POMONA, CA – The first season of the SCAG Racing, NHRA’s first factory team, came to a close Sunday at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip with Daniel Wilkerson’s quarterfinal exit and No. 7 points finish, Justin Ashley’s third place finish and Dave Richards’ 12th place finish.

Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team wrapped their 2024 NHRA Drag Racing Series season with a quarterfinal exit at the NHRA Finals. Their 3.926 pass at 206.88 would come up short to reigning world champion Matt Hagan’s 3.856 at 333.66.

Wilkerson started the day from the No. 12 position off a 3.903-second pass at 308.92 mph. His first round opponent was fellow Ford Mustang driver Bob Tasca III. Tasca would smoke the tires and pedal his Mustang to a 5.774 pass at 125.85 and watch Wilkerson drive off to a 3.910 at 333.08.

“For some reason I was insanely emotional this morning. I cried like a little baby during the anthem. I think the gravity of this being the last one of the year just kind of hit me all at once,” said Wilkerson who walks away from the 2024 season seventh in points. “I cannot believe the friendships I have made this season with new teammates, our PR team, Metalcraft of Mayville employees, SCAG dealers and distributors. This program is truly amazing for so many reasons beyond drag racing and our on track performance. I’m proud to be a part of it and I can’t wait to keep doing it for a long time to come. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Daniel Wilkerson took the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang team to the quarterfinals at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Justin Ashley and the SCAG Toyota Top Fuel team maintained their points lead with a second-round exit and despite bowing out in the first round, Dave Richards and the BlueBird / Versatran team have found some momentum and consistency.

Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Ford Mustang team qualified eleventh for the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals with a 3.924-second pass at 326.40 mph for a matchup with four-time reigning world champion Matt Hagan. Wilkerson would have a stout run at 3.869 and 328.62 to better Hagan’s 3.901 at 327.66 for the round win.

In the quarterfinals, Wilkerson lined up against Paul Lee. Lee would get the victory on a holeshot with a .071 second reaction time and 3.897 pass at 328.46 to Wilkerson’s .094 reaction-time with a 3.896 pass at 3328.62. The second-round exit puts Wilkerson seventh in the points standings with one event left in the season. Continue reading →

ENNIS, TX – The three-car SCAG Racing team will all compete on Sunday race day at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex after career best efforts from the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang of Daniel Wilkerson and the BlueBird / Versatran machine of Dave Richards and Justin Ashley’s SCAG Toyota Top Fuel dragster is in the show after making only one qualifying session.

For Richards and the BlueBird / Versatran team, their 3.991-second pass at 314.05 mph from Friday night was the first three-second run of the year for the team who are running their first full Mission Foods NRHA Drag Racing Series season. The BlueBird hot rod would improve in the Saturday afternoon heat to run a career-best elapsed time of 3.920 at 315.99. It was the best run for Richards since the 2016 Finals in Pomona, California when he ran 3.975. Richards will start race day from the No. 12 spot and face three-time world champion Ron Capps in the first round.

“I’m David and everyone else in Goliath,” said Richards in reference to the decal they have on the window of their 12,000 horsepower Funny Car. “We’re just trying to keep up with everyone. We’ve never given up, just kept trying and digging. It just feels so good and so rewarding to see the results show up on the scoreboard like that. Everyone has been so patient with us, Randy Gloede and Maria Oldenburg, they believe is us. Even when we don’t run well, they still cheer us on and tell us to keep going. To be part of SCAG Racing is just so awesome. I knew we could do it and we’re going to keep improving. It feels good to know that we can run closer to the top of the pack, and it has us excited for race day. Our time is coming.”

Wilkerson and the SCAG Mustang team landed themselves in the No. 6 qualifying position after laying down a stout 3.871-second pass at 327.68 mph Friday night. It was a career best elapsed time for second generation driver whose previous best came at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte (3.885) earlier this season. Wilkerson kept the momentum going with a 3.949 pass at 299.40 mph during the middle of the day Saturday that earned him two qualifying bonus points for being second quickest of the session. He will take on Alexis DeJoria in the first round of eliminations.

“It was pretty special to run a career best after a couple of tough races for this SCAG Mustang team,” Wilkerson said. “We have been putting a ton of work in back at the shop and it feels awesome to see it pay off under the cover of darkness at the Stampede Speed here at the Texas Motorplex. To follow it up with a couple bonus points on Saturday was icing on the cake.”

In Top Fuel, Ashley and the SCAG Toyota team made only one qualifying run Friday afternoon and went 3.778 seconds at 326.02 mph. Ashley and his team sat out the rest of qualifying for him to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays. Their efforts in the first session put them in the No. 12 spot and set them up for a monster first round match up against points leader Antron Brown in the first round. Ashley entered the weekend sitting No. 2 in points, only 34 back from Brown.

“Yeah, that SCAG Toyota had a really good run in that first session. I mean that was the idea, we accomplished what we wanted to there, which is go A to B. We gave ourselves a good chance to make the show, I felt good about that,” Ashley said. “The session that we were most worried about was Friday night, but as far as we were concerned the script was already written, we’re just living it out. I’m glad we’ll be back Sunday morning to race but we were going to live with the consequences of putting family and faith first, whatever they may have been. Either way I’m proud of this team.”

Competition for the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, race four of six in the Countdown to the Championship, continues with eliminations Sunday at noon. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a qualifying show Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET and an eliminations show at 4:00 p.m. ET.

JUSTIN ASHLEY, SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster

Qualifying: No. 12

3.778 seconds, 326.02 mph

DANIEL WILKERSON, SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car

Qualifying: No. 06

3.871 seconds, 327.68 mph

DAVE RICHARDS, BlueBird Turf / Versatran Funny Car

Qualifying: No. 12

3.920 seconds, 315.99 mph

CONCORD, NC – Daniel Wilkerson and Justin Ashley take SCAG Power Equipment to the quarterfinals at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway while Dave Richards and the BlueBird Turf / Versatran team had a strong first round showing.

Daniel Wilkerson and the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang Funny Car team had a bit of a breakthrough at the Carolina Nationals. Coming into the day qualified No. 9, Wilkerson had a first-round matchup against former champion J.R. Todd. Wilkerson would get the job done on a holeshot leaving in .017 seconds and finishing with a 3.984 at 314.46 while Todd had a .066 reaction time and 3.945 at 321.50.

In the second round, Wilkerson had a solid drag race against veteran Jack Beckman. The SCAG Mustang would leave the starting line first but a 4.004-second pass at 317.64 mph couldn’t catch Beckman’s 3.937 at 323.35.

“I told my SCAG guys when we got back I would have paid for that package. That was nothing to hang our heads about. We got our race car back this weekend,” Wilkerson said. “It wnet down the track every run, the guys are putting it together correctly, and we have something we can tune on. So, I am very proud of these SCAG Ford boys and I’m excited for St. Louis in just a few days. Thank you to SCAG, Metalcraft of Mayville, Ford, Summit, all our partners, hopefully we keep this rolling.” Continue reading →