MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 28, 2025) – Daniel Wilkerson in the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car and Justin Ashley in his SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster put SCAG Racing in the semifinals Sunday at the NAPA Auto Park NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway. Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran machine had an early first round exit.
As the No. 3 and No. 14 qualifiers, Daniel Wilkerson and Dave Richards squared off in the first round. Wilkerson smoked the tires almost immediately and coasted to a 11.893-second pass at 76.97 mph, but it wouldn’t matter. Richards left the starting line -.169 too early for a red light start and that gave Wilkerson the win. For the record, the BlueBird Turf machine ran 4.067-seconds at 316.30 mph.
“That one hurt. This BlueBird Turf team has been working so hard and it’s starting to show. It showed in the first round, we should have had that win and I blew it,” said Richards about the first red-light start of his 13-year career. “I’m going to be kicking myself for that but overall, it was a good weekend, and it has us optimistic for the last three races of the season.”
In the second round, Wilkerson faced Alexis DeJoria. Wilkerson handled the SCAG Mustang to the quickest pass of the round at 3.947-seconds and 323.43 mph. Wilkerson needed every bit of that run with DeJoria laying down a 3.966 at 329.83 that was second quickest of the quarterfinals.
Wilkerson moved on to face four-time world champion Matt Hagan in the semifinals. Wilkerson left first but the SCAG machine smoked the tires to run 7.256 seconds at only 106.33 mph while Hagan had a 3.990 pass at 319.90 for the win.
“This SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang has got it’s a swagger back. The boys are doing an awesome job putting it together. Tim [Wilkerson] is doing an awesome job making it go fast. I’m really excited for the next three races because I know we have something for them, but I have to tell you a short story,” Wilkerson said. “So, we’re rolling in the second round I look up and one of my best friends from high school is standing there. He’s a SCAG dealer now and all I could think about was how crazy this life is. Me and Todd Kincaid tore a lot of stuff up in the mid to late 2000s. Now here we are at the racetrack together. We are truly blessed and excited to have made as many people smile as we did today and I know we’re going to make a bunch more in the future with SCAG at the helm.”
Justin Ashley and the SCAG Toyota team started their day from the No. 12 spot facing off with two-time world champion Brittany Force in the first round. Ashley made a clean 3.753-second pass at 331.94 mph to defeat Force who ran into tire smoke for a 5.328 pass at only 137.90 mph.
In the second round, Ashley faced another former world champion and Toyota teammate Shawn Langdon. The pair of Toyota dragsters had solid passes with Ashley getting the win on his 3.794-second run at 330.55 mph over Langdon’s 3.817 at 329.42. The win set Ashley up to run against another Toyota teammate, points leader and former world champion Doug Kalitta in the semifinals.
Kalitta, the eventual race winner, had a solid 3.805-second pass at 332.59 mph that turned on his winlight. The SCAG machine put cylinders out early and didn’t quite have enough with a 3.931 pass at 310.41.
“There were a lot of positives to take out of this weekend for this SCAG Toyota team. We ran very well at times. All of that data we are accumulating is important down the stretch. We’d like to lean on that when conditions are similar to what we’ve seen before,” Ashley said. “Our hats off to Doug. That’s drag racing. But we’re feeling great about our program and have so much to smile about. Dallas can’t come soon enough. Our SCAG Power Equipment Toyota team will be ready.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series continues with the Stampede of Speed and the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex October 10-12, the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.
The post DANIEL WILKERSON AND JUSTIN ASHLEY REACH SEMIFINALS AT NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS appeared first on Justin Ashley Racing.
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As the No. 3 and No. 14 qualifiers, Daniel Wilkerson and Dave Richards squared off in the first round. Wilkerson smoked the tires almost immediately and coasted to a 11.893-second pass at 76.97 mph, but it wouldn’t matter. Richards left the starting line -.169 too early for a red light start and that gave Wilkerson the win. For the record, the BlueBird Turf machine ran 4.067-seconds at 316.30 mph.
“That one hurt. This BlueBird Turf team has been working so hard and it’s starting to show. It showed in the first round, we should have had that win and I blew it,” said Richards about the first red-light start of his 13-year career. “I’m going to be kicking myself for that but overall, it was a good weekend, and it has us optimistic for the last three races of the season.”
In the second round, Wilkerson faced Alexis DeJoria. Wilkerson handled the SCAG Mustang to the quickest pass of the round at 3.947-seconds and 323.43 mph. Wilkerson needed every bit of that run with DeJoria laying down a 3.966 at 329.83 that was second quickest of the quarterfinals.
Wilkerson moved on to face four-time world champion Matt Hagan in the semifinals. Wilkerson left first but the SCAG machine smoked the tires to run 7.256 seconds at only 106.33 mph while Hagan had a 3.990 pass at 319.90 for the win.
“This SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang has got it’s a swagger back. The boys are doing an awesome job putting it together. Tim [Wilkerson] is doing an awesome job making it go fast. I’m really excited for the next three races because I know we have something for them, but I have to tell you a short story,” Wilkerson said. “So, we’re rolling in the second round I look up and one of my best friends from high school is standing there. He’s a SCAG dealer now and all I could think about was how crazy this life is. Me and Todd Kincaid tore a lot of stuff up in the mid to late 2000s. Now here we are at the racetrack together. We are truly blessed and excited to have made as many people smile as we did today and I know we’re going to make a bunch more in the future with SCAG at the helm.”
Justin Ashley and the SCAG Toyota team started their day from the No. 12 spot facing off with two-time world champion Brittany Force in the first round. Ashley made a clean 3.753-second pass at 331.94 mph to defeat Force who ran into tire smoke for a 5.328 pass at only 137.90 mph.
In the second round, Ashley faced another former world champion and Toyota teammate Shawn Langdon. The pair of Toyota dragsters had solid passes with Ashley getting the win on his 3.794-second run at 330.55 mph over Langdon’s 3.817 at 329.42. The win set Ashley up to run against another Toyota teammate, points leader and former world champion Doug Kalitta in the semifinals.
Kalitta, the eventual race winner, had a solid 3.805-second pass at 332.59 mph that turned on his winlight. The SCAG machine put cylinders out early and didn’t quite have enough with a 3.931 pass at 310.41.
“There were a lot of positives to take out of this weekend for this SCAG Toyota team. We ran very well at times. All of that data we are accumulating is important down the stretch. We’d like to lean on that when conditions are similar to what we’ve seen before,” Ashley said. “Our hats off to Doug. That’s drag racing. But we’re feeling great about our program and have so much to smile about. Dallas can’t come soon enough. Our SCAG Power Equipment Toyota team will be ready.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series continues with the Stampede of Speed and the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex October 10-12, the fourth of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.
The post DANIEL WILKERSON AND JUSTIN ASHLEY REACH SEMIFINALS AT NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS appeared first on Justin Ashley Racing.
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