Jim Epler was taken aback. 

As the Top Fuel dragster driven by Justin Ashley rolled out of the Phillips Connect hauler, the former Funny Car standout could only put his hands on his face, both in shock and emotion. Splashed across the front wing of the dragster was a mural commemorating Epler’s grand achievement in drag racing -- the first 300-mile-per-hour Funny Car driver, recorded on October 3, 1993, in Topeka, Kan. 

Ironically, Ashley wasn’t even born. 

Long before Epler, one of the corporate officers at Phillips Connect, knew who Ashley was, the kid from New York’s Long Island knew he was Mr. 300. 

“Time goes by so fast when you get older, and I was always about driving the cars back then,” Epler said. “Then, to retire in 2001, I thought I would come back again and drive. And just 20 years went by, and I got really into the business world, and I love marketing, and I love drag racing.”

The memories of the day are some of his fondest ever.

“At qualifying, we went 299.90, and it ran on all eight to the finish line, so I could feel it was good,” Epler recalled. “You can’t tell. I can tell the difference between 290 and 299 or 300. But then, in the first round of eliminations, against Gordon Mineo, it made the same move and ran clean on eight cylinders. 

“I thought it could run 300, but I was surprised -- everybody jumping up and down in the end, holding three fingers up. That was exciting. The first thing I thought of was, ‘Man, all the races to have my wife and kids not here. This was the one; they weren’t here for that.”

Epler also loves knowing there are those like the second-generation drag racer Ashley who recognize the accomplishments of those who paved the way for his generation. 

“I’ve had an appreciation in the history for the drivers who’ve done it in the past and helped bring the sport to where it is today,” Ashley said. “I knew Jim from his 300-mile-per-hour run, and I also knew him from the business side and the innovative side he took when he came to NHRA as a business owner.”

Epler is impressed that the kid remembered his place in drag racing history, considering what he considered one of his most significant shortcomings. 

“One of the things I was really not good at was the self-promotion,’ Epler said. “Kenny Bernstein was so much better about promoting himself and the King of Speed and all that. I’ve just never been good at promoting myself. And it was like Dave McClelland came up with that Mr. 300, and it kind of stuck. I use it in business; I just didn’t promote it as much as I should have.”

Right now, there’s another 300-mile-per-hour milestone close to being conquered. No nitro driver has run over 300 to the eighth mile in NHRA nitro racing. 

Epler confirmed a plan in motion to create a club much like the Slick 50 300 MPH club he joined in 1993 as the ninth member. Interestingly enough, only Epler and Hoffman earned a place in the 16-car 
club. 

“Nobody bought a Funny Car would go 300,” Epler said. “I hated that there was never a Funny Car 300 Club at the time, and that’s because nobody thought a Funny Car was going to go 300. I guess we showed them.”

And on Friday in Topeka, Ashley showed Epler that it wasn’t a forgotten milestone.