NORWALK, Ohio (June 30, 2024) – Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team had a semifinal finish Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. Teammates Dave Richards and Daniel Wilkerson have first round exits.
Ashley, who through four qualifying rounds improved his performance each pass to end up qualified in the No. 2 spot with a 3.702 -second pass at 330.47 mph, opened his race day with a match-up against eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher. Ashley would lay down a 3.764-second pass at 329.50 mph to defeat Schumacher’s 3.783 at 320.74 setting him up with a race against Tripp Tatum in the quarterfinals.
The SCAG Toyota would smoke the tires at the hit, but Ashley would pedal his way to victory in 4.524 seconds at 295.21 mph after Tatum’s dragster lost traction and had to shut off to coast to an 8.435 at 82.20. In the semifinals, Ashley lined up with three-time world champion and eventual race winner Antron Brown. Brown would have a clean 3.780 pass at 326.48 while the SCAG Toyota would smoke the tires and Ashley had to shut if off early to cross the finish line in 7.778 seconds at just 77.66 mph.
“It was a productive weekend for this SCAG Toyota Phillips team. We improved every round in qualifying which was promising heading into race day,” Ashley said. “Our mentality is always to win every race but ultimately you have to stack round wins throughout the year and that’s what we did. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t our day, but we have more information that we can use for learning purposes. We’re getting closer to the Countdown to the Championship so every lap matters. Our focus is now on Seattle.”
Dave Richards and the Versatran / BlueBird Funny Car team had a first-round loss but the improvement in performance in the team was evident. The Versatran / BlueBird team strung together a series of 4.0-second runs before earning their best qualifying position of the season at No. 13 off a 4.081-second pass at 309.49 mph. In the first round, Richards would line up against veteran and eventual race winner Bob Tasca III. Richards would have another solid 4.067 pass at 316.08 but it wouldn’t be enough for Tasca’s 3.857 at 336.82.
“Overall, it was a good weekend for our team. We made a lot of great runs. I am really happy with the forward progress and momentum of this Versatran / BlueBird team,” Richards said. “Getting round wins would have just been a bonus. I’m proud of this team’s hard work and I’m excited that we’re starting to show some consistency. Looking forward to Seattle.”
Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team entered race day in the No. 7 qualifying position on a 3.903-second pass at 331.04 mph after making three out of four clean passes. He would have a first-round match-up against eventual race runner-up Ron Capps. Capps would have an impressive 3.897 pass at 331.53 while Wilkerson would come up just short with a 3.941 at 329.99.
“We knew it would take a mid-3.80 second pass to win that round and we thought we had something for him. It just blew through the clutch and let us down. The driver didn’t do us much better. Overall, still a good weekend,” Wilkerson said. “We had a lot of fun with our friends from Summit Racing Equipment and Pace and all the SCAG dealers that were out. I also got to have my daughter with me up at driver intros. That definitely made for a good time and something we’ll both remember. These next couple of weeks we are going to be hitting the practice tree and studying our graphs. We’ll be stronger in Seattle.
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season continues July 19-21 with the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceway, the first of two races on the NHRA’s famed Western Swing.
