(Linda Brock photo)
Seven days previously Mike Ashley announced his return to the seat of his Lend America/Gotham City Racing Dodge R/T Funny Car for next five NHRA national events…at least. On Saturday Ashley stunned the Funny Car field when he leapt from last place in qualifying into second with an elapsed time of 4.768 seconds and the fastest speed of the event – 327.82 mph. Until then, his best time was 4.923 seconds.
In one of several odd and entertaining match-ups during the event, Ashley refused to give up after his Funny Car lost traction early in his opening round against Scott Kalitta. Kalitta’s car stumbled a bit, too, and Ashley mashed the throttle pedal down again. The tires hooked up and Ashley’s pursuit began.
Ashley got the win when he passed Kalitta at the finish line. His winning margin was 16-thousandths of a second, thanks to a 252.90 mph effort at 6.579 seconds to Kalitta’s coasting 6.622 at 138.12.
“I was just trying to stay with it, trying not to get on (the throttle) too much because I wanted to make it to the finish line. My team has done a great job with this car and I didn’t want to screw it up. But you know what the moral of the story is, you never quit. You just never, never, ever quit.”
In the next round, Ashley was in front early, but the car’s tires lost traction, enabling Neff to sneak past at the finish line. Ashley’s numbers were 4.959 seconds at 295.79 mph to Neff’s 4.924 at 295.79.
“We just had too much power and blew off the tires,” Ashley commented. “The motor hit the rev limiter and he passed me in the last second.
Mike Neff got his first and second round wins since becoming a Funny Car driver for John Force Racing. (Jeff Burk photo)
While his boss celebrated his 1,000th round win. (Jeff Burk photo)