READING, Pa. (Sept. 14, 2023) – Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team claimed the No.1 qualifying position Saturday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Ashley and the SCAG Toyota team earned their fifth No.1. of the season off a stout 3.713-second run at 333.49 mph from Friday evening. The team, who is sitting No. 2 in the points standings, started qualifying at the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, with a solid 3.799 pass at 327.11 that was third quickest of the Top Fuel pack.
“I think we did a good job during Q1 of positioning ourselves to a point where we could be a little more aggressive in Q2,” Ashley said. “That was the key. When you go out there that first run, you want to set that baseline so you have the ability to be a little more aggressive and go after that No. 1 spot.”
On Saturday, Ashley finished out qualifying with a 3.786-second pass at 326.00 mph that was second quickest of the session and a 3.753 at 329.42 to be quickest of the final qualifying session. In total, Ashley earned nine bonus qualifying points for being in the top three of each session.
“For the most part, today’s focus was going to be on getting ready for raceday and collecting those bonus points. What we saw today was probably similar conditions to what we’ll see tomorrow. I think the team learned a lot; they did a great job to be able to collect all those bonus points. Tomorrow is a brand-new day. It’s really important to qualify No. 1, but at the same time the competition is just so good right now, anything can happen.
With their No. 1 spot, Ashley and his SCAG Toyota dragster, who are looking for their fourth win of the season, will start race day with a matchup against No. 16 qualifier Smax Smith.
“I don’t care whether you qualify No. 1, No. 16 or somewhere in between the competition is just legitimately that good but Mike Green, Tommy DeLago and Dustin Davis are doing a great job and we’ll just come out here tomorrow and try to do it again,” Ashley said. “For everybody at SCAG Power Equipment, Philips, Toyota, KATO, Impact, all our dealers and distributors that are with us this weekend, we cannot do any of this without you so, thank you guys for all that you do. I’m grateful for Randy, Maria and Scott with SCAG and Metalcraft of Mayville.”
In Funny Car, Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team started the weekend with their best run of qualifying at 3.955-seconds and 326.48 mph Friday afternoon to put them No. 10. Wilkerson had another solid run in Saturday’s early session going 3.973 at 319. Wilkerson will face veteran Cruz Pedregon in the first round.
Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran Funny Car team opened their weekend with a 4.091 second pass at 264.70 mph and improved to a 4.038 at 301.27 Saturday during the third session. They closed out qualifying with a 4.077 at 276.29. Richards will start eliminations from No. 13 and face Bob Tasca III in the first round.
Competition at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway continues with eliminations Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Television coverage of the event will continue with a second qualifying show Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations coverage will begin Sunday at either 2:00 p.m. ET or 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX), check your local listings to confirm timing.
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