The third time was the charm for Mike Ashley, whose Topeka final round marked three finals in two seasons.

Ashley drove his Torco/Skull Gear Dodge Charger to his first career win with a 4.896 at 310.70 over Jim Head, who drove his Head Racing Toyota Solara to a 4.918 at 308.50.

“I’ve won lots of races in the Pro Modified division,” said Ashley, a two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion. “But nothing compares to winning an NHRA POWERade national event. This is terrific. That is mainly because the competition is so fierce in this class.

“I just put this team together at the beginning of the year and we’re already third in the points. I say this a lot, but I am a dreamer. This is a dream for me and I encourage anyone who shares the dream to go for it. That’s what we had to do and we stuck with it.”

The third time was the charm for Mike Ashley, whose Topeka final round marked three finals in two seasons.

Ashley drove his Torco/Skull Gear Dodge Charger to his first career win with a 4.896 at 310.70 over Jim Head, who drove his Head Racing Toyota Solara to a 4.918 at 308.50.

“I’ve won lots of races in the Pro Modified division,” said Ashley, a two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion. “But nothing compares to winning an NHRA POWERade national event. This is terrific. That is mainly because the competition is so fierce in this class.

“I just put this team together at the beginning of the year and we’re already third in the points. I say this a lot, but I am a dreamer. This is a dream for me and I encourage anyone who shares the dream to go for it. That’s what we had to do and we stuck with it.”

Ashley said he felt a win was coming, but couldn’t prepare for the enormity of the moment.

“I don’t know what emotion to exhibit next,” Ashley said. “I don’t know whether I should laugh, cry, eat, drink or smoke a cigar. I don’t know what I should do next. I just know I need to savor this moment because they don’t come around too often.”

Ashley had an inkling that it was going to be his day when he stopped Del Worsham in the first round. In eight head-to-head meetings since his 2005 Funny Car debut, Ashley hadn’t beaten Worsham.

Not only did he beat Worsham, Ashley laid down the low elapsed time of eliminations with a 4.793.

Ashley went on to beat Ashley Force in the second round and Jack Beckman in the semis.

“I really feel like we have a winning team,” Ashley said. “We have been consistent and competitive. If you look at our car, we’ve made it down the track a lot of times fast. We have a good testing program and that’s what has paid off.”

ASHLEY’S INSPIRATION

Ashley said it was good-natured ribbing that started the whole snowball effect of motivation rolling.

Ashley crossed paths with Chuck Worsham prior to eliminations and he pointed out an exchange served as bulletin board material.

“I told Chuck that I wished I could meet them in the final round,” Ashley said. “Let’s face it Del has beaten me every time we have raced. He looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, I have to be honest, we get a good night’s sleep when we know we have to race you the next day.

“I thought that was a little bit of a dig. I thought through karma that he just stabbed himself in the chest. I knew I won the race then. There were no hard feelings. I just knew he was toast from that point on.”

Ashley wants to clearly point out that the incident was all in fun. He has the utmost respect for the Worshams.

“I love Del Worsham and his whole team. He and Chuck Worsham are two of the best people you’ll ever meet. They did a lot for me and helped me to get started they are a class act.

“They just motivated me today.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Jim Head’s last win at Topeka came in 1996 as a Top Fuel driver.