NORWALK, Ohio (June 29, 2025) – Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team battled to victory Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. SCAG Racing Funny Car teammates, Daniel Wilkerson in the SCAG Ford Mustang and Dave Richards in the BlueBird Turf / Versatran Mustang, each had quarterfinal finishes.
In his third consecutive final round, sixth of the season which includes a final quad appearance at the Las Vegas Four-Wide that earned him semifinal points, Ashley had a stellar .027 second reaction time coupled with a 3.931-second, 317.34 mph pass to defeat Clay Millican on a holeshot. Millican had a .089 reaction time with a 3.922, 322.34 pass.
“This is very exciting, Norwalk means a lot to me personally, my father won in Funny Car here in 2007 and ever since we started racing in Top Fuel, it was a dream of mine to win right here and that’s what we did today,” Ashley said. “It’s special. And the team did a great job all weekend long qualifying No. 1, navigating our way down the racetrack all race day long on a surface that was hot, slippery and very tricky. The teams who win these races are the ones that can go A to B, and that’s what we did today. I’m just glad it worked out and I’m really proud of Mike Green, Tommy DeLago and our whole team. They deserve this win and I’m happy that I could be along for the ride.”
This is Ashley’s second win of the season, 17th of his Top Fuel career and his 30th Top Fuel final round. He entered race day as the No. 1 qualifier for the first time this season.
In the first round, Ashley took down Scott Farley with a 3.880-second pass at 318.39 mph while Farley had tire smoke for a 4.872 run at 190.83. Ashley then took down Josh Hart in a clean side-by-side drag race. The SCAG machine crossed the finish line in 3.902 seconds at 318.47 mph to Hart’s 3.976 at 320.28.
In the semifinals it would be a rematch of the Virginia Nationals final round with Shawn Langdon. Ashley and Langdon would have identical .051 second reaction times but Langdon put holes out for a 4.008 second pass at 310.41 mph that wasn’t enough for Ashley’s 3.935 at 317.57.
Qualified No. 11, Richards started race day lined up against Alexis DeJoria in the first round. DeJoria pedaled her way to a 4.703-second pass at 225.52 mph, but it wasn’t enough for Richards who muscled the BlueBird Turf machine to a 4.196 at 280.60 after it dropped cylinders down track.
In his second quarterfinal finish of the season, ninth of his career, Richards faced three-time world champion Ron Capps. The BlueBird machine was up in smoke at the hit for a 7.904-second pass at 94.60 mph. Capps ran the lowest elapsed time of the round at 4.005-seconds and 322.65 mph for the win.
“Overall, we still finished the weekend strong,” said Richards who had an explosion during qualifying on Saturday afternoon. “After having a crazy day on Saturday, tearing a bunch of stuff up, I’m really proud of my whole team for busting their butts to get the car fixed. They were ready for that last qualifying session and it was impressive.
“We ran good first round and we’re building on things,” Richards continued. “We’re bummed we didn’t’ get it done against Capps but we’re getting better and better. We’re going to keep on that upward trend, stay consistent going down the racetrack. It’s coming together.”
Wilkerson, who is coming off a second consecutive Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory, qualified No. 8 for a marquee matchup against Spencer Hyde in the first round. Wilkerson had a stout run at 3.967 seconds and 324.20 mph, the quickest pass of the session, while Hyde was up in tire smoke and had to coast to a 7.546 at only 80.34.
In the second round, Wilkerson handed Cruz Pedregon a round win after being too quick at the starting line to go -.148 red. He would watch as Pedregon smoked the tires almost immediately coasting to an 8.864-second pass at 85.01.
“That was by far the biggest mistake I’ve made in my driving career,” Wilkerson said. “This whole team was positive we had the car to beat this weekend, and I let them all down. I’m so disappointed for SCAG, Summit, Ford and everyone that has a hand in helping us. We have an excellent machine, and we will be right back at it in Seattle.”
