INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 01, 2025) – Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team rallied to a dominate victory Sunday at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. It is Ashley’s first win at the ‘Big Go’, third of the 2025 season and 18th of his career. He wins the regular season finale 18 years after his father Mike Ashley won the prestigious event in Funny Car.
“I think I’m still processing everything. I’ve dreamed about this moment over and over and over again, and then to actually live it right now right here is truly special. you know, when you win Indy it’s just something that nobody can take away from you. The fact that my father won here 18 years ago and to have him here now and to win this event in Top Fuel, it really is special,” Ashley said. “It’s just different than any other race. I tried to do my best all day to just treat it as another race, because that probably is really the only thing you can do and not get caught up in the moment, but now, to step back, and to actually get that victory, you realize how truly incredible it actually is.”
Facing motorsports legend and regular season Top Fuel champion Tony Stewart in his sixth final of the season, Ashley, known for his exceptional skill on the Christmas tree, had a .027-second reaction time with a 3.839-second pass at 326.16 mph to defeat Stewart’s 3.815 pass at 321.88 and a .053 reaction time.
“I thought it was possible to win here like my father did, I mean anything’s possible, but to actually do it and to actually accomplish it. It is almost beyond words,” Ashley said. “As you start to go throughout the day; round one, round two, then all of a sudden you get to round three, and you think, well, maybe this is actually a possibility. Then you’re in the finals and only 1000 feet away from actually accomplishing history. Certainly thought it was possible, but to have actually done it, it’s on another level.”
Before getting to the finals, Ashley qualified No. 12 off a 3.757-second pass at 333.41 mph that earned him a first-round matchup against reigning and four-time world champion Antron Brown. Ashley combined a .036-second reaction time with a 3.721-second pass at 328.46 mph to take down Brown’s 3.706 at 333.66 and .062 reaction time. The win set Ashley up to race against former world champion Doug Kalitta in the quarterfinals.
Ashley and the SCAG Toyota left the starting line first but started to lose traction. Ashley had to pedal his way to a 4.087-second pass at 293.15 mph, luckily Kalitta lost traction early and couldn’t get his dragster hooked back up coasting to a 4.486 at 234.61. The pedal job earned Ashley a semifinal race against underdog favorite Tripp Tatum.
Ashley would once again leave the starting line first for a clean 3.808-second pass at 327.74 mph. Tatum wouldn’t be so lucky, driving into tire smoke almost immediately ending his day with an 8.317 pass at 86.04.
“It’s no secret, we’ve struggled a little bit the last few races, but we made some pretty drastic changes to the car. I approach each and every race the same way with the expectation to win, and it’s easy to do that when you have the kind of team that we do with Mike and Tommy and Dustin and the guys,” said Ashley referencing a first round loss in Brainerd, Minnesota that came after back-to-back quarterfinal exits. “I always have confidence in the guys, but it certainly meant a full field challenge today having to go through Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, Tripp Tatum, and then Tony Stewart, we’ve all heard of that guy, he’s supposed to be a pretty good driver. So, it’s really cool.”
Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team end the regular season fourth in the Top Fuel points standings.
Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang entered race day from the No. 8 qualifying spot thanks to a 3.909-second pass at 326.40 mph. Wilkerson matched with veteran race Paul Lee in the first round. Wilkerson left the starting line first but a 3.934 pass at 330.96 mph wasn’t enough to get the win over Lee’s 3.912 at 321.42.
“I’m pretty bummed. We definitely had the car to beat Saturday through qualifying, but we weren’t racing Saturday,” Wilkerson said. “So, we will take what we learned from today and drag it over to Reading, Pennsylvania to hopefully whoop everybody’s butt there and contend for the championship. It’s the start of the Countdown and the right time for us to start making some moves. Have to thank all of SCAG, the dealers, employees and this whole team. It was a long weekend and I’m excited that Justin came out of it with the win.”
Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf Ford Mustang machine did not get the chance to flex their muscle during Monday eliminations at The Big Go. Richards, who had a promising test session ahead of the Labor Day weekend event, was unable to break into the 16-car field. His best run through five qualifying sessions was a 4.698-second pass at 208.65 mph after a 4.055-second run at 290.19 mph was thrown out because the BlueBird Turf Funny Car clipped a timing block on the centerline towards the end of the track.
“Man, I had really high expectations for this weekend, I think we all did, after testing and figuring things out, we thought this BlueBird machine was going to be right there with the rest of them,” Richards said. “We will keep our heads up and keep working hard. We’re going to test tomorrow and come back ready to go in Reading, Pennsylvania. We couldn’t do this without all the support from SCAG, the dealers and employees, we love having them out here, we wish we could have put on a better show for them, but I enjoyed watching with them from the pit box and being on the starting line for Justin’s win.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series continues with the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs. The Countdown begins in Reading, Pennsylvania at Maple Grove Raceway September 12-14 with the 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals.
