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LAS VEGAS - NHRA POWERade Funny Car driver Mike Ashley scored his first round win during last year's fall race hosted by The Strip at Las Vegas. The second-year driver of the Knoll Gas - Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger would love nothing more than to take it a step further with a national event victory in Las Vegas - a town that has the ability make some cheer with enthusiasm and others scratch their heads wondering what went wrong.
Ashley will readily tell you that he reached his quota of confusion a long time ago, and from this point on, he intends to win and win big. A win in Las Vegas would be huge.
Ashley chalks up his confidence headed into this weekend’s NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas to experience - something he longed for in the early days of his career and cherishes at the twilight of his first full season.
"I would say the largest attribute for me over last season has been experience," Ashley said. "That experience has come from not only being behind the wheel but also staying in tune with the crew and of course, my crewchief Brian Corradi. The guy is amazing and is incredible when it comes to relaying information to me about the car. When you look at where we were at in Denver with this brand new team and now, there's a world of difference. There's no substitute for experience but I feel being surrounded with the group of talented individuals we have under this umbrella - I have been able to jump onto the fast track."
Corradi has been one of the brightest spots in Ashley's development as a front-running driver. The veteran tuner expects a great weekend of racing for the fans.
"Normally the air in Las Vegas is really dry," Corradi said. "The temperatures for this weekend are supposed to be in the 60s and 70s - which should be really good for us. You have to deal with a little bit of elevation and that's not really hard to deal with.
"We make a lot of power in Vegas and it's a good smooth track so we are able to capitalize on it. That is contingent on the temperatures being conducive to what we want.
"The last two venues on the tour [Dallas, Richmond] were really difficult, Corradi said. "Normally the cars are really all close with blower and five-ten thousandths on the gasket. The last two races - the air was so great - that you couldn't take enough power away from the thing. That makes the motor real snappy. A motor is real hard to deal with when it is snappy. It changes your clutch wear and how the engine responds is important to how the clutch responds. Normally, it is all really close - 1500 - 2000 feet. You should see a lot of 4.70s there."
Ashley is a forward thinker but even the New York mortgage banker can't help but look back to last year's event.
"That was a special time for me," Ashley said. "We needed that round win more for confidence and it created a great deal of it. I knew I still needed plenty of laps to get to where I needed to be - but it felt good. We had competed in one too many races to qualify for 2006 rookie of the year program, so winning that round against Robert Hight was our validation."
Gotham City Racing is fully sponsored by Knoll Gas Torco Race Fuels, the largest independently owned race fuel manufacturer. Knol Gas Torco Race Fuels has a full line of racing gasoline including methanol and nitromethane. Their full product line of additives is complimented by SKULL Gear -- an innovative and trendy clothing line. Products can be purchased by calling 1-800-67-TORCO or by visiting their website: http://www.torcoracingfuels.com/
Mike Ashley's Gotham City Racing is also sponsored by:
* Oakley - http://www.oakley.com/
* Optima Aluminum Trailers - http://www.optimatrailers.com/
* Lend America - http://www.lendamerica.com/
* Impact Racing - http://www.impactraceproducts.com/
* Knoll Gas Motorsports - http://www.torco.com/
* SKULL Shine - http://www.torco.com/
* SKULL H2O - http://www.torco.com/
ASHLEY RETURNS TO VEGAS READY TO WIN THE JACKPOT;
Corradi expects a plethora of 4.70s
Corradi expects a plethora of 4.70s
LAS VEGAS - NHRA POWERade Funny Car driver Mike Ashley scored his first round win during last year's fall race hosted by The Strip at Las Vegas. The second-year driver of the Knoll Gas - Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger would love nothing more than to take it a step further with a national event victory in Las Vegas - a town that has the ability make some cheer with enthusiasm and others scratch their heads wondering what went wrong.
Ashley will readily tell you that he reached his quota of confusion a long time ago, and from this point on, he intends to win and win big. A win in Las Vegas would be huge.
Ashley chalks up his confidence headed into this weekend’s NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas to experience - something he longed for in the early days of his career and cherishes at the twilight of his first full season.
"I would say the largest attribute for me over last season has been experience," Ashley said. "That experience has come from not only being behind the wheel but also staying in tune with the crew and of course, my crewchief Brian Corradi. The guy is amazing and is incredible when it comes to relaying information to me about the car. When you look at where we were at in Denver with this brand new team and now, there's a world of difference. There's no substitute for experience but I feel being surrounded with the group of talented individuals we have under this umbrella - I have been able to jump onto the fast track."
Corradi has been one of the brightest spots in Ashley's development as a front-running driver. The veteran tuner expects a great weekend of racing for the fans.
"Normally the air in Las Vegas is really dry," Corradi said. "The temperatures for this weekend are supposed to be in the 60s and 70s - which should be really good for us. You have to deal with a little bit of elevation and that's not really hard to deal with.
"We make a lot of power in Vegas and it's a good smooth track so we are able to capitalize on it. That is contingent on the temperatures being conducive to what we want.
"The last two venues on the tour [Dallas, Richmond] were really difficult, Corradi said. "Normally the cars are really all close with blower and five-ten thousandths on the gasket. The last two races - the air was so great - that you couldn't take enough power away from the thing. That makes the motor real snappy. A motor is real hard to deal with when it is snappy. It changes your clutch wear and how the engine responds is important to how the clutch responds. Normally, it is all really close - 1500 - 2000 feet. You should see a lot of 4.70s there."
Ashley is a forward thinker but even the New York mortgage banker can't help but look back to last year's event.
"That was a special time for me," Ashley said. "We needed that round win more for confidence and it created a great deal of it. I knew I still needed plenty of laps to get to where I needed to be - but it felt good. We had competed in one too many races to qualify for 2006 rookie of the year program, so winning that round against Robert Hight was our validation."
Gotham City Racing is fully sponsored by Knoll Gas Torco Race Fuels, the largest independently owned race fuel manufacturer. Knol Gas Torco Race Fuels has a full line of racing gasoline including methanol and nitromethane. Their full product line of additives is complimented by SKULL Gear -- an innovative and trendy clothing line. Products can be purchased by calling 1-800-67-TORCO or by visiting their website: http://www.torcoracingfuels.com/
Mike Ashley's Gotham City Racing is also sponsored by:
* Oakley - http://www.oakley.com/
* Optima Aluminum Trailers - http://www.optimatrailers.com/
* Lend America - http://www.lendamerica.com/
* Impact Racing - http://www.impactraceproducts.com/
* Knoll Gas Motorsports - http://www.torco.com/
* SKULL Shine - http://www.torco.com/
* SKULL H2O - http://www.torco.com/
