Practically the entire 2023 NHRA season, Justin Ashley has been setting the pace for the Top Fuel class.

That trend continued at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor in Topeka, Kan.

Ashley captured the victory at the final NHRA event at the facility Sunday night as it is closing at season’s end. Sunday’s race was marred by massive rain delays, but did get completed.

Ashley clocked a 3.702-second elapsed time at 323.58 mph to defeat Brittany Force’s 3.707-second lap at 322.88 mph.

“Man, I’m along for the ride, and what a ride it has been,” Ashley said. “Phillips Connect has done so much for our team and everybody from the whole Phillips industry side, we are so grateful to them and Toyota. I have so much gratitude for everybody. Thank you fans for sticking it out today.”

This was Ashley’s sixth win of the season in his seventh final-round appearance. This was the 11th Top Fuel win in his career in just 68 starts.

“Well, it is the last race in Topeka, which is really just extraordinary. On top of that, we have a lot of history as a team here,” Ashley said. “Jim Epler (Executive Vice President at Phillips Connect) was the first Funny Car driver to go 300 mph (Oct. 3, 1993, 300.40 mph) and he did it right here in Topeka. Then my father (Mike) won in Funny Car here in 2007, so this is the first race that him and I have won professionally at the same venue, so it's really exciting. Each one is more special than the next, but we had four incredible turnarounds today and the team did a great job and their ability to maintain composure and consistency on and off the racetrack is really second to none.”

With the win, Ashley extended his points lead over Steve Torrence. On Sunday, Ashley defeated Josh Hart, Leah Pruett, Antron Brown and then Brittany Force.

“We knew we had more in that car, and we were pushing to get the win, but if you look at the numbers that was side-by-side, that was some good drag racing for the fans,” Force said. “I’m bummed we are going home early, but it was a good day for the Flav-R-Pac team.” 

 

 

 

Ashley qualified No. 7 with a 3.818-second time at 322.88 mph but didn’t blink during eliminations and the lengthy rain delays as he won in Topeka for the first time in his career.

“Well, I think just staying focused, especially with the layoff,” Ashely said. “It's hard enough to stay focused throughout the day on a normal race day, but we really didn't know what (Sunday) was going to bring. Every driver, every team was under the same circumstances, so we understood that, but with conditions changing, not knowing when and if we were going to get a race in, let alone four rounds (Sunday), which really speaks volumes to the (NHRA) Safety Safari to be honest with you, was probably the biggest challenge of all. You've got a lot of confidence as a driver when you have the kind of Phillips Connect team that we do.”

With Epler’s success in Topeka with his historic run and Mike Ashley’s Funny Car victory, Justin welcomed the challenge in front of him the weekend presented.

“It's the good kind of peer pressure. You want to surround yourself with the right people,” Justin said. “I just feel like we've surrounded ourselves with winners on and off the racetrack and there's really ... we laugh but there's no pressure. I think that's the beautiful part about it. Whether it's from our team or Jim or my father, they believe in us and I'm very appreciative for that. It was fun being able to FaceTime my father who was not here this weekend. He's at home but seeing how excited he is watching from home. That's the good kind of pressure because you're doing good and you're surrounding yourself with the right people.

“I don't know if it was a little bit extra, but I think it crossed my mind when we pulled in the parking lot here. We have a lot of history. Jim going 300 mph here is a big deal. It'll go down in history. That, in conjunction with the fact that it was the last event here, it was a special event for Jim, it was a special event for our whole Phillips Connect team. It (the history of Topeka for his team) was definitely on my mind in the final and it was on my mind throughout the whole weekend.”

In the final round, Ashley certainly wasn’t taking anything for granted against Brittany Force, the reigning NHRA Top Fuel World Champion.

“You're always concerned no matter who you race in the other lane, and we know how good Grubby (David Grubnic, Force’s crew chief) is and how good Brittany is. They did a fantastic job all day,” Ashley said. “We know what they did last year. They were the champions for a reason, but at the end of the day, I think our approach is unique. It's a little different than some of the other teams out here. We just don't focus on what's going on in the other lane. We race our race and stay within ourselves and do the very best that we can. At the end of the day, it's almost the same situation as it would be during qualifying because we just go up there with the same approach each and every time. I wouldn't say concern is the right word, but we were definitely aware of how good that team is.”

 

 

 

 

Ashley acknowledged this fantastic season he’s experiencing seems surreal.

“It's amazing. I watched guys like Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence dominate for years,” Ashley said. “You just kind of watch and think, ‘Man, how incredible would it be to be in that position?’ Now that we're in that position, racing against some of these, what I consider to be legends like Steve, like Antron, like Tony, it's almost like I pinch myself. I really can't believe it sometimes and just feel really grateful to be out here racing, let alone win... what is it? Six races already this year is just an incredible feat.”

Despite the impressive six wins, Ashley was quick to point out that number has not shocked him.

“Well, I don't want to say I'm surprised, but it's hard to win six races,” Ashley said. “We expect to win each race because I think everybody does. It's just a confidence thing. We go in with that approach each and every race, but it's so difficult, especially in 2023 because this is the best Top Fuel field by far in NHRA history. Yeah, we expect to win. Listen, maybe six was pushing it a little. I'll give you that one.”

The former veteran nitro Funny Car pilot Epler is thrilled to part of the success of Ashley’s team.

“Well, it's a people business first of all,” Epler said. “Although I wanted a Funny Car when I first started thinking about getting back into this, it was really Justin that sold me on him. Mike Green and I had some history together, and just working with these guys and getting Justin part of Phillips Connect, it's just been amazing. I tell everybody all the time that the team is just amazing. Compared to what I was used to myself as a driver and all the kind of chaos that was going on and how smooth these guys are, even when things go bad. I'm still shocked. Six races in a season that is just amazing.”