The post JUSTIN ASHLEY AND SCAG TOYOTA WIN NHRA U.S. NATIONALS appeared first on Justin Ashley Racing.
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“I think I’m still processing everything. I’ve dreamed about this moment over and over and over again, and then to actually live it right now right here is truly special. you know, when you win Indy it’s just something that nobody can take away from you. The fact that my father won here 18 years ago and to have him here now and to win this event in Top Fuel, it really is special,” Ashley said. “It’s just different than any other race. I tried to do my best all day to just treat it as another race, because that probably is really the only thing you can do and not get caught up in the moment, but now, to step back, and to actually get that victory, you realize how truly incredible it actually is.”
Facing motorsports legend and regular season Top Fuel champion Tony Stewart in his sixth final of the season, Ashley, known for his exceptional skill on the Christmas tree, had a .027-second reaction time with a 3.839-second pass at 326.16 mph to defeat Stewart’s 3.815 pass at 321.88 and a .053 reaction time.
“I thought it was possible to win here like my father did, I mean anything’s possible, but to actually do it and to actually accomplish it. It is almost beyond words,” Ashley said. “As you start to go throughout the day; round one, round two, then all of a sudden you get to round three, and you think, well, maybe this is actually a possibility. Then you’re in the finals and only 1000 feet away from actually accomplishing history. Certainly thought it was possible, but to have actually done it, it’s on another level.”
Before getting to the finals, Ashley qualified No. 12 off a 3.757-second pass at 333.41 mph that earned him a first-round matchup against reigning and four-time world champion Antron Brown. Ashley combined a .036-second reaction time with a 3.721-second pass at 328.46 mph to take down Brown’s 3.706 at 333.66 and .062 reaction time. The win set Ashley up to race against former world champion Doug Kalitta in the quarterfinals.
Ashley and the SCAG Toyota left the starting line first but started to lose traction. Ashley had to pedal his way to a 4.087-second pass at 293.15 mph, luckily Kalitta lost traction early and couldn’t get his dragster hooked back up coasting to a 4.486 at 234.61. The pedal job earned Ashley a semifinal race against underdog favorite Tripp Tatum.
Ashley would once again leave the starting line first for a clean 3.808-second pass at 327.74 mph. Tatum wouldn’t be so lucky, driving into tire smoke almost immediately ending his day with an 8.317 pass at 86.04.
“It’s no secret, we’ve struggled a little bit the last few races, but we made some pretty drastic changes to the car. I approach each and every race the same way with the expectation to win, and it’s easy to do that when you have the kind of team that we do with Mike and Tommy and Dustin and the guys,” said Ashley referencing a first round loss in Brainerd, Minnesota that came after back-to-back quarterfinal exits. “I always have confidence in the guys, but it certainly meant a full field challenge today having to go through Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, Tripp Tatum, and then Tony Stewart, we’ve all heard of that guy, he’s supposed to be a pretty good driver. So, it’s really cool.”
Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team end the regular season fourth in the Top Fuel points standings.
Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang entered race day from the No. 8 qualifying spot thanks to a 3.909-second pass at 326.40 mph. Wilkerson matched with veteran race Paul Lee in the first round. Wilkerson left the starting line first but a 3.934 pass at 330.96 mph wasn’t enough to get the win over Lee’s 3.912 at 321.42.
“I’m pretty bummed. We definitely had the car to beat Saturday through qualifying, but we weren’t racing Saturday,” Wilkerson said. “So, we will take what we learned from today and drag it over to Reading, Pennsylvania to hopefully whoop everybody’s butt there and contend for the championship. It’s the start of the Countdown and the right time for us to start making some moves. Have to thank all of SCAG, the dealers, employees and this whole team. It was a long weekend and I’m excited that Justin came out of it with the win.”
Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf Ford Mustang machine did not get the chance to flex their muscle during Monday eliminations at The Big Go. Richards, who had a promising test session ahead of the Labor Day weekend event, was unable to break into the 16-car field. His best run through five qualifying sessions was a 4.698-second pass at 208.65 mph after a 4.055-second run at 290.19 mph was thrown out because the BlueBird Turf Funny Car clipped a timing block on the centerline towards the end of the track.
“Man, I had really high expectations for this weekend, I think we all did, after testing and figuring things out, we thought this BlueBird machine was going to be right there with the rest of them,” Richards said. “We will keep our heads up and keep working hard. We’re going to test tomorrow and come back ready to go in Reading, Pennsylvania. We couldn’t do this without all the support from SCAG, the dealers and employees, we love having them out here, we wish we could have put on a better show for them, but I enjoyed watching with them from the pit box and being on the starting line for Justin’s win.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series continues with the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs. The Countdown begins in Reading, Pennsylvania at Maple Grove Raceway September 12-14 with the 40th annual NHRA Reading Nationals.
The post JUSTIN ASHLEY AND SCAG TOYOTA WIN NHRA U.S. NATIONALS appeared first on Justin Ashley Racing.
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