Winning a race is challenging enough, but winning three in the same weekend means you are on a whole 'nother level, as they say in eastern Tennessee.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, Justin Ashley is on a whole 'nother level. 

In one fell swoop, the Phillips Connect driver successfully defended his NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals title by beating tech teammate Antron Brown. He added a #2Fast2Tasty Shootout title and the rain-delayed New England Nationals crown for good measure.

Ashley's win came with a run of 3.718 seconds at a Bristol Dragway track record 336 miles per hour.

The victory marked his fourth of the season and vaulted him into the championship points lead after eight events.

"Mission accomplished," Ashley said of his win. "It's been a fantastic weekend. It was going to be hard to do what we did at Pomona and even replicate that, but this is definitely just an incredible weekend -- certainly the best weekend of my racing career. The key word for this weekend is 'team.' It was a team effort. To be able to turn on eight win lights in a row like that in the course of one weekend is really something special. 

"To leave one weekend with three different victories is amazing. Something I really didn't even know was possible. So Mike Green, Tommy DeLago, and the guys all weekend worked so hard to be able to make something happen. We came in with the objective to leave with all the wins, but it's not an easy thing to accomplish. But they got it done today."

 
In one weekend, Ashley also bodyslammed a previous trend where he follows a win with a first-round loss. Ashley believes while others think about it, it's as far from his thoughts as it could be.

"You just have to trust the process, and we do," Ashley explained. "I think something that's important to understand is, of course, it's a reflection on us, but how about the competition? The competition is so tough, so to be able to go and win a race and then lose the first round, sure, we want more consistency, sure, we want to do better, but the depth of the field is so tough, every round is difficult. So it's only natural to have those ebbs and flows, to have the wins, to have the first-round losses. 

"It's a long year, so we trust and understand what we're doing. We know that we put a lot of work in the offseason to put ourselves in this position, and it's just great to get a good start early in the year." 

At the start of the season, Ashley, who is lauded as the best leaver in the class, lamented the level of competition he planned to face this season. He never could have imagined, eight races into the season, he would be batting .500.

"I can't even put it into words," Ashley said. "That's a result of the team that we have on and off the racetrack. You're only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. And I feel comfortable in saying we have the best in the business, and I think that it showed. 

"It's a long year, but four wins in only eight races is certainly an accomplishment, and it's certainly a great feeling. We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. Very important to enjoy this one. But we know, and we understand, like you said, how good this Top Fuel field is. That's why we're really going to appreciate these wins but have a healthy understanding that we can't stay stagnant. We need to continue to get better because everyone else around us is doing the same thing." 

Yeah, but as one might point out, those people aren't winning three races in a weekend. That's whole 'nother-level stuff.