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MARTIN, Mich. -- Funny Car driver Mike Ashley continued to make good on a promise that more laps behind the wheel of his new Funny Car would generate better performances from the Knoll Gas - Torco Race Fuels team. Ashley, the popular drag racing New York mortgage banker, drove to his second consecutive semi-final finish at the Torco IHRA Northern Nationals in Martin, Michigan.
Ashley entered eliminations as the top qualifier for the first time in his career and backed up that accolade with the fastest-ever nitro Funny Car speed in IHRA history.
"This was an incredible weekend," Ashley said. "I feel fortunate that we had the opportunity to do well in front of our sponsor Evan Knoll and his hometown crowd. It was a pleasure to race over at the IHRA this weekend. We met a lot of great fans and that was something that provided that extra incentive.
"Brian Corradi and the team turned in an incredible performance. We are still a new team with this weekend being only our fourth outing together. The gains we make are tremendous with each outing. Everything we've done since Denver has helped us to continue scaling the mountain toward success. We will be at the top of the mountain soon."
Ashley established himself as the driver to beat with a 4.866, 311.99 during Friday's lone session. He was the quickest in two of the three qualifying sessions.
Ashley exhibited the same driving prowess during the first round of eliminations that enabled him to win two Pro Modified world championships.
Ashley posted the second quickest elapsed time and as fate would have it, he stopped the driver who was the quickest. A .02 holeshot and a 4.931, 304.32 provided enough cushion to score victory over Paul Lee.
Ashley was destined for a final round berth after grabbing a holeshot on Bob Gilbertson and leading for the first 330 feet. At that point, his car began to overpower the track and he was forced to lift.
"We're going to get that victory soon," Ashley said. "We learned a lot from this weekend and it can only help us down the road."
Mike Ashley's Gotham City Racing is also sponsored by:
* Oakley - www.Oakley.com
* Optima Aluminum Trailers - www.OptimaTrailers.com
* Lend America - www.LendAmerica.com
* Impact Racing - www.ImpactRaceProducts.com
* Knoll Gas Motorsports - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
* RPM Depot - www.RPMperformance.net
* SKULL Shine - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
* SKULL H2O - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
MIKE ASHLEY SCORES BACK-TO-BACK SEMI-FINAL FINISHES WITH TREMENDOUS IHRA SHOWING
MARTIN, Mich. -- Funny Car driver Mike Ashley continued to make good on a promise that more laps behind the wheel of his new Funny Car would generate better performances from the Knoll Gas - Torco Race Fuels team. Ashley, the popular drag racing New York mortgage banker, drove to his second consecutive semi-final finish at the Torco IHRA Northern Nationals in Martin, Michigan.
Ashley entered eliminations as the top qualifier for the first time in his career and backed up that accolade with the fastest-ever nitro Funny Car speed in IHRA history.
"This was an incredible weekend," Ashley said. "I feel fortunate that we had the opportunity to do well in front of our sponsor Evan Knoll and his hometown crowd. It was a pleasure to race over at the IHRA this weekend. We met a lot of great fans and that was something that provided that extra incentive.
"Brian Corradi and the team turned in an incredible performance. We are still a new team with this weekend being only our fourth outing together. The gains we make are tremendous with each outing. Everything we've done since Denver has helped us to continue scaling the mountain toward success. We will be at the top of the mountain soon."
Ashley established himself as the driver to beat with a 4.866, 311.99 during Friday's lone session. He was the quickest in two of the three qualifying sessions.
Ashley exhibited the same driving prowess during the first round of eliminations that enabled him to win two Pro Modified world championships.
Ashley posted the second quickest elapsed time and as fate would have it, he stopped the driver who was the quickest. A .02 holeshot and a 4.931, 304.32 provided enough cushion to score victory over Paul Lee.
Ashley was destined for a final round berth after grabbing a holeshot on Bob Gilbertson and leading for the first 330 feet. At that point, his car began to overpower the track and he was forced to lift.
"We're going to get that victory soon," Ashley said. "We learned a lot from this weekend and it can only help us down the road."
Mike Ashley's Gotham City Racing is also sponsored by:
* Oakley - www.Oakley.com
* Optima Aluminum Trailers - www.OptimaTrailers.com
* Lend America - www.LendAmerica.com
* Impact Racing - www.ImpactRaceProducts.com
* Knoll Gas Motorsports - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
* RPM Depot - www.RPMperformance.net
* SKULL Shine - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
* SKULL H2O - www.TorcoRacingFuels.com
