BlueBird / Versatran machine of Dave Richards
By: SCAG Racing
ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 12, 2024) – The three-car SCAG Racing team will all compete on Sunday race day at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex after career best efforts from the SCAG Power Equipment Ford Mustang of Daniel Wilkerson and the BlueBird / Versatran machine of Dave Richards and Justin Ashley’s SCAG Toyota Top Fuel dragster is in the show after making only one qualifying session.
For Richards and the BlueBird / Versatran team, their 3.991-second pass at 314.05 mph from Friday night was the first three-second run of the year for the team who are running their first full Mission Foods NRHA Drag Racing Series season. The BlueBird hot rod would improve in the Saturday afternoon heat to run a career-best elapsed time of 3.920 at 315.99. It was the best run for Richards since the 2016 Finals in Pomona, California when he ran 3.975. Richards will start race day from the No. 12 spot and face three-time world champion Ron Capps in the first round.
“I’m David and everyone else in Goliath,” said Richards in reference to the decal they have on the window of their 12,000 horsepower Funny Car. “We’re just trying to keep up with everyone. We’ve never given up, just kept trying and digging. It just feels so good and so rewarding to see the results show up on the scoreboard like that. Everyone has been so patient with us, Randy Gloede and Maria Oldenburg, they believe is us. Even when we don’t run well, they still cheer us on and tell us to keep going. To be part of SCAG Racing is just so awesome. I knew we could do it and we’re going to keep improving. It feels good to know that we can run closer to the top of the pack, and it has us excited for race day. Our time is coming.”
Wilkerson and the SCAG Mustang team landed themselves in the No. 6 qualifying position after laying down a stout 3.871-second pass at 327.68 mph Friday night. It was a career best elapsed time for second generation driver whose previous best came at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte (3.885) earlier this season. Wilkerson kept the momentum going with a 3.949 pass at 299.40 mph during the middle of the day Saturday that earned him two qualifying bonus points for being second quickest of the session. He will take on Alexis DeJoria in the first round of eliminations.
“It was pretty special to run a career best after a couple of tough races for this SCAG Mustang team,” Wilkerson said. “We have been putting a ton of work in back at the shop and it feels awesome to see it pay off under the cover of darkness at the Stampede Speed here at the Texas Motorplex. To follow it up with a couple bonus points on Saturday was icing on the cake.”
In Top Fuel, Ashley and the SCAG Toyota team made only one qualifying run Friday afternoon and went 3.778 seconds at 326.02 mph. Ashley and his team sat out the rest of qualifying for him to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays. Their efforts in the first session put them in the No. 12 spot and set them up for a monster first round match up against points leader Antron Brown in the first round. Ashley entered the weekend sitting No. 2 in points, only 34 back from Brown.
“Yeah, that SCAG Toyota had a really good run in that first session. I mean that was the idea, we accomplished what we wanted to there, which is go A to B. We gave ourselves a good chance to make the show, I felt good about that,” Ashley said. “The session that we were most worried about was Friday night, but as far as we were concerned the script was already written, we’re just living it out. I’m glad we’ll be back Sunday morning to race but we were going to live with the consequences of putting family and faith first, whatever they may have been. Either way I’m proud of this team.”
Competition for the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, race four of six in the Countdown to the Championship, continues with eliminations Sunday at noon. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a qualifying show Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET and an eliminations show at 4:00 p.m. ET.
