we are! I was proud to earn runner up, the best part was driving up the return road Infront of the bleachers with our whole track cheering me on! I love those people with my whole heart!
Final highlight is the sale of Osceola Dragway. As we all know people build homes around race tracks and then decide they don’t like the noise. We had to go before the Elkhart County Commissioners with 2 separate meetings to defend our track and why it should stand to exist. Our small track really came together sending letters of support for our race community. We were able to get a 2 to 1 vote to accommodate the rezoning required to continue to operate as a dragway, with the addition of a road course coming soon! What a feeling it was to win a fight we have watched so many lose in recent years.
FAVORITE QUOTE/SAYING: “WOOOOOOOO!” its kinda become our thing at Osceola Dragway. Really its become a way to say hello, bye, good job….or just for no reason at all! The rule is if you hear a WOOOOO you gotta wooo to HA! It stems from the Mayor of Osceola Dragway, Dave Palsce….It makes me laugh just thinking about it!
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH AUTOMOBILES/MOTORSPORTS: My Husband Mike’s family has been racing for most of his life. However when we met they were on a racing break. After we got married he got back into it…you know just for fun. Not to go fast. (insert eye roll) Boy I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Now we are all in. Mike drives a 1978 Monte Carlo, TKO our son has a 2017 American Jr Dragster with a Blossom Race Engine and a 1981 Chevy Malibu he will be transitioning into, and of course I have my Mustang. The family time we are afforded through racing is priceless! This is where the nickname “race mom” comes from. I’m like every other soccer mom….just faster!
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED WITH AUTOMOBILES/MOTORSPORTS: I have been involved as a wife and mother for 8 years, I only dipped my toe in driving the last 2 or 3 years.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT AUTOMOBILES/MOTORSPORTS: I love the community of it all. I don’t know if its just our home track or if its like this everywhere. But we all lift each other up both in racing and in life. We have met our best friends through racing. If you aren’t a member of the racing community you may never understand that bond!
WHAT IS YOUR BEST CAR/RACING/MOTORSPORTS RELATED MEMORY: Definitely when TKO went down to the final 7 at world finals. It was really neat to sit back and watch the guys work as a team and go rounds. I don’t get to be a fan to often because I’m usually busy doing other things at the track. So it was nice to sit back and enjoy.
WHAT IS YOUR WORST CAR/RACING/MOTORSPORTS RELATED MEMORY: I don’t really have a bad memory in racing. The worst feeling I have ever had was hearing the track could potentially be closed due to zoning issues. I knew our race family would be divided among other local tracks. It was just a sad time. But I knew if we dug in and put in work it would all be fine in the end.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR NEXT SEASON: I am hoping to step away from track work and maybe get some more racing in. I am kicking around the idea of Joining the IHRA points series! I also hope to be a better race wife and race mom to my guys! I haven’t been very present in their racing.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR REACHING YOUR GOALS: I am a work acholic! So for me to let go and just be a spectator at a track is tough! I’m bossy…I can’t help it!
ANY BIG MODS OR BUILDS GOING ON DURING THE OFF SEASON: I am looking into a bolt in roll bar so I can explore going a little faster. Right now without it I am limited by safety regulations (for good reason of course!)
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER HOBBIES OR PASSIONS: I enjoy taking pictures. Mostly at the track and some senior photos.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP SONGS FOR WHEN YOU ARE DOING CARS THINGS / RACING: OH MAN! If you know me, you know I crank the gangster rap UP when I’m racing. It takes my mind away from the nerves of it all I guess. I like Pursuit of Happiness by kid Cudi, Look Back At it by Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and same Bitches by Post Malone. Its kinda funny….I’m a little bit hood….little bit house wife HA!
IF YOU GOT A MILLION DOLLARS TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?: First I would invest a large amount of it so the profit would sustain our race life! Then I would buy some land with a nice house big enough to entertain, I would build Mike the building of his dreams with multiple lifts and all the bells and whistles! We would get a motor home and a stack trailer and hit the road for a bit checking out all the little tracks we can find!
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BLOGS, WEBSITES OR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES THAT YOU FOLLOW?: I Obviously enjoy Car Chix! I like to follow Budget babe and MissManual on Instagram. I love to follow Mishawaka Beat the Heat also. They are a group of police and fire guys/girls who travel around promoting good community relations with officers and speak out against street racing.
ADVICE TO OTHER WOMEN IN MOTORSPORTS OR WOMEN INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED IN MOTORSPORTS: Celebrate that women are unique, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And don’t forget to smile when you win! If you are thinking about racing, but you haven’t ever given it a shot. DO IT! You won’t be sorry. Find somewhere to bracket race, fast is cool! But it isn’t for everyone. You can race on a budget….but there’s no couponing in drag racing! Sorry Ladies!
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE CAR CHIX COMMUNITY: Don’t put down other forms of racing or builds that may not be your style. Embrace it. We are all car people in our own right. We all have a lot of time, pride and money into our rides and race teams. I hate when I see car scenes tearing each other down. That’s what’s ugly.
