| READING, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2024) – Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team rallied to a semifinal appearance Sunday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway and took over the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel points lead by one point with five races left in the Countdown to the Championship. In Funny Car, Daniel Wilkerson in his SCAG Ford Mustang and Dave Richards in his BlueBird Turf / Versatran machine exited in the first round. Coming into raceday as the No. 1 qualifier, Ashley started his day with a first-round victory against Smax Smith. Ashley would handle the SCAG Toyota to a 3.759-second pass at 328.22 mph while Smith would go only 4.823 at 152.87. In the quarterfinals, Ashley would be matched up with U.S. Nationals winner Clay Millican. Ashley laid down the quickest pass of the round at 3.771 and 330.72 bettering Millican’s 3.779 at 329.58. In the semifinals, Ashley would line up with former Top Fuel world champion and eventual race runner-up Shawn Langdon. The SCAG Toyota had tire smoke at about 200 feet for Ashley to cross the finish line at 5.348 at 133.10 falling short to Langdon’s 3.813 at 328.86. “It was a very good points weekend for our SCAG Power Equipment team. We would’ve loved to win, but ultimately as long as we continue to stack round wins I am confident we’ll be a position to win the championship in Pomona at the end of the year,” Ashley said. “Leaving with the points lead is an important step in the right direction. I am proud to be a part of this amazing team. Now we’ll focus on staying aggressive and trying to add more win lights in Charlotte.” Entering raceday from the No. 10 spot, Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team matched up with veteran and two-time champion Cruz Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. Both Funny Cars would go up in tires smoke almost immediately and have to pedal their way to the finish line. Wilkerson would have to coast to a 11.365-second pass at 83.72 mph while Pedregon drove around him for a 6.130 at 163.29. “I have never felt so helpless in my entire racing life as I felt firs round today. After our car smoked the tires, I had no throttle pedal to try and catch Cruz and had to watch him pedal his way into the sunrise,” Wilkerson said. “We ran well at Charlotte in the spring so I can’t wait to get back there and redeem ourselves in just a couple of days.” Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran Funny Car team started raceday from the No. 13 spot with a tough matchup against Bob Tasca III. Tasca would have a clean 3.878 pass at 330.96 mph while Richards would have tire smoke at the hit to go only 13.242 at 71.69. “Raceday here at Maple Grove Raceway didn’t give us the results we wanted but overall we made some big strides,” Richards said. “I really thought first round the car was going to get down the track but it just wasn’t in the cards today. Luckily we get another go at it in just a couple days. I’m really excited with what we have going on right now. I know Charlotte is going to be great.” The NHRA Countdown to the Championship continues next weekend, Sept. 20-22, at zMAX Dragway with the NHRA Carolina Nationals. |
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