Justin Ashley Takes Top Fuel Points Lead With Victory at Texas NHRA FallNationals
Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team raced to their fourth victory of the season Sunday at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex while Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Ford Mustang reached the semifinals and Dave Richards’ BlueBird / Versatran team wrapped their weekend in the first round.
Ashley entered race day from the No. 12 spot after making only one qualifying run on Friday afternoon in order to observe Yom Kippur. Ashley made his sixth final round appearance of the season and went on to win the Texas FallNationals for the third time in four years when he defeated Clay Millican on a holeshot in the final.
Ashley would handle the SCAG Toyota machine to a 3.772-second pass at 327.99 mph with a stellar .026-second reaction time to take down Millican’s 3.726 at 328.40 with a .059 reaction time.
“I’m a little bit emotional about this one. We had unique circumstances, but our team came through. To be able to get a win for Team Toyota and to be able to double-up with Jeg Coughlin Jr., our SCAG Pro Stock car, and do it for everyone at SCAG Power Equipment, this is a really special victory. This victory really is because of Randy Gloede (CEO of SCAG), Maria Oldenburg (President of SCAG) and the team working on this race car. Could not be more proud nor thankful,” Ashley said. “It speaks volumes of the kind of team we have. When I went up to them and told them my plan, the team rallied around me, and we rallied together as a group. We’re one team and one family, and for them to understand my principles and having only one lap down the racetrack in qualifying and I don’t think we had lane choice once today, our backs were against the wall, but our crew chiefs Mike Green and Tommy DeLago did an awesome job.”
Ashley started his day with two key wins. First came a win over Antron Brown. Brown came into the weekend leading the points with Ashley trailing by 34. Ashley would leave the starting line first and get the victory with a 3.775-second pass at 329.21 to Brown’s 3.776 at 324.96. In the second round, Ashley would have to drive through tire smoke for a 3.951 pass at 291.00 that was enough to defeat No. 3 in points Shawn Langdon’s 4.274 at 228.21 after he had a blower explosion.
In the semifinals, Ashley defeated eight-time world champion and Texas resident Tony Schumacher. Ashley’s 3.806 at 327.51 in the SCAG Toyota dragster bettered Schumacher’s 3.817 at 323.93 to send him to his 25th career final round.
Ashley now leads the Top Fuel points by 44 over Brown and 76 over Langdon with two events left in the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.
“It’s not over until it’s over, that much is for sure. You just have to keep swinging, and it’s best for us to not even look at the points. If we don’t take care of our business, it’s not going to matter anyway,” Ashley said. “It’s important to enjoy this win, but once we leave here our focus has to immediately shift to Las Vegas. Mike and Tommy have been here before. No matter what, this is far, far from over. We took a major step today, but it’s going to become more and more difficult. Just like it always does, it’s going to come down to Pomona, California and the Finals.”
Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Mustang started their race day from the No. 6 spot after running a career best 3.871 seconds in qualifying. Their first-round matchup with Alexis DeJoria turned into a single when DeJoria’s parachutes deployed after her burnout. Wilkerson would have a 3.908 pass at 323.46 mph.
In the second round, Wilkerson lined up against Chad Green. It was the first time the two had met in eliminations. Green left the starting line first but smoked the tires and his parachutes deployed for only a 5.544 at 105.54 that was bettered by Wilkerson’s 3.944at 322.74.
Reaching the semifinals for the fourth time this season, Wilkerson would face reigning world champion and defending event champion Matt Hagan. Wilkerson would leave the starting line first but smoke the tires early before trying to pedal it. He’d have to shut the SCAG machine off early for a 7.727 second pass at 96.18 mph and watch Hagan reach the finish line in 3.965 at 326.16. Hagan would go on to win the event.
“We had such a badass car this weekend and I had high hopes, I think the whole team did, but ‘mama said there would be days like this,’” Wilkerson said. “But for our whole SCAG team this was an awesome weekend, our Pro Stock teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. and our Top Fuel dragster, Justin’s team, got the job done. The SCAG Mustang had a pretty good weekend ourselves. Can’t wait for Vegas.”
After running his career best in qualifying (3.920 for a No. 12 start), Dave Richards and the BlueBird team ran into trouble in round one of eliminations. After doing their burnout, the BlueBird / Versatran machine had difficulty getting into reverse. The crew managed to push the car back but as soon as Richards hit the throttle, the tires smoked and Richards had to watch Ron Capps run a 3.912-second pass at 328.42 mph. Richards eventually crossed the fishline at 12.205 and 70.29.
“Definitely disappointed that the reverser malfunctioned and messed us up first round. We planned on repeating our 3.92-second pass from last night,” Richards said. “But we’ll keep our heads high and march forward to Vegas to keep improving. We’re getting better every race and I’m excited for the future. It’s going to be great.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series continues with the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the penultimate race of the 2024 season, October 31 – November 03.
This story was originally published on October 14, 2024.
The post Justin Ashley Takes Top Fuel Points Lead With Victory at Texas NHRA FallNationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
