Winning is always relevant to two-time Pro Modified World Champion Mike Ashley regardless of which car he drives in competition.

Case in point, two weeks ago at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., Ashley’s day behind the wheel of his nitro Funny Car appeared to be over when he smoked the tires early in the race. His opponent Scott Kalitta was well on the way to victory when he also smoked the tires. A resourceful Ashley settled down his Dodge Charger and re-engaged the throttle, never lifting from that point.

The end result was a victory by only inches. The lesson was a mile long. Ashley exited the car and proclaimed, “You know what the moral of the story is, you never quit. You just never, never, ever quit.”

Shortly after uttering the telltale statement, Ashley remembered a similar day which set in motion his career of vast successes in drag racing. He returned to the setting of his first national event victory.

Winning is always relevant to two-time Pro Modified World Champion Mike Ashley regardless of which car he drives in competition.

Case in point, two weeks ago at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., Ashley’s day behind the wheel of his nitro Funny Car appeared to be over when he smoked the tires early in the race. His opponent Scott Kalitta was well on the way to victory when he also smoked the tires. A resourceful Ashley settled down his Dodge Charger and re-engaged the throttle, never lifting from that point.

The end result was a victory by only inches. The lesson was a mile long. Ashley exited the car and proclaimed, “You know what the moral of the story is, you never quit. You just never, never, ever quit.”

Shortly after uttering the telltale statement, Ashley remembered a similar day which set in motion his career of vast successes in drag racing. He returned to the setting of his first national event victory.

The site was Bristol Dragway, host of this weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Dragway and the setting was 1990 at the IHRA Spring Nationals, the second event in the history of his Pro Modified career. Ashley was hot off of a No. 1 qualifying effort at the season-opener just a month earlier.

This weekend was unlike the previous effort. Whatever could go wrong went wrong and when it did, it did so with a vengeance.

“We hurt a lot of parts that weekend,” Ashley, 25 at the time, said. “We burned one of our good motors to the ground and we were changing motors one after another. We even changed out a transmission because we burned that up to. The motor we had in the car for the final eliminations was our last – if we hurt it – we were finished.”

The finish for Ashley came in the final round when he defeated Blake Wiggins to win his first career national event crown. He was so excited with the victory that he opened the door of his car prematurely in the shutdown area and because he’d won, he wasn’t overly concerned that his final round opponent’s parachute snagged his door and ripped it off.

“At that point, I didn’t care,” Ashley said. “I just know I couldn’t wait to get out of the car and when I got stopped, I opened the door and the next thing I knew, it was in Blake Wiggins’ parachute. There are some things you just can’t make up.”

He would have to wait 15 years to get another Bristol victory. Ashley’s 2005 victory was the complete opposite of the 1990 struggle. This   time the win was one of total domination from the first until the final round. The only time he extended mercy to the field was in qualifying when the rain-shortened session limited him to 11th starting spot.

The victory marked his third consecutive win in four weeks leading up to his first world championship.

Ashley will pull double-duty for the second consecutive event this weekend, splitting time between his Pro Modified 1968 Camaro and nitro-burning, Dodge Charger Funny Car. If Ashley reaches the final round in both classes, he has the opportunity to make 17 runs down the Bristol Dragway quarter-mile.

“It’s a challenge,” Ashley admitted. “I was able to remain focused and we did really well. I’m still gunning for a win in both classes and with the talent we have running both, it’s not inconceivable that we could pull it off. The last race was pretty demanding in going back and forth. If we could rounds, I think I’m gonna be pretty tired Sunday night. I might be dragging just a little bit at work on Monday.”