Can NHRA Top Fuel Driver Justin Ashley Continue His Winning Ways in Minnesota Towards Capturing a Class Championship?
In the cutthroat world of racing, you can have the best equipment, the best crew, and still not have the success that can be expected from an outsider’s perspective.
This is the case on multiple racing series and classes, and you can go from hero to zero in just one race, or even a single round.
In the case of National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Top Fuel racer Justin Ashley and the team behind the Phillips Connect-backed dragster, they are hitting on all eight cylinders as the NHRA tour hits Brainerd, Minnesota for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals this weekend.
In his fourth full season of NHRA Top Fuel drag racing, Justin leads the points standings and is looking for his first national championship.
“It has been a whirlwind,” Justin responded, when asked about the season to this point. “This will only be the fourteenth race, but it feels like it’s been a full season.
“We’ve had a lot of success and gone a lot of rounds, so that’s a big reason it feels like that way. But because of the work we’ve put in during the off-season, it’s helped with the competition in Top Fuel being so tough this year. We wanted to be ahead of the curve. I’m honestly really proud of where we are right now.”
Coming off back-to-back fourth-place points finishes in the class, did he expect to be in this position in 2023?
“I honestly didn’t think so,” Justin said. “We go into every season and each event expecting to win, but at the same time, we have an understanding of how hard that can be to accomplish, especially now with the quality of competition.”
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With racers like Steve Torrence and Brittany Force, who have combined to capture the last six class championships, just behind Justin in the points chase, what is the team’s plan for the second-half of the season?
“For me it’s like football,” said Justin. “When you play defensively to protect a lead, it can backfire. What we cannot do is just try to protect our lead, because it usually doesn’t work out well. We need to continue to be on offense and be aggressive.”
That aggressiveness has helped pave the way to the team’s most successful season, improving from three wins in 2022 to six victories thus far in 2023.
“I think it’s experience more than anything else,” said Justin about the improved results. “I’m a younger driver relatively speaking, but Mike Green and Tommy DeLago (co crew chiefs) have seen a lot of race tracks and have a lot of experiences in different conditions throughout their careers. The biggest difference is the crew having another year under their belt working together; we’ve all meshed and firing on all cylinders.”
With eight events remaining in the 2023, is Justin wanting a win at any particular stop?
“The race that means the most is easy: the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis,” said Justin. “Once that race is done, the countdown starts (6-race series where points are reset), and I think Dallas (Texas NHRA FallNationals, the third-to-last event) is the swing race. It can give you the confidence going forward, or put you on your heels with only two races left.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photo courtesy of NHRA.
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