ASHLEY SCORES SECOND STRAIGHT WIN

Belle Rose, LA (April 24, 2005) — For the second straight week, Mike Ashley and the Torco Race Fuels Pro Mod team rode a combination of quickness and consistency to end up in an AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge presented by TLR winner’s circle. This time, though, the result was enough to push Ashley to the top of the AMS/TLR Cup points standings.

Ashley, the defending Pro Mod Challenge world champion, won his second straight event by holding off a spirited bid from Frankie Taylor in the Jegs.com NHRA SPORTSnationals final. Ashley’s 6.17 — his third straight run in the 6-teens — in his Chuck Ford-tuned ’67 Mustang was enough to hold off a 6.20 from Taylor (Taylor Motorsports ’68 Camaro), who was competing in his first AMS/TLR series final.

That result, combined with incoming points leader Jay Payne’s first-round loss, was enough to catapult Ashley into first place in the AMS/TLR Cup points standings. His 1,645 points have him 288 points clear of Payne (Valvoline ’05 Stratus), who made an earlier-than-expected exit on a centerline violation against Doug Palmer.

The win was the fourth in eight career Pro Mod Challenge finals for Ashley, who has raced in three of the four finals this season. Combined with his triumph a week ago in Las Vegas, it also gave him the first back-to-back event wins of his career, a feat that has come as a relative rarity in the five years of AMS/TLR Pro Mod racing. Only four times has a driver scored consecutive event wins, with the most recent being Von Smith’s back-to-back titles to finish the 2003 season (see chart below).

“What a great event,” Ashley told NHRA.com. “This facility [No Problem Raceway Park] is amazing, the weather was perfect, and the fans were incredible. I want to race here every week.”

Taylor, an on-again/off-again Pro Mod Challenge participant since 2002, enjoyed the finest outing of his career. His highlight came in the quarterfinals, where he used a five-hundredths starting-line advantage to hold off Troy Coughlin (Jeg’s Mail Order ’67 Mustang) and take a 6.26 to 6.24 holeshot win. Coughlin, an NHRA national event winner in Pro Stock, also had the best outing of his short Pro Mod career, qualifying No. 5 with a 6.22 before winning his first-ever Pro Mod Challenge race by outrunning Glen Kerunsky in the opening round.

Five drivers made either their season or career debuts in Belle Rose, but none was more impressive than Perry Herring, who reached the semifinals before going out against Ashley. Herring, known for his Outlaw Pro Mod roots in the Deep South, qualified in the bottom half of the field, but got past Kirk Kuhns and Palmer to reach the late rounds.

AMS STAFF LEASING PRO MOD CHALLENGE POINTS STANDINGS (AMS/TLR CUP) Through 4 of 14 events
1. Mike Ashley	1,645
2. Jay Payne	1,357
3. Troy Critchley	1,030
4. Joshua Hernandez	844
5. Kirk Kuhns	834
6. Ed Hoover	742
7. Frankie Taylor	718
8. Shelly Payne	622
9. Thomas Patterson	525
(tie) Chip King	525