ENNIS, TX – Looking to become the first Top Fuel driver to win three NHRA Texas Fall Nationals titles in a row Justin Ashley brought the Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster powered by Phillips Connect into eliminations with high hopes. As the No. 6 qualifier on the strength of his 3.661 second, 336.20 mph run Ashley matched up with veteran Clay Millican in a tough first round match-up between Countdown championship contenders. The team owner and driver was bringing momentum from a strong final round of qualifying pass that saw him earn a qualifying bonus point as one of the three quickest Top Fuel dragsters of the final session.

The Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster rolled up for the first round against Millican as the final pair of Top Fuel dragsters to open race day. In a wild first round several top contenders dropped races on a cool and quick Texas Motorplex all-concrete racetrack. Ashley continued his domination on the starting line getting a great start with a .037 second reaction time as his 11,000-horsepower race car launched off the line. As he accelerated his Goodyear slicks briefly overpowered the track while Millican was on a smooth run beside him. The momentary loss of traction robbed Ashley of critical momentum and allowed Millican to move in front. At the finish line stripe Millican earned the win light and Ashley turned his attention to getting ready for the Nevada Nationals in two weeks.

“We just missed it a little on that first run,” said Ashley, a six-time Top Fuel winner in 2023. “We are going to learn from this weekend and get ready for Las Vegas. Our Leatherwood Distillery Top Fuel dragster powered by Phillips Connect did some really good things in Dallas that we can take with us and apply moving forward. We’re excited to get back to work.”

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PLAINVIEW, NY – Heading into one of the biggest races of the NHRA Countdown, Maynard Ashley Racing is proud to welcome a new associate marketing partner, Leatherwood Distillery, to its roster. Leatherwood Distillery branding will take over Justin Ashley’s Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster, his uniforms, his firesuit and his helmet at the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex, just south of Dallas, Texas.

“The partnership brings together two of my favorite things – sipping Tennessee bourbon and watching Justin Ashley’s Top Fuel dragster blast down the track,” said Joe Maynard, team owner, JCM Racing and partner in Leatherwood Distillery. “I’m really excited about what Leatherwood Distillery is doing and what they represent. I couldn’t be prouder to introduce this brand to the NHRA community at the Dallas race during the Stampede of Speed and NHRA Texas Fall Nationals. We got off to a great start in St. Louis with Tony Schumacher and Tim Wilkerson and we are excited to add Justin to the mix for the Dallas NHRA national event.”

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ST. LOUIS – Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster raced to the quarterfinals today and will enter the back half of the NHRA Countdown firmly in the Top Fuel championship chase. The fourth-year team owner and driver is 77 points out of first place with races in Dallas, Las Vegas and Pomona remaining on the schedule. This weekend at the NHRA Midwest Nationals Ashley powered his way to race day as the No. 4 qualifier and a first round match up with veteran TJ Zizzo.

The last and only previous time Ashley raced Zizzo was at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2020 when the two drivers were each vying for their first professional Top Fuel win. Ashley took top honors on the way to Rookie of the Year honors in that race. Today was another wire-to-wire win for the now 11-time Top Fuel winner. Ashley was first off the line and made a smooth run to victory in front of Zizzo’s tire smoking 11,000-horsepower land rocket.

“You really have to go one round and one race at a time,” said Ashley. “On race day qualifying is in the past and we’re focused on the future. We’re doing the best we can, but we know this will be a long fight and an absolute battle. The countdown competition is so good you have to be at your best every run.

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PLAINVIEW, NY – Throughout the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team have been singularly focused on consistency and excellence. That focus has not changed after two unusually early exits for the team that led the points most of the season and won a class leading six races in the regular season. There was a stretch in the first half of the season when the team was experiencing some up and down results, but they never lost faith and finished the final nine races of the regular season with four wins, a runner-up and two semifinal finishes to secure the No. 1 seed for the Countdown.

“We faced some adversity in the early part of the season when we would either win or get knocked out of a race early,” said Ashley, an 11-time Top Fuel winner. “We worked through that by simply trusting the process and trusting one another. The same principles apply now. We are a championship team that is facing a small bit of adversity. These tests are good and it’s how we respond that will make all the difference. We are focused on St. Louis and the first qualifying session on Friday night. A quick run to start the Midwest Nationals will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
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CHARLOTTE, NC – The Countdown has long been recognized by regular season Top Fuel champion Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster team as a marathon and not a sprint. After an early exit today at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, Ashley who will leave the second race of the Countdown in third place is eager to hit his stride next weekend at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis. Coming into race day Ashley was qualified No. 7 after opening qualifying as the No. 3 Top Fuel dragster, collecting a qualifying bonus point on Friday night for his 3.698 second pass at 331.61 mph.

“We felt really good coming out of qualifying,” said Ashley, a six-time Top Fuel winner in 2023. “Mike Green and Tommy DeLago do an excellent job with this Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster week in and week out.”

In the opening round Ashley had lane choice over No. 8 qualifier Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart Racing backed dragster. The team had to wait for the entire Top Fuel field to run before they were able to make their first pass. Both lanes appeared to be even with winners coming from the right and left side of the Christmas Tree.

