There’s no question Top Fuel driver Justin Ashley has unfinished business.

The last two seasons Ashley won nine races – six in 2023 and four in 2022 – but only one of those wins [Dallas] came in the Countdown to the Championship.

As a result, Ashley came up short of winning the ultimate prize of an NHRA world championship.

Ashley is trying to change that narrative in 2024, and he took a baby step toward that goal, snaring the provisional pole Friday at the Pep Boys Nationals with a 3.713-second elapsed time at 333.49 mph in Q2 at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. It’s the first race in the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

“It is very exciting,” said Ashley, a Plainview, N.Y., native. “I think we did a good, honestly, in Q1 positioning ourselves to a point where we could be a little bit more aggressive in Q2. That was the key. When you go out there in your first run, you want to set that baseline and so you have the tendency to be a little bit more aggressive and go after that No. 1 spot. We stayed after it and we did some testing after Brainerd (Minn.) and the whole team has been chipping away for this reason for this very moment. We wanted to make sure we were prepared when the Countdown (started).

“We feel good about where we are at with everything, and I don’t what the conditions are going to be like (Saturday). It is supposed to be pretty hot. Maybe it (3.713-second time) will hold, maybe it doesn’t, but the three bonus points are critical.”

If Ashley’s time does hold it will be his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and the sixth of his career. Ashley made his Top Fuel debut in 2019.

In Q1 on Friday, Ashley, who pilots the SCAG Racing dragster, clocked a 3.799-second elapsed time at 327.11, which put him third on the ladder. Then, he was pretty amped up for the night session in Q2.

“I have a tendency to be a little impatient,” Ashley said. “You want to be at the back of the pack and watching cars go down the racetrack and hearing what they run in the mid 3.70s, and then you watch the sun set I had an idea it was going to be pretty fast out there. I kind of knew these were going to be the best conditions we were going to see in qualifying. 

“I think (a qualifying session) like that us is fun and exciting and it is good for the fans. That Friday night session is always awesome. I don’t even want to make any predictions for (Saturday). Those guys know much better than I do. I think it probably will hold but there’s a good chance it might not because all these cars are really good now. I certainly hope it holds, and either way once Sunday comes it will be different conditions. We will focus on trying to improve (Saturday) and try and collect some more bonus points and focus on race day.”

During Q2, drivers kept running faster and faster, and the conditions were getting ripe for Ashley’s team to swing for the fences.

“People were realizing the track can hold this and also slowly, but surely the sun was coming down more and it was cooling off more,” Ashley said. “That meant teams could be a little bit more aggressive and when that happens you slowly start to see the numbers start going down and people start going quicker. 

Ashley, who recently got engaged, isn’t getting any extra pressure from his wife-to-be.

“I don’t have a list of honey-dos, I’m lucky,” Ashley said. “I’m very blessed and very fortunate to have her in my life. She’s right here and she looks beautiful and gorgeous.  This is a pretty good way to celebrate and now I just need to win the race.

“You only get so many off weekends, so we wanted to try and take advantage of that. We had all our friends and family over, and a lot of them are actually here this weekend. I don’t know if it is added pressure, but we definitely want to perform well for them as well. I love this race. It is a blast just because I remember coming here as a kid watching my dad race in Funny Car and being that kid behind the ropes driving people crazy running around asking for autographs. Now to be back here actually driving I think it is really special. Also, I think the Koretskys have done an amazing job with this facility.”