JUSTIN ASHLEY EAGER FOR FIRST RACE SUCCESS IN ST. LOUIS 

Madison, IL – This weekend NHRA Rookie of the Year top contender Justin Ashley will have another brand new experience as he makes his first trip to World Wide Technology Raceway as a Top Fuel competitor. The rising NHRA star recently won his first Top Fuel title at the NHRA Summernationals and he is currently in the Top Five in the Mello Yello Top Fuel point standings. The AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals will be another chance for the Melville, New York second generation driver to continue to establish himself as an elite racer.

“I am looking forward to St. Louis because I have never raced there in any categories,” said Ashley. “It will be a fun experience. I remember going there as a kid and I used to love sitting in those wrap around seats. I used to be in the stands at that race and I am looking forward to being on track this coming weekend. It has a stadium feel that a lot of places don’t have. St. Louis is a great facility and has really great fans.”

The NHRA tour has begun to reach out across the country after hosting four consecutive races at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis from July through Labor Day weekend. Ashley and his Strutmasters.com Top Fuel dragster powered by MANSCAPED™ team are eager to engage with NHRA fans that have been patiently waiting for live in-person racing action.

“It will be really nice to get to another NHRA market. You see all the fans in attendance it really is nice to be able to engage with them. At the end of the day that is what separates NHRA from every other sport,” said Ashley. “Every ticket really is a pit pass. To be able to see the fans to be able to be out here racing over 300 mph in our Strutmasters.com Auto Shocker Top Fuel dragster it is just awesome. The truth is we couldn’t do it without Chip Lofton and Strutmasters.  His support and the support of our marketing partners like Auto Shocker, MANSCAPED, Kato, Lucas Oil, King Engine Bearings, Justice Brothers, Sanit, Guardlab, Hero Soap Company, Menards and Impact have been second to none.”

The AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals will also be just the second time this season Ashley’s team has raced back to back weekends. For the young team the opportunity to stay in a racing groove is a welcome challenge. Last weekend Ashley’s team had an unusual early exit at the NHRA Gatornationals but heading to World Wide Technology Raceway the team is looking to make another move up the point standings.

“It is exciting to have back to back races. As young team that was really only supposed to be out here part time this season. The back to back races were going to be few and far between with the original schedule. Now we will race the whole season and what that does is it helps me as a driver get into a rhythm and more importantly it helps the team get into a rhythm. When you are able to go back to back to back it really means a lot in terms of working together and figuring out processes and procedures as opposed to one race a month,” explained Ashley.

The Strutmasters.com Top Fuel team will be on track for both qualifying sessions on Saturday and will be looking to turn on four win lights on race day.

Photos courtesy of Ron Lewis Photography for media use only.

2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Results

Pomona1, Qual. 11, Beat Shawn Langdon; Lost to Doug Kalitta

Phoenix, Qual. 5, Beat Scott Palmer; Lost to Antron Brown

Indy1, Qual. 9, Lost to Shawn Langdon

Indy2, Qual. 14, WINNER, Beat Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta, Leah Pruett and TJ Zizzo

Indy3, Qual. 10, Beat Antron Brown; Lost to Steve Torrence

Indy4, Qual. 13, Beat Billy Torrence, Doug Kalitta; Lost to Shawn Langdon

Gatornationals, Qual. 10, Lost to Shawn Langdon