Justin Ashley finds it hard to believe nearly a decade has passed since the run that changed the direction of his career.
Nine years ago in Norwalk, Ohio, a then-standout Top Alcohol Dragster racer, Ashley, climbed into Antron Brown’s Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel dragster to complete the licensing runs that launched him toward becoming one of the sport’s premier drivers. It was an opportunity orchestrated by crew chief Brian Corradi, who had known Ashley since his father, Mike Ashley, raced under Corradi’s direction years earlier.
Looking back, Corradi still doesn’t see the decision as much of a gamble.
“I don’t think so,” Corradi said when asked if putting Ashley in a championship-caliber race car put his job on the line. “I think Don was good with whatever we did. I think our relationship at the time was his faith and trust to me was good.”
Pressed on whether the outcome might have been different had things gone badly, Corradi shrugged it off.
“I would guess, maybe,” Corradi said. “With who? I don’t know. Not Don. Don’s a racer. He understand it all.”
Corradi’s confidence came from more than Ashley’s driving ability. He saw a young racer determined to earn the opportunity instead of having it handed to him. It was clear to Corradi, the kid wanted to chart his own path.
“Yeah, that and he was 100% wanting to do it,” Corradi said. “There was no dad making him do it. He was doing it because he wanted to. And his father being who he is, my relationship with him, I said, ‘let’s do it.”
The day wasn’t perfect. Ashley lifted during one of his early runs, a rookie mistake that caused engine damage before he instinctively got back into the throttle.
“His foot came off the gas,” Corradi explained. “So it got a little lean.”
“It was okay. I mean, it was a little bit of damage. It wasn’t like traumatic, knocked the blower off. That’s it.”
Ashley laughs about the incident today, but he also realizes just how much faith Corradi placed in him.
“At the time I thought I [understood it], but looking back at it now, I realize even how much more so he was sticking his neck out for me,” Ashley said. “That’s a big deal. I was a kid who ran Top Alcohol Dragsters like two races and that was a championship-winning team with a championship-winning race car.”
Ashley admits he didn’t exactly repay the favor by keeping the parts bill low.
“By blowing a lot of stuff up,” Ashley said with a smile. “Fortunate enough to get the license that day, but you really don’t know what you don’t know.”
Those lessons remain with him today as he has a reputation for being one of the sport’s more seasoned leavers; even leaving on Antron Brown a time or two.
“I learned a lot that day that I actually continued to keep with me moving forward,” Ashley said. “Things about being smooth, about where to look, about where to keep the car in the groove and how you stage. An amazing experience, definitely a learning experience and thankfully they were very patient with me.”
The driver who once destroyed an engine during licensing has since become one of the toughest opponents on the starting line, but Ashley says the foundation was built by the people who believed in him before anyone else did.
“The one thing that I’ve learned is you really are only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” Ashley said. “Brian is family… and without that experience I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
