MIKE ASHLEY EXHIBITS SOLID FRIDAY SHOWING IN BRAINERD

BRAINERD, Minn. (8/11/06) --Mike Ashley’s bid to win an NHRA POWERade Funny Car national event continues to gain steam with each outing. The second-year nitro Funny Car driver turned in another solid showing as he wheeled the Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels Dodge Stratus to the sixth quickest time in provisional qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Ashley’s best lap came during the Friday’s second session when he blistered the quick racing surface with a 4.841, 323.19. His speed represented the second fastest of the event behind low qualifier John Force (323.74).

A week ago Ashley used an IHRA event to gain additional seat time behind the wheel of the Funny Car run under the Don Schumacher Racing umbrella. He used a Friday evening qualifying attempt to not only qualify #1 but also produced the fastest Funny Car speed in the history of the sanctioning body.

“It just keeps getting better,” Ashley said. “I knew this team had tremendous potential before we made a run and the performances prove we have a solid team that is capable of winning. It is falling in place each time we run. The key to that is good solid qualifying and that’s something [crewchief] Brian Corradi and this crew has delivered in a short amount of time.”

Ashley hit the Brainerd International Raceway with his wheels running during the first session. The two- time NHRA Pro Modified champion threw down the gauntlet in the first session with the second quickest lap, a 4.880. Ashley’s 313.58 made him the fastest flopper in that initial session.

This success represents a characteristic that ranked high on the initial objectives list – confidence. Consecutive semi-final finishes and solid qualifying efforts continue to raise the level of poise.

“This Knoll Gas – Torco Race Fuels car has been running some unbelievable speeds and it has only helped what we are doing,” Ashley said. “Any time you can record back-to-back elapsed times in the top half of the programs is a good thing. It just shows how serious our team is about their commitment to excellence. We’ve got more for tomorrow.”

Mike Ashley's Gotham City Racing is also sponsored by:
* Oakley - http://www.oakley.com/
* Optima Aluminum Trailers - http://www.optimatrailers.com/
* Lend America - http://www.lendamerica.com/
* Impact Racing - http://www.impactraceproducts.com/
* Knoll Gas Motorsports - http://www.torco.com/
* RPM Depot - http://www.rpmperformance.net/
* SKULL Shine - http://www.torco.com/
* SKULL H2O - http://www.torco.com/