ASHLEY BEATS ZIZZO IN BATTLE OF FIRST-TIME TOP FUEL FINALISTS TO COMPLETE JULY RAIN-OUT

Written by Susan Wade, photos by Burghardt Photos    Sat, 2020-09-05 19:00

 

Rookie Top Fuel driver Justin Ashley can expect a shipment of deep-dish pizzas from Chicago’s iconic Lou Malnati’s to his Long Island home soon.

His Saturday match-up with T.J. Zizzo – their completion of eliminations from the rain-interrupted Lucas Oil Summernationals July 19 at Indianapolis – crowned a first-time winner . . . with Chicago- vs. New York-style pizza on the line.

The two had made a friendly wager, and Ashley and his Strutmasters.com Dragster team for Davis Motorsports earned their free dinner during the final Top Fuel qualifying session for the Denso U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Ashley covered the 1,000-foot course in 3.958 seconds with a 267.96-mph speed. The engine in Zizzo’s Rust-Oleum Rocket let go with a fiery blast at the end of his 4.056-second, 276.75-mph effort.

“I’m going to have to hold back tears right now, because this is a dream come true for me, [a dream] for a very long time. Truth of the matter is this isn’t even about me. It’s about this team and all the people and all our awesome marketing partners who have supported us and allowed us to get to this point,” Ashley said.

He called the moment “very emotional for me. This is something that I dreamed about since I was a young kid. Just growing up around the race track, I knew that this was going to be an emotional moment that I pictured in my head over and over again. To actually be here right now means the world to me. The amazing thing is that it’s not even about me. It’s about these guys behind me, it’s about this Davis Motorsports team. They are the reason I’m here holding this Wally. This goes to them and to my parents for always believing in me. To Chip Lofton and the people who support us. Right now, I just need to take a deep breath, take the moment in and enjoy this one with the team. Make no mistakes, we need to regroup for tomorrow.”

His father, Mike Ashley, won the Funny Car final here in 2007, and the 25-year-old son said, “There’s no doubt about it – this trophy right here is for my father.”

He said his dad’s influence on him “almost makes me speechless. My dad means everything to me. This Wally right here is going in his office, because I would not be here today, I wouldn’t even be in the same ballpark, without him. He means everything to me. He’s my mentor, my role model. I try to model my whole life after him. This Wally right here is for him.”

The rookie earned the trophy in just his ninth start and said, “Every race we go to we expect to win, but at the same time, you want to be realistic about your expectations. We’ll head to the line and do the best that we can. Make no mistake, we are very fortunate and very grateful to be here standing with a Wally only nine races in when you’re racing against the best competition in the world. I’m well aware of that and I know for a fact that T.J.’s first win is around the corner. That’s coming soon.”

A dejected Zizzo said immediately afterward, “You know, I’m not at a loss for words very often. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy the team my dad and I have gathered. They work hard, regardless of the outcome. We know this is part of the outcome sometimes, right? But I’ve never been defeated with a fireball at the same time. I guess if you’re going to lose, you might as well do it spectacularly.

“It’s just all disappointing. We work awfully hard at this. People don’t know,” he said. “You sometimes wonder, you really do, ‘Why? Why do I spend time away from my kids, my wife, things that are dear to me?’ Sometimes I wonder that. It’s hard.”

He said he wasn’t sure if the timing of the final run, which came later in the evening than expected and took place after some track changes, had anything to do with his loss.

“No. I don’t know. We’re going to find out what broke,” he said. “I’m sure something broke to cause this thing to go ka-boom. It’s just disheartening.”

As for his own chances Sunday as the No. 13 starter, when he’ll open eliminations by facing No. 4 Billy Torrence, Ashley said, “I feel good, because these are definitely unique circumstances, for sure, having a race within a race. But I’m going to do everything we can to enjoy it, because I think it’s important. That’s why we’re out here. If we win, we need to enjoy it. We need to take it in and have fun. Come tomorrow, it’s time to race the U.S. Nationals, the prestigious U.S. Nationals, the biggest race in drag racing. We’ll make sure we’re focused on that when the time is right.”

Mike Ashley didn’t have much advice for his son about racing in Sunday’s eliminations.

“It’s the same mindset that I’ve told him from the beginning: Every round is just like the first test run. There’s no crowd. There’s nobody here. You can only do what you can do.”

As a father, Mike Ashley said his son’s achievement “is just incredible. First of all, with everything going on in the world, my hat’s off to the NHRA to be able to put on this event and the fans for coming out, the racers who worked so hard and the sponsors who support us. It’s just amazing. And on top of all of that, it’s a blessing to be out here with my son racing and to watch him win his first Top Fuel race.

“I can’t emphasize this enough, two things: how proud I am of him as a driver but how proud I am of this team. Without this team he wouldn’t be able to do what he’s doing. This is a rookie team and in [nine] races they were able to accomplish this. To Justin Davis, Jason Bonker, and Aaron Brooks and the whole crew. It cannot go unnoticed how amazing this team is. We couldn’t do it without Chip Lofton, Manscaped and all the sponsors who support us.”

It isn’t lost on Mike Ashley that he and Justin join a prestigious list of fathers and sons who have won in the nitro ranks.

“Those guys are legends, and they are guys I’ve always looked up to, I still to this day look up to. For Justin and I to even be mentioned in the same sentence as them is such an honor. Again, it just goes to how good your team really is.”

Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Chad Green (Pro Modified) won the other two pro final make-ups Saturday night.

Hagan’s victory over Jack Beckman guaranteed Don Schumacher Racing its NHRA-record 350th victory. Green won for the first time in his third final-round appearance, easily defeating Jason Scruggs, who also was seeking his first victory. Scruggs’ motor fell silent and he lost by about 25 feet.

 

 

 

 

 

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