Race Results:
Lucas Oil Division 6 Event
Woodburn Dragstrip
Woodburn, Oregon
July 10-12

If you were to ask any member of Ashwell Racing to describe the event at the Lucas Oil Division 6 event in Woodburn, all would probably say it was the best weekend ever. 13 Top Alcohol Funny Cars were entered into this event all vying for the 8 open spots to be able to race in Sunday's eliminations. This event also marked the first time that Ashwell Racing was competing in an actual competition and not just an exhibition race. With the likes of nationally ranked drivers Jay Payne and Brian Hough on the premise as well as California hot shots Sean Bellemeur, Dennis Taylor, and Jason Rupert in the mix, to say that Ashwell Racing was the underdog would be an understatement.  But when qualifying was all said and done Ashwell Racing was the talk of the pits.

With Friday qualifying scheduled for 4pm the team decided to fire the car up around 2:30. During the warm up the crew discovered a mechanical glitch that led to an unexpected thrash to try and decipher what the issue was before the call went out to tow to the lanes. With minutes to spare the team found the problem, rectified it, and towed to the staging lanes.

 With temperatures in the mid 80's under partly cloudy skies, qualifying began for Top Alcohol Funny Car with Jeff Ashwell being in the second pairing. On his first attempt the car ran a respectable 5.884 at 239 mph, which was only two hundredths shy of his quickest E.T. ever at a 5.86, and when all the smoke was cleared Jeff found himself sitting on the bump spot with five other teams looking to bump him out.

On Saturday morning the weather had changed a bit and was now much cooler with a thick marine layer overhead. With Jeff sitting on the bump, the team nervously awaited their turn to run while watching the other teams in front of them trying to get into the field. When it was Jeff's turn he had already been bumped out by Bellemeur who had run a 5.810. Now comes the fun part. Usually when I write these stories I try not to ever compose them how I see it or what I thought, until now. I was sitting in the grandstands with Jeff's mother Betty, nervously awaiting for the flash of amber.

When Jeff hit the throttle the front end was completely off the ground and carried the front wheels well past the 60 foot clocks. When I saw the scoreboard flash a 5.740 at over 247 mph, I have never felt more proud of the team and all the hard work and dedication they have put into their racing program and finally having the fruits of their labor show for it. Not only was that 5.740 fourteen hundredths of a second better than Jeff's previous best E.T. it was also a record MPH for him as well. The icing on the cake after that pass was that 5.740 not only matched Jay Payne's number but also was good enough for the number 1 qualifying spot based on Jeff's faster MPH. Seeing the guys all giving high fives to each other and all of the team's loyal NAPA supporters giving them a standing ovation as they drove by in the tow vehicle is a moment I will never forget.


I asked Jeff if he could tell the difference between the 5.88 run compared to the 5.74 and the only difference he felt was that it was still pulling hard in 3rd gear. He knew it was a good pass but thought maybe it was a low 5.80 something. When he was told it was a 5.740 he was shocked. He didn't know it was that good. Knowing that they would probably race on Sunday and not get bumped out of the show the team decided to skip the last qualifying session to save parts. Though Jeff eventually slid to the 3rd qualifying position he was only four hundredths of a second off number 1 qualifier, the powerhouse of Jay Payne, who ran a 5.703.

With rain scheduled on Sunday to dampen the festivities, everyone was anxious to get racing to see if the team could go some rounds. In eliminations Jeff was slated to race against the number 6 qualifier Ken Webster with Jeff having the lane choice.

At the flash of the green, Webster had a slight starting line advantage and ran a 5.746 at 233 to better Jeff's 5.762 at 248 mph, a career best mile per hour for Ashwell. Jeff said he could feel Webster out his window but didn't see him until they neared the finish line. Jeff said he saw the win light come on in Webster's lane and knew he lost the round.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for the team and we are all looking forward to heading to Seattle to see what we can do on the National level. Some of the best cars out of California and the Pacific Northwest will be there and I know Team Ashwell can't wait to show them what we got.