Thu, 21 Oct 2010, 09:54 AM It Was A Good Year

By Kelly Wade

Ashwell vs. Gordon in round one at Medford. Photo by Rich Carlson

In their first full year of racing in Division 6's Top Alcohol Funny Car competition, Ashwell Racing made a tremendous impression with Jeff Ashwell behind the wheel, but the Keizer, Ore., resident will tell you that he's just the lucky guy who gets to drive the racecar; finishing alongside the best in the Northwest was a total team effort led by team owners Greg and Todd Ashwell, Jeff's dad and brother.

The team's rewarding season came to a dramatic and somewhat disappointing close at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional event in Medford, Ore., at Champion Raceway when they beat Doug Gordon in the first round but blew up a motor - their last - in the process. The round win was good for a bye run into the final, what should have been their second of the season, but the event title was awarded to semifinals winner Brian Hough when the Ashwells were unable to make the final-round call.

"It was bittersweet there at the end," said Ashwell, third in the division behind points leader Hough and second place Clint Thompson at the time of print. "Doug Gordon was the No. 1 qualifier, and we made it past tire shake in that left lane where everyone had been having it all weekend long. I was driving along and at around 1,000 feet I was thinking, 'Oh, he's going to be coming by me any second.' Next thing I know, my motor popped, and I was on fire and trying to get the parachutes out and the fire extinguishers activated, but my win light came on. We just didn't have the parts to go on. It was possible for us to take over second place, so it was frustrating to end the season that way, but life goes on."

Hough vs. Ashwell in Woodburn final. Photo by Rich Carlson

The Ashwell team competed at five Lucas Oil events in the Northwest and also raced in Seattle at the NHRA Northwest Nationals this season, qualifying for every event and racing to a runner-up finish at the track that they consider home: Oregon's Woodburn Dragstrip. Ashwell was the No. 2 qualifier there and beat Dave Germain in the first round, stopped Larry Miner in round two, and then fell to Hough in the event closer. The final-round finish was extra special for a team who had been match racing on the grounds for many years and racing the division on a very limited basis, competing only at Woodburn Dragstrip and running the Seattle national event.

"It's cool anywhere to achieve the goal of keeping up with the other guys, but in front of a home crowd it's really special," said Ashwell. "You see the people who always come by to talk to you and to cheer you on, and our sponsors were there, so to see the big smiles on their faces and know that their hard-earned money is going into something that they like and it's actually successful, that was really cool."

Ashwell at Seattle. Photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

The car run by Ashwell Racing is decidedly familiar; the bright blue and yellow Wilson's Napa Auto Parts scheme is similar to schemes run by nitro Funny Car racer Ron Capps and fellow Top Alcohol Funny Car racer John Lombardo Jr. The Ashwell's Napa sponsorship is specific to 10 local stores under the Wilson banner. Their '09 Mustang Funny Car is also sponsored by Walery's Premium Pizza, G&S Machine, Sunbelt Rentals, NGK Spark Plugs, Valvoline, Goodyear, JE Pistons, Smith Brothers, Brooks, and Covanta Energy, among others.

The team has worked a long while to be able to run effectively in the division, and racing has long been a part of their lives. Jeff and his brother, Todd, used to accompany dad Greg to the races on Sundays after church, and both brothers developed a desire to drive. Todd and Greg set to work to build a Nostalgia Funny Car, initially. They built their own chassis and assembled that first car on their own, and in 1998, it was ready to go down the track. Jeff and Todd alternated driving in the early days, though these days Jeff is the primary pilot.

Ashwell in his '53 Corvette Nostalgia Funny Car.

"It was like a 9-second car," said Ashwell of their first venture. "We thought it was cool, but eventually we thought, 'Let's put a blower on it,' and it grew from there."

Eventually, they got hold of a 460-cid big-block Chevy so that they could compete in the California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA), and they moved into the 7-second zone. By 2001, they were running Hemi power and swallowing the quarter mile in six seconds at over 200 mph, and in 2004, they attended their first NHRA national event in Seattle, where they qualified with a career best 6.00 at 240 mph and were awarded Best Appearing Crew honors.

"My first car was a '79 Dodge Omni Funny Car, and then we bought a '90 Corvette that used to be Gary Densham's Teacher's Pet," recalled Ashwell. "Then we bought a 23-T roadster and fiberglassed it, put a big old wing on top and ran nostalgia races locally at Madras Dragstrip and Woodburn for a lot of years in the 7.50 class. It was a lot of fun. We sold the 23-T roadster body to build a '53 Corvette Nostalgia Funny Car. It started as a Pro Mod body, and my dad and a friend spent two years making it into a Funny Car. We sold it this last year to help buy this new Mustang body that we have now and see if we could be competitive, and it was a good choice."

Ashwell Racing won Best Appearing Crew at the Northwest Nationals in 2008. Photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

Their initial goal this first full season out was simply to get to a final round, and with that goal accomplished, the aim next season is to be able to keep up with Hough.

"He's crazy-fast," said Ashwell. "Next year we just want to be a little more competitive with him, and that's a tough task. But it's a really cool feeling to be the smaller team, as far as budgets go, and to race with the bigger teams who travel a lot more than we do. It's a good feeling not just for me as the guy who gets to drive the car, but for the whole crew. We have an amazing group: my dad; my brother; our crew chief, Norm Christianson; Isaac Bese and his wife, Chris; Ray Graham; Russ Parker helps us out; and my mom, Betty, cooks and takes care of all of us."

Outside of racing, Ashwell is dad to son Easton, 10, and daughter Zoey, 3. When he's not spending time with the kids, his free time is spent in the family's shop building a project car, a '66 Dart, tubbed and slammed and meant for cruising and bracket racing. Brother Todd is working on a '40 Chevy pick-up with an old-school rat rod feel, and dad Greg is coming along with the '40 Ford Deluxe Coupe that he's been tinkering with since he was a teenager.

Jeff Ashwell

The Ashwell boys love their hot rods, but they're also looking forward to next season when they can bring the Funny Car back out to see what kind of damage they can do in the division now that they have a full year under their belts.

"It's a great accomplishment being able to race with those guys," said Ashwell. "This year was a good test; we've gone our fastest, a 5.74 at 248 mph, so we're a little bit behind, but we set a high mark for ourselves and we are pretty happy with the result. We want to continue this and be as competitive as everyone else. We're working with what we've got, and I think we're doing a really good job of that."