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season continues with the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington just outside of Seattle, July 18-20.
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In his third consecutive final round, sixth of the season which includes a final quad appearance at the Las Vegas Four-Wide that earned him semifinal points, Ashley had a stellar .027 second reaction time coupled with a 3.931-second, 317.34 mph pass to defeat Clay Millican on a holeshot. Millican had a .089 reaction time with a 3.922, 322.34 pass.
“This is very exciting, Norwalk means a lot to me personally, my father won in Funny Car here in 2007 and ever since we started racing in Top Fuel, it was a dream of mine to win right here and that’s what we did today,” Ashley said. “It’s special. And the team did a great job all weekend long qualifying No. 1, navigating our way down the racetrack all race day long on a surface that was hot, slippery and very tricky. The teams who win these races are the ones that can go A to B, and that’s what we did today. I’m just glad it worked out and I’m really proud of Mike Green, Tommy DeLago and our whole team. They deserve this win and I’m happy that I could be along for the ride.”
This is Ashley’s second win of the season, 17th of his Top Fuel career and his 30th Top Fuel final round. He entered race day as the No. 1 qualifier for the first time this season.
In the first round, Ashley took down Scott Farley with a 3.880-second pass at 318.39 mph while Farley had tire smoke for a 4.872 run at 190.83. Ashley then took down Josh Hart in a clean side-by-side drag race. The SCAG machine crossed the finish line in 3.902 seconds at 318.47 mph to Hart’s 3.976 at 320.28.
In the semifinals it would be a rematch of the Virginia Nationals final round with Shawn Langdon. Ashley and Langdon would have identical .051 second reaction times but Langdon put holes out for a 4.008 second pass at 310.41 mph that wasn’t enough for Ashley’s 3.935 at 317.57.
Qualified No. 11, Richards started race day lined up against Alexis DeJoria in the first round. DeJoria pedaled her way to a 4.703-second pass at 225.52 mph, but it wasn’t enough for Richards who muscled the BlueBird Turf machine to a 4.196 at 280.60 after it dropped cylinders down track.
In his second quarterfinal finish of the season, ninth of his career, Richards faced three-time world champion Ron Capps. The BlueBird machine was up in smoke at the hit for a 7.904-second pass at 94.60 mph. Capps ran the lowest elapsed time of the round at 4.005-seconds and 322.65 mph for the win.
“Overall, we still finished the weekend strong,” said Richards who had an explosion during qualifying on Saturday afternoon. “After having a crazy day on Saturday, tearing a bunch of stuff up, I’m really proud of my whole team for busting their butts to get the car fixed. They were ready for that last qualifying session and it was impressive.
“We ran good first round and we’re building on things,” Richards continued. “We’re bummed we didn’t’ get it done against Capps but we’re getting better and better. We’re going to keep on that upward trend, stay consistent going down the racetrack. It’s coming together.”
Wilkerson, who is coming off a second consecutive Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory, qualified No. 8 for a marquee matchup against Spencer Hyde in the first round. Wilkerson had a stout run at 3.967 seconds and 324.20 mph, the quickest pass of the session, while Hyde was up in tire smoke and had to coast to a 7.546 at only 80.34.
In the second round, Wilkerson handed Cruz Pedregon a round win after being too quick at the starting line to go -.148 red. He would watch as Pedregon smoked the tires almost immediately coasting to an 8.864-second pass at 85.01.
“That was by far the biggest mistake I’ve made in my driving career,” Wilkerson said. “This whole team was positive we had the car to beat this weekend, and I let them all down. I’m so disappointed for SCAG, Summit, Ford and everyone that has a hand in helping us. We have an excellent machine, and we will be right back at it in Seattle.”
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season continues with the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington just outside of Seattle, July 18-20.
The post JUSTIN ASHLEY AND SCAG TOYOTA TAKE HOME ICE CREAM SCOOP AT SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT MOTORSPORTS PARK appeared first on Justin Ashley Racing.
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