Justin Ashley could claim he was sick. Maybe find a doctor’s note. Perhaps there is a way to work the system and put another driver in his Top Fuel dragster Monday at the NHRA Great Lakes Nationals.
Ashley isn’t interested.
Rain postponed Sunday’s eliminations at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park until Monday, putting race day in conflict with Ashley’s observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest and most solemn day of the year in Judaism.
Ashley will sit out.
“And any other way of trying to get around that rule, I’m sure there are other ways, whether that’s pretending to be sick or getting a doctor’s note, to me, that’s cheating and that’s unacceptable,” Ashley said. “So I also think it defeats the spirit of why I’m doing this in the first place.”
For Ashley, losing a chance to win a drag race hurts. Compromising his values to get around the situation would hurt worse.
He qualified eighth and was scheduled to race Billy Torrence in the opening round. With Ashley not competing, Torrence will receive a first-round bye run.
This wasn’t the way Ashley expected his weekend to end. He was prepared to race Sunday before persistent rain and falling temperatures forced NHRA officials to push eliminations to Monday.
Ashley has been here before, just not quite like this. He elected not to race during Yom Kippur at Dallas in 2024, missing a day of qualifying because of the religious observance. This time he had already qualified and was ready for eliminations before the weather changed the schedule.
“This is the same holiday that I elected to refrain from racing in Dallas of 2024, and it was a difficult decision then. It’s a really difficult and heartbreaking decision now because I know that our team and our organization, our partners deserve the opportunity to compete for the event win.”
He also isn’t the first prominent Jewish athlete to choose Yom Kippur over competition. Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax famously declined to start Game 1 of the 1965 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers because it fell on Yom Kippur, perhaps the most famous intersection of faith and professional sports in American history.
Decades later, Dodgers star Shawn Green faced the same conflict. Green sat out a game during a tight playoff race in 2001 and again missed a critical game against San Francisco in September 2004 while Los Angeles was trying to protect its lead in the National League West.
Ashley understands all of it.
“My faith, my family, those are things that I think are uncompromised principles,” Ashley said. “And I’m grateful for the support of our team, Randy and Maria [Gloede], and everybody that supported me throughout this decision. And the whole team, the whole organization’s had my back, really means a lot to me.”
Ashley didn’t accept the situation without first exploring whether his team could still compete.
He approached NHRA officials Sunday morning about using a replacement driver. Ashley said he made a similar request when the conflict occurred in 2024 and was denied. He confirmed that NHRA denied the request again on Sunday.
There is no grandstand play in his decision and, by Ashley’s account, no desire to turn Monday into a statement. He is observing Yom Kippur because his faith requires something from him that means more than a round win, championship points or a trophy.
“It’s not to make a statement or to show us, it’s just simply it’s principle based,” Ashley said. “This is important to me and my relationship with God is important to me and it’s something that needs to be done.”
