SONOMA, Calif. (July 23, 2025) – Top Fuel standout Justin Ashley and the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel dragster team are set to tackle Sonoma Raceway for this weekend’s Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. With a history of success at the picturesque California track, Ashley is focused on leveraging a strong qualifying performance to set the stage for race day.
Ashley won the NHRA Sonoma Nationals back in 2023, defeating now reigning world champion Antron Brown in the finals. In 2024, Ashley was the No. 5 qualifier and defeated Tony Schumacher before coming up short to Tony Stewart in the quarterfinals.
“Sonoma is great. We’ve had success there in the past and always enjoy returning to that facility,” Ashley said. “It’s our goal to qualify well so we put ourselves in a good position heading into raceday. In today’s Top Fuel class, anyone can win from anywhere on the ladder. But if we have a good few rounds of qualifying, that should give us valuable data.”
The 2025 season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for Ashley and his SCAG Toyota team. After a slow start with just one round win in the first three races, the team rebounded impressively, reaching six final rounds in the past seven races, including wins at the Virginia NHRA Nationals, and Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk. Currently third in the Top Fuel points standings, Ashley trails leader Shawn Langdon by 93 points following his No. 6 qualifying effort and quarterfinal exit at the recent NHRA Northwest Nationals.
“The Sonoma Nationals is really the start to the back half of the season, now that we’re 10 plus races in, everyone has gotten themselves into a groove,” Ashley said. “The thought process for us is, how do we take these last few races before the Countdown to the Championship and make a run at being No. 1. We just have to take it race by race and just try to continue to stack round wins.”
Competition at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals begins with four rounds of qualifying Friday at 5:30 and 8:15 p.m. and Saturday at 11:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Television coverage of the event begins with two qualifying shows Friday at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET before eliminations air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).
