Believing you can achieve a dream is one thing, delivering is another.

And for 22-year old Top Alcohol Dragster freshman Justin Ashley, he has been busy accomplishing what he sat out to do. 

Just to provide the Cliffs Notes version, Ashley in just four national events behind the wheel of the Randy Meyer A/Fuel Dragster has reached the finals in three of his first four national events, winning twice. He's also qualified No. 1 in his only Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional event. 

Ashley also earned a Top Fuel license after running a 3.78, 314 in his first full run in a supercharged, nitro burner. 

Not bad for a kid, who only earned his Top Dragster license a little over a year ago. 

"I think that I am a little bit surprised at how quickly our success has come, but not totally," Ashley said. "We’re a great team, and the bottom line is that we go to the racetrack expecting to win every time, and that’s the truth. That’s what we go there for; we go there to win a race. 

"But at the same time, to have the kind of success that we’ve had so early only four National events and two wins in three finals is still a little bit surprising to me and it would probably be surprising to anybody."

Ashley, who accompanied his father, two-time Pro Modified champion and NHRA U.S. Nationals Funny Car champion, as an aspiring kid, waited patiently for this time behind the wheel to materialize. In the meantime, he buckled down in school, earning a business administration degree from Ithaca College and launching what has proven to be a successful real estate marketplace business. 

When his time came to shine on the track, he took full advantage of the opportunity as evidenced by his rapid ascent in the world of injected-nitro racing. 

Ashley has kept himself in check, understanding a full-team effort means the difference between winning and losing. 

"It’s not hard to do," Ashley admitted. "We won a few National events, and it’s a tremendous blessing but I know, and I understand that it’s not just me. It’s a complete team effort. It’s Randy Meyer, Megan Meyer, Mary Meyer and it’s the entire team that’s responsible for this success, not just me. That’s something that I realize, and I realized early on that I’m just the one driving the car and it’s a total team effort."

Ashley readily admits for one to become a better drag racer they must first understand what the race car is trying to communicate to its driver. Immediately after earning his Top Alcohol Dragster license, he made a beeline to Gainesville Raceway to meet with Frank Hawley. 

For Ashley just driving a dragster wasn't sufficient, he wanted to learn what the car was telling him with every run. He wanted to learn how to win, and with Hawley, he got to learn more than just how to react and drive better from the two-time champion. Ashley learned to speak the language of the race car.

“I can’t explain how much he taught me,” Ashley explained. “He sat down and worked with me. I went down that track. We went back and looked at the video. He was patient; he was understanding. I asked so many questions. He was critical for me. He was tremendous for me in making this transition. He was just so helpful."

Ashley made as many as 16 laps behind the wheel of Hawley's Top Alcohol Dragster before making his national event debut in Gainesville. 

"It was incredible," Ashley said. "I know the success we’ve been able to have and that I’ve been able to have driving is directly correlated to having all those laps down the track with him. He obviously found it important and that in itself helped. But then going back and actually talking to him about things, reviewing things and going through the details really helped and really made a difference."

If Hawley ingrained one lesson in Ashley's sponge-like tendency to learn, it's how to turn himself into a robot.

"The most important thing that I learned from Frank was probably to just be mechanical," Ashley said. "Do the same thing every time. Don’t get caught up in the emotion. Don’t get caught up in the ups and downs of racing because that’s what’s going to happen; you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some just like any other sport. Sometimes you’re going to do well; sometimes you’re not. Just be mechanical. Just do the burnout, backup, see the light, hit the gas and go. Don’t overcomplicate things, just drive the car and just be mechanical and methodical and just do the same thing every single time down the race track."

And while some might have stars to fast forward to their destiny, and Ashley says his is Top Fuel, he's content to bide his time and learn the ropes of A/Fuel and how to be a consistent winner, even though it appears he's mastered the art at the onset. 

"To be a full-time Top Fuel driver would be a dream for me," Ashley admitted. "I know there are a lot of people out there with the same aspirations. But for me, it would be a dream come true especially having grown up around the sport. 

"Right now, I'm perfectly content learning everything I can behind the wheel of this Top Alcohol Dragster."