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PLAINVIEW, NY – With five races remaining in the 2023 NHRA Countdown Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team are in a tight battle for their first world championship. Throughout the season Ashley held either the No. 1 or No. 2 position in the Top Fuel point standings and heading into the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year, is just seven points off the lead. Three rounds of qualifying and a solid race day could propel Ashley back into the points lead and the fourth-year pro is focused on taking it one round at a time.

“Our Phillips Connect Toyota team performed very well at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in Reading last weekend,” said Ashley, who finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed. “We came up just short in a close race but gathered a lot of data and information that we can apply in Charlotte. We’re looking at each round in its own sphere and trying to regain our number one position in points as a result.”

During the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series regular season Ashley raced to six Top Fuel wins and seven final rounds. He also picked up wins at six Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges throughout the season. The number of win lights Ashley turned on in both events made him the category leader and gave the driver who has finished fourth in the Top Fuel point standings the previous two years’ experience and perspective coming into the playoffs in 2023.

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READING, PA – Entering the 2023 NHRA Countdown as the No. 1 seed Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota team ran to the No. 1 qualifier position at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals. On Friday night Ashley posted the quickest time of two days of qualifying, a solid 3.687 second pass and went into race day with a first round match up against No. 16 qualifier Scott Farley. Ashley picked up three qualifying bonus points and had lane choice over Farley.

The NHRA moved the start time for the race up to 9:30 a.m. ET and Ashley’s team was ready to go when they pulled up to the water box. The Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team fired up and began their pre-race routine, but Farley’s team was unable to fire their 11,000-horsepowered Top Fuel dragster. Ashley was awarded a competition bye. The six-time winner this season launched and powered down the left lane before he hazed the tires and coasted across the finish line for the win light with a 6.496 second pass at 91.75 mph.

The win propelled Ashley to a race with the eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher. This season Ashley was 3-0 in his head-to-head races against Schumacher, but he gave up lane choice in the second round. When the dragsters launched it was Schumacher getting off the line first, but Ashley was right beside him flying down the track. Unfortunately, the starting line deficit was too much to overcome and Ashley’s quicker 3.707 second run wasn’t enough to get to the stripe first. At the top end Ashley was complimentary of his opponent but also focused on the overall goals for the team.

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READING, PA – On Friday night Top Fuel point leader Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster ran to the top of the field with a strong 3.687 second pass at 335.57 mph. Today at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals they held off a furious charge from several drivers to officially qualify No. 1 at the first race of the Countdown playoffs. Ashley earned three qualifying bonus points for his Friday night effort and moves into race day with a 33-point lead over Steve Torrence.

“We feel great. Obviously qualifying well is important,” said Ashley, who has three No. 1 qualifiers in 2023. “Once race day comes, it’s kind of all behind you. You’re trying to put yourself in the best position to win the race on Sunday and I feel like we accomplished that. We went down the track three out of four times. We feel good about the position that we’ve put ourselves in coming into this race and for the remainder of the countdown.

Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team made three consecutive quality runs after their first run of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals was too aggressive for the Maple Grove Raceway track. The ability to bounce back and set themselves up for success on race day has become a hallmark for the Maynard Ashley Racing team.

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PLAINVIEW, NY – Throughout the NHRA regular season Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota team were focused on consistency and excellence with the goal of entering the Countdown as the No. 1 seed. This weekend Ashley, who secured a category leading six regular season wins, will start the six race playoffs as the team to beat and with the largest lead in the Countdown era thanks to team’s success in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge specialty races. Ashley will have a 31-point cushion over the No. 2 seed going into the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.

“We accomplished everything we wanted to in the regular season but that is behind us now,” said Ashley, whose previous best playoff seed was No. 3 last year. “We wanted to go into the Countdown as the No. 1 seed and collect a large number of Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge championship points. We feel good about that but understand that at this point in time our focus is solely on being successful in Reading.”

Ashley finished the final four races of the regular season with two wins and two semifinal finishes. The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year won back-to-back in Sonoma and Topeka before racing to the final four in Brainerd and Indianapolis, losing to eventual winner Antron Brown at the biggest race of the year. Ashley’s seven final rounds and six wins in the regular season are both career best marks and have the fourth-year team owner and driver confident but cautious.

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Top Fuel points leader came to the 69th NHRA U.S. Nationals with two goals in mind. The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year and championship contender wanted to win the race and hold onto the Top Fuel point lead heading into the Countdown as the No. 1 seed. Through three days of qualifying the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team Ashley and his Mike Green and Tommy DeLago tuned 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster made four quality runs and picked up another Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win and secured the No. 3 qualifier position.

“Obviously we wanted to win this race,” said Ashley, a six-time winner in 2023. “We wanted to win this race bad, but we also have a healthy understanding of the regular season is over. We accomplished our goal. We’re going into the playoffs as the number one seed and we feel good about that.”

In the first round Ashley faced veteran Doug Foley. True to form Ashley was first off the starting line and he never trailed in the race. It was a close race and Foley made his quickest and fastest run of the weekend in a losing effort. Ashley’s winning time of 3.719 seconds at 333.41 mph was enough to advance him to the second round against Leah Pruett.

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