Seattle a learning experience for Ashley Sanford, Gelish TAD team

SEATTLE – Gelish/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster driver Ashley Sanford can chalk up the 29th annual ProtectTheHarvest.com NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil this weekend at Pacific Raceways to experience.

Sanford last raced her family-owned Gelish car in April, but the team made some minor changes for the Seattle race. They didn’t work out, and by the time Sanford and her team re-adjusted back, she lost on the first round on Saturday.

Still, Sanford was optimistic about what she and the team learned in Seattle.

“Coming into this weekend, we had really high expectations, but that’s every racer,” Sanford said. “Especially not racing in this car since April, we wanted to keep that fire alive. Obviously, having that time off and coming in here trying new things, it’s not all going got work out the way you want it to, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Sanford smoked the tires in her first two qualifying passes, and the Gelish team made some changes for the final session. The car didn’t respond, but Sanford was safely in the field because 11 cars were on the property for a 16-car ladder.

“The good thing about trying things out, we had an 11-car field, so we were able to play with that, and everything we did this weekend we get to take with us to races ahead,” Sanford said. “It’s a big learning experience.”

Sanford finally made a clean pass in the first round of eliminations, but facing No. 2 qualifier Joey Severance left no room for error. While Sanford made a run of 5.473 seconds at 257.73 mph, Severance won with a 5.225 at 276.07 mph.

The Seattle experience should help Sanford for her next scheduled race, the Toyota NHRA Nationals on Oct. 27-30 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. She follows that with three races in succession, the rain-delayed Las Vegas divisional race Nov. 2-3, the regular Las Vegas divisional on Nov. 3-6, and the Auto Club NHRA Finals on Nov. 10-13 in Pomona, Calif.

“We get to go back to Vegas in this car and run three events in 10 days since they rained out our last regional event,” Sanford said. “We have a chance to win three Wallys in 10 days, so that’s pretty exciting. When we were in Vegas, the car was running the best it’s ever been, so at least we know what’s next on the list for now. That’s what’s going to be on the agenda.

“That’s very exciting because Vegas has treated us better than any other track. For now, we get to watch the races and enjoy and go back to where it all began and be fans.”