Ashley, Hagan, J. Coughlin Jr. & Herrera Collect Key Playoff Wins at Texas NHRA FallNationals

Ashley moves into Top Fuel points lead
Hagan wins in Dallas for second straight year
Coughlin slips past longtime rival Anderson in PS
Herrera nets 20th PSM win in just 34 starts

ENNIS, TX – October 14, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Justin Ashley moved into the Top Fuel points lead on Sunday at Texas Motorplex, holding off Clay Millican in the final round and winning in Dallas for the third time in four years at the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 18th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Ashley went 3.773-seconds at 327.99 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Scag Power Equipment/Toyota dragster in the final round, defeating Millican on a holeshot thanks to a brilliant .026 reaction time on the starting line. Millican went a quicker 3.762 at 328.40 but couldn’t track down Ashley at the finish line. It is the fourth win this season and the 15th overall for Ashley, who defeated Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher to reach the final round.

He qualified 12th, only make Friday’s first qualifying pass while observing Yom Kippur. But the team was prepared on Sunday with several standout runs and Ashley now has a 44-point lead over Antron Brown with two races remaining.

“This just speaks volumes of the kind of team we have,” Ashley said. “When I went up to them and told them my plan, the team rallied around me and we rallied together as a group. We’re one team and one family, and for them to understand my principles and having only one lap down the racetrack – I don’t think we had lane choice once today, our backs were against the wall, but Mike (Green, crew chief) and Tommy (DeLago) did an awesome job.

“It’s not over until it’s over, that much is for sure. You just have to keep swinging, and it’s best for us to not even look at the points. If we don’t take care of our business, it’s not going to matter anyway. It’s important to enjoy it, but once we leave here our focus has to immediately shift to Vegas. No matter what, this is far, far from over. We took a major step today, but it’s going to become more and more difficult. Just like it always does, it’s going to come down to Pomona.”

Millican advanced to the finals for the third time this season and the 25th time in his career by taking…